hey. my windows me is slowly running less and less. plus its getting kinda dull and old. I found Kubuntu on the internet and tried the trial version, or basically the save the iso to a cd then run it off that before actually installing it. Its pretty cool. The problem is obviously running off a cd without effecting my hard drive it was a little resistant to installing things. so before i wipe out my ME (which i also have a cd for so i can always go back i guess.. just annoying redoing it all), there were a few things i was wondering if kubuntu would run.

1.) Things like MSN Messenger. ( im 17..) and i like msn.. ive seen the kubuntu version of msn.
2.) Internet explorer (some things i have now need ie6 or better to run)
3.) Games
4.) Java... so far the cd didnt run any java pages.

etc.

Basically I want to gain with kubuntu, I dont want to loose things, and have all these things that say requires windows 98,2000, xp etc to run. i dont see a lot of things that list linux/kubuntu as runable OS.

WILL KUBUNTU RUN ALL OF MY WINDOWS PROGRAMS AND OTHER THINGS AS WELL?

Thanks.

No. Linux is not windows. HOWEVER, some programs will run via Wine, which is a port of the windows application layer on Linux.

There are messengers (kopete, Gaim, aMSN) that will work with MSN for chatting. I use Gaim personally.

IE6 I believe will run via Wine. But I can use firefox for almost everything.

As for games, linux has a lot of games that I like to play (though I'm not a real gamer). Some windows games might run via Wine.

You have to install Java separately, but there's a package in the repositories.

If you feel like you need to keep windows around, I would do the following:
1) Defragment and scandisk your drive
2) Download and use GParted LiveCD to shrink your windows partition to half the drive. Create a 512MB swap partition in the free space you just created. Then make the rest of the drive ext3.
3) Install to the new partitions and tell it to put grub into the Master Boot Record. Grub will control booting both Windows and Linux.

Then you can boot into windows whenever you feel like you need to. This is called Dual booting. There's lots of tutorials on the web.

If you need Java in Kubuntu, I recommend opening up Konsole and typing
sudo apt-get install sun-java5-plugin
This will install the Sun Java Runtime Environment as well as a browser plugin.

A lot of programs you know and think are absolutely compuslory to have in a Windows world might find equivalents in Linux, but of course there are a little changes ...

For example, if you think Office is a must, try OpenOffice ... Want MSN, there is Gaim ... Think about iTunes ? I use my iPod with Rhythmbox ... IE6 to surf the net ? Firefox is there ! Need you VC++ ? try one of the countless IDE in Linux (I use Code::Blocks) ... The list is endless ... (I just gave some mainstream softs, but you can find others !)

But of course, if you want to run Oblivion (for example) in fullscreen with every 3D acceleration your Gcard is capable of, just keep Windows ...

yeah i am not looking to get everything about windows to run on kubuntu.. i just want some things to work and also not loose anything.

my windows ME isnt doing so good and my computer cant handle xp or 2000.. kinda low on space... haha.

im just looking for an upgraded OS

(if not kubuntu, is there any other linux OS's you would recommend?

i just found WINE on the internet...

http://linux.softpedia.com/get/Syste...Wine-148.shtml

if i downloaded that onto my computer after running kubuntu or mandriva 1 (one of my other options i forgot about) would that run things like msn messenger and games etc. i think it does by the discription but does anyone have some experiance with it?


ps. other question : if i were to install kubuntu does it clean out my windows ME. i would prefer that since i have ME on disk anyway and if iwere to use kubuntu i wouldnt be using ME so it would be wasted space. but yea.

Thanks again

You should be able to install Wine from the Kubuntu repositories (all programs you want to install on Kubuntu live in a large download repository -- no hunting the net for individual programs). Here's a guide on how to install things.

For the most part, you should try to use linux programs to do the same things (i.e. use aMSN or Gaim instead of MSN Messenger), they'll work better. Here is a list of equivalent programs.

When installing Kubuntu you can let the installer delete all existing partitions on the hard drive and start from scratch.

