Source of info for extreme newbie please
 

I bought a Linux magazine that had a tagline "ditch XP" as I have an old computer that will not run a modern windows system: AMD Sempron CPU and maximum 2GB RAM. The magazine assumed a more modern computer for the step by step tutorial. I am not sure it would work on my old computer and fear really screwing it up by trying to follow the tutorial. Is there a book that can guide me through a really simple introduction to Linux for such an old system?
Thanks for any advice.

not a book, but here's a list of distros tagged "for old computers" on distrowatch.

according to wikipedia, amd sempron can be as old as 2004 and is still in production, so more precise hardware specs?

but i think you're good to go.
fwiw, i'm running crunchbang on an 8 year old single-core laptop. no problem.

Have a look at www.distrowatch.com and look for a distro for "old computer".
I have personally an AMD K7-III (see my signature) and it runs well with www.tinycorelinux.net
Your machine ist newer..

In the list ondoho linked to, there are some distros that are for rather advanced users, and some for beginners. I was a beginner not long ago, and I can sympathize! For what it's worth, the wattOS (#10 on the list) seems to me the one a newcomer could handle most directly. I have run it easily on a 2002 Compaq desktop with 1GB RAM. In addition, the wattOS forum is well-suited to newcomers, which is more than can be said for a number of the other OS-specific forums.

Edited to add: here is a useful link, too:

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...ks-4175433508/

Two GB RAMs should be enough to run any contemporary Linux distro, all other things being equal (I'm not familiar with the AMD Sempron CPU--everything I have is Intel).

I would recommend you download and burn some Live CDs of good candidates, boot to them in live mode, pick the one you are most comfortable with, and go with it for a while. I'd recommend OpenSuse, Mageia, and Mint as possible candidates.

About dot com has a pretty good section about Linux, and there's wealth of resources at The Linux Documentation Project.

You don't have a bad system. Almost any new distro choice may run. It would run better with a low resource window manager. Generally the window manager consumes a lot of resources. Gnome and KDE are the big two. Many more modest managers run fine.

Many of those magazines offer some cd, maybe a special version of some linux. Some tend to be OK or great in a few cases. Knoppix was offered in magazines.


I totally agree that live cd/dvd/usb is the way to test what you want. At this point, if you are sure you want to ditch xp, you can't help but try a few live or a few installed.

Just for grins, run this and see if you like it. It's only intended to run live but gives you an idea what could run. http://www.spi.dod.mil/lipose.htm

Hi. I like trying lots of distros (free to try unless minus bandwidth cost) to see what works best (for me and particular systems...) second link in my signature is one of a plethora of starts. Best wishes and have fun. :)

Thank you
 

Thank you to everyone who has given advice. There seems to be many options to work my way through and that should keep me busy for some time.
Brian Dullea

That is, actually, one of the things that sometimes baffles new Linux users--there are so many options.

I will add one piece of advice, based on my own experience: Most of us go through a period of trying different distros until we finally light somewhere sort of permanent. Whatever distro you pick first, if it performs acceptably for you, stick with it for several months until you have a good feel for how Linux and Linux desktops work.

In other words, don't start distro-hopping until you have your feet wet.

Good luck. You're in for some serious fun.

I ditched XP a week ago in favor of Lubuntu. I have a Sempron AMD with 512MG of RAM, CPU clocks at 800MG. I installed the latest version of Lubuntu. Everything works great with the exception of the wireless adaptor, and there are online instructions on how to remedy that. I just haven't tried it yet. The Ubuntu family of distros have great online documentation as well.

To each their own and definitely sound advice from Frank but I (personal and many "Linux" users) would not hang with any of the *buntus too long. ;) Have you tried Virtualbox in that crazy 8 you're running? https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch01.html

Jamison, I haven't run anything virtual yet on the Windows 8. In fact, I haven't found out how to install a dual boot Linux on Windows 8, yet. Bill Gates and his henchmen have effectively locked down the BIOS/UEFI on Windows 8 systems, to where I cannot even boot off of a DVD. 8 is crazy alright.

Once I get my feet wet with Lubuntu, I intend to branch out. Gentoo looks pretty hardcore. I may try that one.

Virtual hard-drives are grate to learn with (delete.) Now a days I only use Linux and a VM for (if school like I should or) taxes http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...5D-4175499435/ once a year from a backed-up Win-7 :mad: on my Blu-Ray burner not to mention you'll never get a microcough if you mess or perfect Linuces up virtually in winblows. :D http://suretalent.blogspot.com/2006/...th-vmware.html

Was there a cd/dvd with the book?
If so what operating system?
Debian Wheezy would work pretty well on 2Gigs Ram.
If you truely want to ditch xp during install just select use entire disk.

@ Brian Dullea:
I just installed the new wattOS R8, and I'd like to withdraw my suggestion that it is a good choice for a First Try At Linux (they just went to a Debian base and there are some issues to work out).

I'd have to recommend Lubuntu instead, together with the documentation on Ubuntu.com.