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#1
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Lindows? OS's in general...
I am building a new system, Gigabyte n7400L, XP 2800 (not sure which core yet, but probably the Barton), a Gig of Kingston ram, couple of 80 gig Maxtor's an MSi FX5300 graphics board( for now) a Plextor burner and CDrom,a 3.5 and a card reader. Been running 98se for years, just cant get myself to like XP, ( don't like how process are just buried, and the "privacy issues" which I hear have been "fixed"...sure)but figure I might convert anyway( to pro), just curious about Lindows and its compatibility with most windows based software and stability in general. I would like to move to Linux when I have the time to learn it. Thanks Brandon |
#2
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"Brandon" wrote in message news:0t2Xb.44074$Ii2.25915@lakeread03... I am building a new system, Gigabyte n7400L, XP 2800 (not sure which core yet, but probably the Barton), a Gig of Kingston ram, couple of 80 gig Maxtor's an MSi FX5300 graphics board( for now) a Plextor burner and CDrom,a 3.5 and a card reader. Been running 98se for years, just cant get myself to like XP, ( don't like how process are just buried, and the "privacy issues" which I hear have been "fixed"...sure)but figure I might convert anyway( to pro), just curious about Lindows and its compatibility with most windows based software and stability in general. I would like to move to Linux when I have the time to learn it. Thanks Brandon The short answer is, linux sux, as far as compatibility with windows based software goes. (yes, I know there are workarounds, but that was the short answer, appropriate for a newbie) Depending on what you do, you might be able to get by with JUST linux (or lindows linux). But you won't know until after you've installed linux and had a few months to tinker with it. You will need Windows to fall back on while you are learning linux. Here's your best plan of action: On Hard drive one, install windows xp pro, and let xp use the WHOLE of drive one for an ntfs partition. On Hard drive two, let xp partition 65GB and format as ntfs. (the rest, a little over 10GB probably, because hard drive manufacturers have a different definition for "GB", will not be partitioned at all) Now when you have time to tinker, pick up a copy of mandrake linux or fedora (NOT lindows). During the install of linux (I STRONGLY recommend mandrake linux), linux will set up a boot menu for you (to choose between linux and windows XP) and linux will use the unpartitioned space on your second hard drive to install the OS and swap space, etc. If you don't like linux, you can always uninstall it later. Note that you do not need a lot of space for linux, even if you install lots of linux applications. 10GB should be more than enough. If you are worried about data storage space, linux can use the windows XP "drives" to store data, also. -Dave |
#3
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Dave C. wrote:
"Brandon" wrote in message news:0t2Xb.44074$Ii2.25915@lakeread03... I am building a new system, Gigabyte n7400L, XP 2800 (not sure which core yet, but probably the Barton), a Gig of Kingston ram, couple of 80 gig Maxtor's an MSi FX5300 graphics board( for now) a Plextor burner and CDrom,a 3.5 and a card reader. Been running 98se for years, just cant get myself to like XP, ( don't like how process are just buried, and the "privacy issues" which I hear have been "fixed"...sure)but figure I might convert anyway( to pro), just curious about Lindows and its compatibility with most windows based software and stability in general. I would like to move to Linux when I have the time to learn it. Thanks Brandon The short answer is, linux sux, as far as compatibility with windows based software goes. (yes, I know there are workarounds, but that was the short answer, appropriate for a newbie) Depending on what you do, you might be able to get by with JUST linux (or lindows linux). But you won't know until after you've installed linux and had a few months to tinker with it. You will need Windows to fall back on while you are learning linux. Here's your best plan of action: On Hard drive one, install windows xp pro, and let xp use the WHOLE of drive one for an ntfs partition. On Hard drive two, let xp partition 65GB and format as ntfs. (the rest, a little over 10GB probably, because hard drive manufacturers have a different definition for "GB", will not be partitioned at all) Now when you have time to tinker, pick up a copy of mandrake linux or fedora (NOT lindows). During the install of linux (I STRONGLY recommend mandrake linux), linux will set up a boot menu for you (to choose between linux and windows XP) and linux will use the unpartitioned space on your second hard drive to install the OS and swap space, etc. If you don't like linux, you can always uninstall it later. Note that you do not need a lot of space for linux, even if you install lots of linux applications. 10GB should be more than enough. If you are worried about data storage space, linux can use the windows XP "drives" to store data, also. -Dave Only if you partition as FAT32, not NTFS. Linux support for NTFS is still flaky and writing to NTFS filesystems especially is not recommended. Do the above by all means, but use FAT32 for WinXP - you can always convert to NTFS later if you decide not to use Linux. |
