Linux , a voyage to the dark side

[Daryll]

To anyone who thinks windows is the be all and end all of computers ( apart from those of us using a mac...:D ) , read on.............

I am a Linux fan , dual boot on main pc , dual boot on laptop and Linux as the main OS on the netbook.
In the past Linux was a geeks OS , plenty of command line stuff etc , well no more.
Linux can be downloaded (Free) burnt to a USB stick and run from there without installing , well there are three choices.
Run from media.
Install along side windows.
Install instead of windows.

To get a feel , I would recommend installing along side windows .

Distributions.

These are the different "flavours" of Linux , a list of the top 10 is here.
http://www.techradar.com/news/software/operating-systems/10-best-linux-distros-for-2011-704584
I have Linux mint 12 on all machines.
These days there are very few hardware issues with Linux , it picks up just about everything , broadband is configured automatic , most distributions come with a software installed package , this gives access to 10`s of thousands of free software apps , most of which have a one click install.
Fancy a dip in the wild side ?.

Download these.

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal-usb-installer-easy-as-1-2-3/ , by far the easy est way to make a bootable USB stick , just chose your Linux ISO file and click.

Linux mint 12 download.
http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php , personally I would get the CD no Codecs 32 bit version.

after downloading the Linux mint ISO , fire up the universal USB installer , ( make sure you have a USB stick connected to you PC , 2 gig is ample) , choose your USB stick and Linux distro you downloaded , in this case Linux mint , click create , thats it.
On your target machine , be that a laptop, desktop etc , make sure the BIOS is set to boot from USB first.

Start your machine , linux will load and give the three choices given above , its up to you now....:D .

I f you choose to install Linux along side Windows , Linux will install a boot loader , so when you switch tour pc on , you will be given a choice of OS`s.
You will be surprised how far Linux has come from the age of command line ( still there if you need it) , not greatly supported by DJ software , apart from ultramixer , but one day......................

Cheers

Daryll

[mattydinx]

Always been a fan of Linux, it just goes to show how bloated Windows is.

Been an Ubuntu user on and off for a few years, can't really fault it!

[Jiggles]

Ubuntu is the one I would steer people towards. Its possibly the most like for like when it comes to moving from Windoz.

[Daryll]

Ubuntu is the one I would steer people towards. Its possibly the most like for like when it comes to moving from Windoz.

Last week I installed about 15 different distro`s , including Ubuntu ( and Kbuntu) , nothing wrong with any of them , but my favourite is still mint , might try Darwin , its the guts of the mac OS without the pretty GUI....:D

Daryll

[Megamix]

I've dabbled with Unix but just found it to be too much hard work - finally went to a Mac because I got tired of tweaking and configuring and rebuilding everything - but if it works for you, fair play

[Creature]

Ubuntu 10.4 is the best version so far - i didnt like the new version.

Megamix I had the same issue when I went across, then I brought Ubuntu for dummies and then i realised how hard it to do normal everyday things in windows :)

would never go back to any microcrap product again - and teh money have saved in O/S upgrades, Software and best bet altho i have an antivirus prog installed and run it one a week in 2 years never had a virus or spyware:)

[ianforest]

Ubuntu went rubbish when it changed to Unity. Mint is ok but kind of emulates Windows, isn't that the reason why you want to get away from it? Darwen rocks :)