which linux should i use?

hdragun · 07-10-2006, 12:59 AM

I am new to linux and am looking for an alternative to windows that can be installed such that windows can still be used. I am looking at Ubuntu and Gnoppix 1.0.1. I have a liveCD of Gnoppix 1.0 could you please advise. It is for two different platforms, a hyperthreding pentium 4 and an AMD64.

pixellany · 07-10-2006, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hdragun

I am new to linux and am looking for an alternative to windows that can be installed such that windows can still be used. I am looking at Ubuntu and Gnoppix 1.0.1. I have a liveCD of Gnoppix 1.0 could you please advise. It is for two different platforms, a hyperthreding pentium 4 and an AMD64.

Any Linux distibution can be set up to dual-boot with Windows. Start with any one of the free ones--Ubuntu, Fedora core 5, openSUSE, etc.

Standard procedure:
Install Windows on first partition of first drive (leave at least 6 GB available for Linux + a shared data partition, if possible.)
Install Linux and allow it to put the bootloader on the mbr of the first drive. It **should** detect the windows install and automatically setup the bootloader menu.

To be safe--especially if you do not have a Windows install disk**--put the bootloader on a floppy. You can always put it on the hard drive later.

**I would be very careful about doing **anything** to a computer with no Windows install CD. But I would also never buy such a computer....

presemt_arms · 07-10-2006, 08:09 AM

Newbie distro's pclinuxos... very friendly distro, ubuntu.. then mandriva in that order...pclinuxos is an installable livecd (it can also run from the cd as well as hd if ya want) and is fallover easy to install. it's my favourite beginners linux by far.go for the .92 version

Alie

masonm · 07-10-2006, 09:49 AM

Give Ubuntu or SimplyMepis a try, they're both good distros as are a great many others. The LiveCD is a good way to test out different ones until you find one you like.

jeelliso · 07-10-2006, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by presemt_arms

Newbie distro's pclinuxos... very friendly distro, ubuntu.. then mandriva in that order...pclinuxos is an installable livecd (it can also run from the cd as well as hd if ya want) and is fallover easy to install. it's my favourite beginners linux by far.go for the .92 version

Alie

I'll agree that PCLinuxOS is very newbie friendly, but the vast majority of a distros "newbieness" is related to its hardware autodetection and just the desktop environment (as KDE and Gnome are more newbie friendly than, say, Fluxbox). With the new Kubuntu installer, I would say there isn't much difference between PCLinuxOS and Kubuntu from a Newbie's perspective. Kubuntu also comes with extensive documentation (see https://help.ubuntu.com/). In addition, the PCLinuxOS support for laptop hardware is lacking as it doesn't handle integrated equipment very well yet. If you're not familiar with Kubuntu, its just like Ubuntu, but instead it is built for KDE instead of Gnome (by the way, KDE is much more user friendly than Gnome).

Good luck finding the right distro for you.
~Justin