Since you're new to Kubuntu, I suggest you set up a dual boot where both Windows ME and Kubuntu are installed. See pjvaldez's post above, which tells you how to do that. If you just use the default install option ('Use the whole disk') then it will wipe out your Windows ME partition.

hey im currently using mandriva1 ... lol me and a friend of mine downloaded it as well.. in fact i am doing this one from my trail version of it. i do like kubuntu's layout a bit more however i like the options on mandriva.. weather, logout or shutdown in taskbar etc. but oh well all trivial stuff.

is there any benefits of mandriva over kubuntu or is it preference. i am trying mandriva 1 because my friend had mentioned its different layout but similar core...

Is this another live CD trial or did you install the OS?

It's quite possible if you install Kubuntu you could get a similar layout by customizing it to your needs. Ubuntu comes in three flavors: Ubuntu, which installs the GNOME desktop environment, Kubuntu which installs the KDE environment, and Xubuntu which installs Xfce environment (which tends to be the lightest of the three). Some distributions allow you do install all three environments and pick which one you will use before you login (I'm using Fedora 6 right know and I'm logged in and using GNOME). It looks to me as though Mandriva One comes with the KDE desktop, like Kubuntu.

Do some reading and check out some more live CDs. There's lots to learn if you are coming from Windows. I wouldn't dump Windows until you have an install of Linux that does everything you want to do. Right now I have two PCs doing desktop duties, one running Windows for those things I haven't figured out how to do in Linux yet or haven't tested yet, and one Fedora 6 box that does a lot already (email, music, browsing, newsgroups, etc.). If you can, do two boxes but if you can't, do a dual boot and work on one thing at a time until you have all your requirements running on Linux.

BTW: I like GAIM because I have chat accounts with yahoo, msn, icq, and aim (can't seem to get all my friends to pick the same one) and GAIM will do them all in one app. Similar to Trillian for Windows.

I would recommend using Kubuntu over any version of Mandriva. I used to really like Mandrake/Mandriva. Last version I used, was 10.0 Official, and it was quite efficient. I was really disappointed with Mandriva 1 and 07. Extremely slow compared to other versions of Linux I've tried(and frankly, other versions of Mandriva)...

Although I despise KDE, if you're gonna try Linux, I'd recommend sticking with Kubuntu. There is a ton of support out there for the *buntus, and help can be found usually with a simple Google search or a search here at LQ.

Depending on how big the hard drive is, etc you might want to look into getting another hard drive. When I had games I wanted to play, this is what I did. I installed a second hard drive, which is where my Linux Install went, if I wanted to play a game, I simply booted into Windows. Once I decided gaming wasn't that important, I removed Windows completely. Linux should easily run on a hard drive of at least 40gigs, so I'd try to find an 80-100gig drive on clearance.

How old is this PC? As mentioned above, KDE is a bit resource heavy, and it might behoove you to look into Xubuntu and Xfce. Not quite as intuitive as KDE/Gnome, but every bit as functional. My Laptop(1ghz, 768mb Ram, 20gig hard drive), was pretty slow with Ubuntu/Gnome... It runs extremely well with Xubuntu.

As long as you download the newest version of Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Xubuntu, which is 6.10, the below link will help a lot.
http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu:Edgy

Good luck

IGF

hey, after a little fiddleing around i do agree i like kubuntu over mandriva1. Im gonna clean up my room today and thats going to include my computer if i get around to it. (ps i'm 17 and do still have a room haha). anyway ill try that duel install and try kubuntu out without having a cd. this way ill try some games or other things that need cd's to run and see if things that i have work or if i find good solutions. ill let u know how it goes. Thanks a lot for the help. especially that wine thing, thats going to help a lot i think.

Thanks again.

ps. konquerer internet isnt bad lol.. beast ie6 in ways.

Note that some of the more high-end commercial games won't work with regular wine and might require a non-free variant like cedega.
It's nice, but if you're used to Firefox on Windows it's easy to install that too. (Use either K -> Add/Remove Programs or K -> System -> Adept Manager)

hey, so i've partitioned my drive and installed kubuntu. i am having a little problems installing wine tho.. i got it open with a program called ark. then i extracted it to my desktop where i now just have loads of files and folders... how do i install it. or is that all you have to do. do i put it somewhere other than my desktop?

im also having problems installing things in general.. sometimes it askes me what to open it with.. windows never did that.. lol anyway. when it does this what do i open it with?