Which distro should i go for?
 

i'll have created a 2.5 GB FAT32 partition on my existing Acer TM800 lappy to install linux. Since i'm kinda new at this (I did used mandrake before) Got a few questions to clarify before i proceed.

1. Would 2.5 GBs of space for a linux partition be sufficient? My harddisk with WinXP Pro runs on the NTFS, so is my harddisk for all my MP3, movies etc etc. Will linux be able to read them since they are all in NTFS partitions?

2. How do I do a dual boot with windows? Should i use system commander or LILO or GRUB? Does it come with every distro?

3. I was looking to try out either Slackware 9.1 (downloaded) or Xandros 2 (Which i got the CD from a computer magazine) Which one would be a better option? I might install mandrake 9.2 too as i heard slackware has not that many GUIs. Which distro has the most GUIs for all functions?

4. I'm more concerned about hardware issues. Would it be able to support all of my hardware in my lappy? i.e. Cannon i70 printer, Pentium Centrino, Mobility Radeon9000, USB 2.0 ports etc... Most important is my existing broadband connection with my Billion 7000 USB ADSL modem.

5. I would really like to switch fully to linux IF whatever i can do in windows i can do in linux. Basically, i only do work (office), Java programming, music, movies, downloads and surfing. I still play that occasional warcraft 3 and gunbound though... ha!ha...

Hey, I'm a complete newbie to linux, but from what I've heard and read about, I think the ideal Distribution for you would probably be Dragon Linux, based on Slackware and is installed on a FAT32 partition. I read somewhere that some guy even had a shortcut to un-install it on his Start menu!

Might be worth checking out!

http://dragonlinux.sf.net/

Concerning
- GUI: The most widely used are KDE and Gnome. You're probably
off best with KDE (you can also use Gnome programs under KDE).
- 2.5 GB: Might be a bit small. SuSE installer will tell you before installing
if you have enough space
- Multiboot: The big distributions all come with a boot manager capable of
doing this
- NTFS: Most big distributions can do this

>Which distro has the most GUIs for all functions?
Never mind, GUI like fvwm2 are only for administrators who need more than console in the same view port. Stick to KDE or Gnome; they all come with it.

>Would it be able to support all of my hardware in my
There are hardware compatibility lists on the web. Otherwise, you'll have to ask the manufacturer of your notebook (or is it really a laptop ;-)?) or the linux distributor.

You can do all the things you named under linux as good as under windows, if not better, except playing windows games. For some of them there are linux ports (like Midwinter Nights), some work under wine, but you'll have to research that for yourself. There are lists of working windows games on the wine homepage.


HTH

if this is your first attempt at linux, then i'd say to try Mandrake, but Slackware, which i now use, is great too. Mandrake will be easier to use out of the box. Linux does not use Fat32 partitions. you might want to read up on installation and stuff. from what you've said grub is probably better for you. Mandrake has more automatic setup programs and will do the best job of automatically finding everything. Slack can do it as well, but Slack is more manual, that is, you'll be able to install stuff, but you'll need to do it manually. i'd say try Mandrake for a few weeks and then try Slackware and any other distro you'd like to try then make your final decision. I started with Mandrake and after a few weeks i changed to Slackware and that's where i am staying.

good luck with your decisions.

Read-only access to NTFS should be no problem at all. 2.5gb is sufficient but you'll have to be a bit critical which packages you install.

As to distros, well, I wouldn't call slackware very newbie friendly. I'd say either Suse or Mandrake.