Yeah, good luck with that. Why did you bother posting the question in the first place?

Unless things have changed, and I don't think they have, Linux XP will allow 30 free boots as a trial - then it will ask for money...

It is understandable that you are nervous about trying something new. The guy you purchased from may turn out to be a great resource for you. If it turns out otherwise feel free to come back here and you will get the help you need. There are other places to ask Linux questions. The Ubuntu forums are very good if you decide to load Ubuntu or even for general Linux questions. Pretty much every distro has its own specific forum.

Paying $7.99 plus $5.99 shipping for outdated distros when you could have downloaded the up to date versions for FREE is not "a good deal".

As was mentioned your laptop is new so it has new hardware. With Linux the drivers are (generally) built into the kernel. Newer hardware is likely to require new drivers to match the hardware.

If the software you purchased does not work and you still want to try Linux go to http://distrowatch.com/ and try a Live CD/DVD with a more recent version of the kernel. Kernel version is listed under "linux" in "tracked packages".

Finally it occurs to me that you might not understand what a "Live CD" is, allow me to explain...

A Live CD/DVD is the coolest thing ever! With a Live CD/DVD you do not need to install any software to you hard drive because it runs straight from the optical drive. No changes are made to your hard drive so once you take the optical disk out and reboot your computer is just like before. Vista is still there as a backup.

Live CD/DVDs make trying different versions of Linux really easy. This was already mentioned but I'm emphasizing the point. You don't need to install Linux to try Linux.

Also, who knows what kind of help you're going to get from him.

It probably isn't anything better than what you'd get here or any of the other brazillion *Nix forums out there.

Plain and simple the guy on ebay is trying to rip peopel off by selling somthing that is FREE!

I thought Linux XP was commercial, no?

Looks like spam to me.

I wanted to try Linux XP 2008, but on their English language site, the links to download and buy do not work. Eventually I found a torrent file of the International DVD, and downloaded it, from ftp://downloads.linux-xp.com/pub/linux-xp/desktop/2008/ which also has a DVD ISO file.
I got the file okay but when trying to install it, with only 6 minutes remaining it stops with an error message, and the only option is to reboot and start all over again.
I checked the md5sum of the download with the one on the Linux XP site and it matches okay.
I have so far only tried installing Linux XP 2008 in a virtual machine, using Virtual Box 2 on Ubuntu. But if it fails in Virtual Box then surely it will fail for real?
My reason for testing Linux XP is because of a friend of a friend, who was used to using Windows XP, but has bought a second-hand PC with Linux installed (Mint) but is finding it hard to get used to as things look different. I wanted to suggest to him Linux XP, but if it does not work then obviously there will be no point.

I also tried the Look XP project, http://sourceforge.net/projects/lxp, and downloaded the necessary files and dependencies, and tried installing that into a virtual machine of Ubuntu 8.10. I have the option of Look XP in the session menu, but when I select it, the session logs out immediately with an error message saying the session lasted less than 10 seconds.

Has anyone here had any success with using Linux XP or Look XP? Or are there other solutions to making a Linux distro look like XP? I am sure I have seen pictures online of Linux looking like XP, but cannot remember where or what software/themes, etc. were used.

Personally I prefer the look of something like Ubuntu, but for people used to using Windows XP, they will find it easier to use Linux if it at least looks like XP. Some of these people are people who do not want to upgrade to Vista, and nor do they want the virus and spyware problems of Windows XP, so they want to use Linux.

The friend of a friend in question is in his 70s, so any drastic changes in how the software looks is bound to be hard to adjust to, hence the need to have something looking like XP. Of course, for older people, if we can get them onto Linux first, then they do not need to have it looking like XP.

LinuxXP is not free. There is a 30 trial period and you must pay for registration to activate it. Last time I looked before there website upgrade a few months ago it was about $20 or $30 US.

They now have redesigned website that doesn't work (download or buy doesn't work).

http://www.linux-xp.com/


EDIT: And here are a few more that charge for there distros.

http://vectorlinux.com/
http://www.mepis.org/

Hi,

To the OP, LiveCD wiki.

But they do both have free downloadable versions too.

Xandros used to have several versions available of its distro, most of which were paid for, plus an Open Circulation Edition, which was free. Now it seems they just have one paid for version, aimed at businesses, http://www.xandros.com, which is okay for businesses, but I enjoyed using the Home edition when it was available and the OCE versions (3 and 4). I think they reduced their product range after acquiring Linspire, another paid for distro, but that has a free version called Freespire. I have not checked lately though to see if that is still available.

Anyway, on the subject of Linux XP, are there actually any websites where it can be purchased outside of Russia?

I suggest that you stop and think about exactly what it is you "don't like about Vista," and what you imagine that you are getting yourself into.

If you think that "Linux is just like Windows, only better," think again.

If you think that "you can just buy something (else) with 'XP' in the title, shove it into the DVD-slot and go get coffee," think again.

My point is simply this: you're used to an environment in which everything was done for you, either by Microsoft or by the vendor of your computer. When you "take the dive into Linux" (and you definitely should...), you're going to be leaving all that behind. More, or less.

It is an absolutely irreplaceable source of experience. But, you will ... and you need to be very alert and resourceful "going in."