Ubuntu

[mseries]

Of you build the computer to dual boot, you will be able to mount the windows partitions to access the files though I would recommend copying them off somewhere and copying them back into Linux once you have built the machine, of course of you are wiping the machine and using only Linux you'll have to do this anyway. You should export your Firefox bookmarks before you start, save them then reimport to the new installation. Don't forget to note down any add ons that you've installed too

 

[Eric The Viking]

I wanted to check with you guys - can I keep my files, bookmarks on Firefox, etc, or will I have to set aside time to note them all down if and when I decided to try Ubuntu?
Greg

Yes, but for simplicity you need to export them beforehand then re-import them.

I have a few _very_ old bookmarks (15-20 years!) that have been transferred to several machines and versions of Windows and are now on my Linux box(es).

Some other thoughts:

1. if you're a long-time Windows user, try xubuntu rather than plain Ubuntu.

For most users the desktop is the operating system, as it's what we look at all the time when we interact with the computer. Unlike Windows, which really has only a couple of choices nowadays, Ubuntu has a range of desktops available. The default is a thing called Unity desktop, and whilst it works, I just don't like it, and it really doesn't do what a Windows user would instinctively expect*.

Xubuntu looks like a cross between the traditional Windows and Macintosh desktops (mainly in that the 'taskbar' is at the top by default rather than the bottom where most Windows users leave it), and it's really easy to get used to. Xubuntu is a single distribution in its own right - underneath the skin it's Ubuntu, but with the XFCE desktop built in and thoroughly tested (XFCE is where the "X" comes from in Xubuntu).

Family-related Linuxes (Ubuntu comes from the Debian family of Linuxes) with good Windows-like desktops include Mint, which is tuned for multimedia performance. there are quite a few Mint users on here who can advise - I haven't used it, but I know it's very popular and well liked.

2. You don't have to install Ubuntu (or Xubuntu) to try it. The DVD disk image you can download, then burn yourself to make your own installer, but in the installer is the option to run it without installing it -- just from memory and off the DVD. That way you can play about without hurting anything (although you can see all your hard disk files, so be cautious).

3. If you have enough hard disk space, you can install Linux to dual-boot - giving you the choice of Windows or Linux when you start up the computer. You can add a second hard disk to most desktop machines, and you might put linux on that, too. Altering an existing system to become dual boot isn't difficult, but you do need to be careful, because by default Windows grabs the whole hard disk, and leaves bits of stuff all over the place, so the empty space you have probably won't be in one contiguous block, and you can't just grab an 'unused' area at the end of the disk (beecause it probably isn't actually unused!).

For best dual-boot results start with a fresh hard disk, partition it into at least two partitions, put your version of Windows on the machine first, then add Linux in the second partition. Linux can see and use all your Windows disks (unless they're encrypted), but it doesn't work t'other way round. Linux can also 'mount' and use Macintosh OS X disks too.

4. There are two main versions of most Linuxes: 32-bit ("i386-xxx") and 64-bit ("AMD64-xxx"). Both will run on both Intel and AMD chipsets, so don't worry which you have - the names are a historical convention only. For performance, use the 64-bit version; for compatibility with older machines, or those with not-huge amounts of RAM memory use the 32-bit, "i386" version.

5. Use the Long-Term Support ("LTS") version of whatever you choose. That ensures you get software/security updates sent automatically, like Microsoft products do. It's never sensible to for us mere mortals to use bleeding-edge operating systems - the LTS versions tend to be stable and well looked after. The others are for people developing with Linux or doing specific, geeky things (generally speaking). You get the choice on the download site(s), but they should offer you the LTS version by default, so don't panic if it's not labelled thus.

6. There are some very good help sites available. I like http://askubuntu.com/ but generally using Google with 'ubuntu' somewhere in the search box will get you what you need. As a rule, whatever your issue happens to be, someone else has come across it before and it's been discussed and/or fixed already. Very often people don't put enough information in a problem description to allow anyone to guess at the issue/solution. There's a good "how to discuss problems" here.

Finally, however you try out or install Linux, remember that you do have to boot from your DVD. That needs two things in order to work: a bootable image on the DVD and the PC BIOS set to allow booting from the DVD drive. Sometimes the latter is turned off for security reasons, and you'll need to turn it on yourself.

To make a bootable DVD, download the install image file, 32- or 64-bit, from one of the Linux sites (I linked to the xubuntu one above), and use your usual DVD burning software to "create from image" or "create from ISO" - it should happen automagically. It is a BIG download though, so for best results (a) grab it from a UK mirror site, not transatlantically or from Taiwan, and (b) pick a quiet time on the Internet to do so - in my experience that's early morning!

Hope that gets you started.

E.


*This may be because of the possibility of lawsuits from large players in the market who expect people to pay up-front for their operating systems - naming no names. Unity seems perversely 'not Windows and not OS X', almost as if its creators thought they had to re-invent the wheel, or else. I'm only speculating about why, but having done a bit of user interface design in the past, I find Unity really annoying, and, because other alternatives are so much better, thankfully I don't need to use it!

 

[mseries]

I recently installed Mint in a dual boot scenario on a brand new Windows 7 machine. There are plenty of how-tos on the net, they all start with use Windows to shrink the file system, to create space for Linux. There are few things you need to do to permit maximum space to be recovered. If anyone intends to try, there are plenty of us on here with practical experience and are willing to help. All the Ubuntu and Mint forums that I frequent are very helpful too.

As always backups are useful if something goes wrong or if you just want to try something then revert back. I use Clonezilla Live to copy complete partitions. It's opensouce and free. It's not obvious how to use it at first but with some learning it can be used very effectively.

 

[mseries]

Folks,
I have a pretty old laptop running XP,

Some of the new Linuxes might require modern specced machines to work best. This is where the choice of desktop is useful, you can probably get something work well on your hardware, drivers permitted (even that is more likely to be straightforward on older hardware than newer)

 

[gregmcateer]

Eric and mseries,

Thank you both very much for your helpful advice - Looks like I'll have to add 'learning about linux/xubuntu' to my to do list!!

Thanks again

Greg

 

[RogerP]

I just use Unity Ubuntu as it installs from the cd. I like it and have been using Linux (in one form or another) for many years. Doesn't take much getting used to - it all fairly obvious really. My wife also swapped to it from Windows and much prefers it to the MS offerings she used to use.