Hi,

I haven't used Linux for over 2 years (since I graduated from uni) and I have basically had enough of Windows.

I was wondering if someone can recommend a version for me to install.

My PC Spec is 2.4GHZ 32 bit processor, 500GB Hard disk, 1.5GB RAM, ATI Radeon 9550, M-Audio Mobile Pre USB Audio Interface. I have been looking on the Ubuntu website and it seems that I would need a 64-bit processor to run the latest version/distribution.

Basically, I only use the PC for web development (particularly Flash), Photoshop and watching movies/listening to music. I understand that WINE could possibly be useful for running Windows apps (if there is no freeware alternative).

If anyone has any suggestions or ideas regarding which version/distribution would be suitable for me, I would be very grateful. User friendliness is a must, I don't want to spend too much of my time posting on forums to find out how to do simple tasks.

Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for your comments,

eQuinas

Wine isn't an ideal solution, you can see how well your needed applications work by searching their database. http://appdb.winehq.org/

As for which distro go to distrowatch.com and pick a few from the top of the list to try. You are the only one who can decide which one suits you. All distros can perform the same functions.

Also, Ubuntu has a 32-bit version, most distro's do, I am not aware of a 64-bit only distro.

you don't need 64-bit to run Ubuntu. just get the x86 version.

Mint or Ubuntu would be good...

No. Ubuntu runs on 32-bit and 64-bit.

-C

If you want to run flash, you would be better advised to steer clear of 64bit distros since you will need to muck around with 32bit flach to get it working (there is no 64bit flash for linux I gather)

Do you want to run photoshop or are you prepared to try an alternative? GIMP is the standard linux equivalent, and you can have a look at it on windows as there's a windows version available

try, ubuntu, opensuse, fedora, mandrivia,

any one of those will do what you want, its meerly a matter of preference...

Brilliant! Thanks for the replies. I forgot to mention that I also use MSN Messenger and Newsbin Pro. As far as I remember, most distos come with a newsreader so that shouldn't be a problem. Does anyone have any suggestions for an Instant Messenger?

Oh yeah, I'll give GIMP a try, but I just have a few questions about it.

1. Can it read/open PSD files
2. Is there a psd2fla or similar plugin that can convert to a FLA (Flash) file?

Thanks for reading,

eQuinas

most distros have kopete (kde based) or pidgin (gnome based) avalable as instan messengers, (work with MSN, yahoo, AIM, googletalk etc)

Pidgin is pretty good. I prefer xchat for IRC, but Pidgin should be good for MSN.

Yes, it can. While you're getting up to speed in The GIMP, you can always run Photoshop in Wine. For either, you'll want to sort out your fonts before you start working on old files with text layers in them.