#4
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If you're looking for compatibility with Windows programs, then Lindows
isn't the way to go. It doesn't have any built in support for them. You're best bet is to go for Xandros Deluxe. That has built in CrossOver Office, which allows you to install and run many windows programs including the entire Office suite, Photoshop, Quicken, IE.... In addition, I've been very successful in getting other unofficially supported Windows programs to run without a hiccup. Not all work however (for instance I couldn't get Winrar to run). You could also just buy Lindows and then buy Crossover Office serperatly. Xandros is one of the best Linux distros though, especially for a windows convert, IMO. As others have suggested though, if you have some programs which you really love, I'd dual boot the machine with windows and linux until you're truly ready to make the switch. "Brandon" wrote in message news:0t2Xb.44074$Ii2.25915@lakeread03... I am building a new system, Gigabyte n7400L, XP 2800 (not sure which core yet, but probably the Barton), a Gig of Kingston ram, couple of 80 gig Maxtor's an MSi FX5300 graphics board( for now) a Plextor burner and CDrom,a 3.5 and a card reader. Been running 98se for years, just cant get myself to like XP, ( don't like how process are just buried, and the "privacy issues" which I hear have been "fixed"...sure)but figure I might convert anyway( to pro), just curious about Lindows and its compatibility with most windows based software and stability in general. I would like to move to Linux when I have the time to learn it. Thanks Brandon |
#5
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BarryNL wrote in message ...
Dave C. wrote: "Brandon" wrote in message news:0t2Xb.44074$Ii2.25915@lakeread03... I am building a new system, Gigabyte n7400L, XP 2800 (not sure which core yet, but probably the Barton), a Gig of Kingston ram, couple of 80 gig Maxtor's an MSi FX5300 graphics board( for now) a Plextor burner and [...] On Hard drive two, let xp partition 65GB and format as ntfs. (the rest, a little over 10GB probably, because hard drive manufacturers have a different definition for "GB", will not be partitioned at all) Now when you have time to tinker, pick up a copy of mandrake linux or fedora (NOT lindows). During the install of linux (I STRONGLY recommend mandrake linux), I'll second the recommendation for Mandrake. It's newbie friendly yet fully featured. The only downside to Mandrake is that it's _too_ fully featured. The default install can't decide whether it wants to be a desktop workstation or a powerful server--so it combines both. For a linux newbie trying to get a feel for all that Linux has to offer, this is awesome. However, for someone looking to do some serious work it's definitely bloated for either purpose. linux will set up a boot menu for you (to choose between linux and windows XP) and linux will use the unpartitioned space on your second hard drive to install the OS and swap space, etc. If you don't like linux, you can always uninstall it later. Note that you do not need a lot of space for linux, even if you install lots of linux applications. 10GB should be more than enough. If you are worried about data storage space, linux can use the windows XP "drives" to store data, also. -Dave Only if you partition as FAT32, not NTFS. Linux support for NTFS is still flaky and writing to NTFS filesystems especially is not recommended. Do the above by all means, but use FAT32 for WinXP - you can always convert to NTFS later if you decide not to use Linux. I'd go a step further and partition BOTH drives with large Fat32 partitions. That would leave the most space for data files accessable to both OS's. Actually, I'd partition the second drive as a single FAT32 partition for data. The first drive would have 3+ partitions--one for WinXP, one FAT32 partition for data, and the rest for Linux. I'd note that I have had difficulty using WinXP to format any 80+ gig drive with FAT32. WinXP was completely adamant about formating it in NTFS and refused to even give an option to format in anything else. At the time, I was visiting a friend's house, where his only computer was WinXP. I got frustrated quickly and just brought the drive home to use one of my Win98 machines, so I don't know if there's a WinXP workaround. Isaac Kuo |
#6
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If you want to try Linux then I use Knoppix, www.knoppix.com
Mainly because it is a ISO file that you burn to a CD and then boot from the CD, thus you can play with it, without having to instal on your HDD. the_gnome "Brandon" wrote in message news:0t2Xb.44074$Ii2.25915@lakeread03... I am building a new system, Gigabyte n7400L, XP 2800 (not sure which core yet, but probably the Barton), a Gig of Kingston ram, couple of 80 gig Maxtor's an MSi FX5300 graphics board( for now) a Plextor burner and CDrom,a 3.5 and a card reader. Been running 98se for years, just cant get myself to like XP, ( don't like how process are just buried, and the "privacy issues" which I hear have been "fixed"...sure)but figure I might convert anyway( to pro), just curious about Lindows and its compatibility with most windows based software and stability in general. I would like to move to Linux when I have the time to learn it. Thanks Brandon |
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