newbi where to start?
 

Hello All, I have decided to take the plunge into the Linux world of OS. The reason being I had just bought vista premium and am extremly disapointed in it. After seeing a Youtube of the new interface it blows vista out of the water. I have no idea of where to begin in this journey so any and all direction on which path to take will be greatly apericated.
thanks
GP1953

if you want to install ubuntu linux and not worrying about doing major surgery to your PC(partitions, swap files)try wubi from here http://www.cutlersoftware.com/ubuntu...-US/index.html
you can install and remove just like a windows program, main thing is defrag windows before intall and do not do a hard boot when asked to reboot

Welcome aboard matey!

I'd suggest that you pick up a linux distribution/flavour of your choice (you could pick Fedora, Ubuntu, RedHat, Mandrake, SuSe, etc.) and try installing it on a PC. It is then that you come across hurdles the likes of which, I'm sure, you may not have faced using Windows (mostly driver related). Then naturally you'll come up with questions like "How can I do so-and-so what I used to do on Windows?"

Once you have got a start, you may start posting your queries in forums like these and I'm very sure that there are millions of us out there eager to help out those in distress.

Keep in mind that it'll be a bumpy ride to begin with, but in the end it'll surely pays off.

Good luck!

As with all other "I'm a newbie where should I start" questions:

Try Ubuntu, PCLinuxOS, and Knoppix.

Also if you have any questions feel free to post them after you've tried: www.google.com/linux

There is TONS of information there....

Linux is great to try but simply disliking Windows is not always the best reason to "switch". It is quite possible to "dual boot" until you decide what you want to do.
Take a look at the Linux Is Not Windows article. Linux is not just Windows for free.
A good place to start is with a "live-CD/DVD". This is a version of Linux that boots from CD/DVD and runs in your computer's RAM without installation to your hard drive.
Although there are many of these take a look at Ubuntu or Knoppix.
I personally have more of a problem with Microsoft than Vista.

How about a link to that video?

Linux technically speaking is the kernel that the various distributions (distros) use as their core. If it was one of the newish 3d desktops that wowed you there are some distros that make this easier than others.
Mepis is one of the distributions that make 3d Beryl desktop a no-brainer for most hardware. I believe Mandriva comes 3d ready as well. Not sure what others default to a 3d desktop option.

Edit/ Sorry, just realized new members can't post direct links :). Paste the address in text-like and someone is sure to give some pointers.

Oh, and welcome to LQ! No shortage of helpful folks here.

Members more senior than me (a fellow newbie) have given you some sound advice. Experiment with different distros and see what you like. I love ubuntu and would recommend it to everyone. But that's my own personal preference.

I only upgraded to Vista Home Basic and it's little better than XP. Nowadays, I really only use Vista for DV editing because I'm so used to one program. For everything else I use ubuntu.

There might be driver issues with some distros (dial-up winmodems and graphic cards, for example) but the best distros take most hardware in their stride.

Flashy 3D effects are great (not available in Home Basic) but they're dodgy in ubuntu at the moment - still experimental. If you want a great user-friendly distro with 3D that DOES knock Vista Premium out of the water, go for Simply Mepis. It's brilliant, but I prefer the uncluttered Gnome interface of ubuntu to the chaos of KDE!

Again, a personal preference. Try out as many as you can from Live CDs before you commit to a hard drive install. You'll find your own Linux that way.

Most important, listen to the Senior Members and Gurus on this forum - they've made my transition to Linux straightforward and enjoyable.

link to youtube
 

http://www.youtube.com/results?searc...&search=Search

Here you go Muddy, I take it your a blues hound like my self? As far as dislikeing Visa I feel like it is a rip off and am looking into other OS.

Is it possible to partition a drive and run xp on one part and Linux on the other part? I would like keep all of my stuff that I have aquired over the last five years of running xp yet learn and transisiton into Linux. I currently am running a sata as my main drive is there any issues on booting up with Linux with this type of drive? I know that I have to load the driver upon install of xp. thanks in advance.
GP1953

Yea - it is possible to partition the hard drive : you can ither use a special software(like Acronis Disk Director) or manually partition the disk during your linux installation(it's quite user friendly... :)

It should go without saying yet can never be said too much: *make backups*.

While I'm at it, I'd just underscore what 2damncommon said in its entirety (and muddywaters' observation about how Linux doesn't really have an interface as such but has inter*faces*).

That said, hating Vista might not be the best reason for switching to Linux but it makes an even worse reason for staying with MS. ;) Welcome and have fun!

hating vista no reason?
 

My dissatisfaction with the new ms vista has been said to be no reason to switch to Linux. My question to all here then is why did you switch? Or should I ask why did you choose Linux over mac and ms?
Gp1953

You said, "...I had just bought vista premium and am extremly disapointed in it."
I said, "...simply disliking Windows is not always the best reason to "switch". (And I fixed the Linux is not Windows link.)

I am saying your dissatisfaction with Windows does not guarantee you will be satisfied with Linux.

Mac.. To expensive at the time I was looking for an alternative. This was before the Intel Macs, also... I like to build my own PCs. I'm not sure if thats changed, but at the time, I was out of luck with the Mac(think I still would be..)

Windows- Had more security holes than I really cared to deal with.

My guess is, since you linked to Youtube, you've come across one of a number of videos there showing Ubuntu with Beryl(Beryl is what makes the wobbly windows, the "cube" desktop effect, etc..) running. What type of video card does your PC have? If its Nvidia, drivers will be a piece of cake. ATI.. well.. You may have better luck than I did. Hopefully you do anyways, cuz I eventually just got frustrated and bought an Nvidia card so I could set up dual screens.

For a newbie, I don't think there's any better choice than Ubuntu. Download the latest 7.04 release and boot the live CD and see what you think...

IGF

Some of the articles/essays/books I can think of offhand, in order of length, that educated me about Unix/Linux and made me want to use it or explain after the fact *why* I wanted to use it:

UNIX As Literature
In The Beginning Was The Command Line (though I hardly go all the way with this, it is excellent)
The Art of Unix Programming

I came from the DOS ghetto or originally rode the DOS bicycle and never got on well with Windows but it wasn't just getting *away from* MS Windows - it was *going to* Unix. It's just a different (and better) system. Learning its history and language and becoming a Unix citizen on Unix's terms is one way to approach it.

Incidentally, this quote goes a long way to explaining what I think of 3D desktops and whatnot:

A GUI is great - I can see more running shells at once! ;)

And then there's also the freedom thing, of course. That's attractive, too. :)

for what ever reason
 

I apologize for coming off like i did on my prior posts. I am aware that Linux is not windows or Mac, I know that it will be a major learning curve for me, hell I can't even spell right without my word checker.

I think what T me off the most about my down grade to vista was the interface, under xp I had three colors to choose from or go back to the classic style. Under the vista premium I have vista basic blue or classic pre 98 style. I would of thought that they would of went with at least the three color from xp but no. Blue is a pretty color but not my favorite.

I would of thought after 5-6 years of working on this and all the addons that one can do to xp to personalize the interface with windowshades and other programs that the folks at MS would of been more in touch with what the consumer wants.

So in a nut shell that is why I am going back to xp on one partition and going to learn and work with Linux on the other. It is very clear that the opensource community is the hope of the future.

GP1953