Any tips for Ubuntu?

[Smitty_82]

Loading ubuntu 10.10 on my older laptop for fun and cause windows xp runs really slow on it. I have a new netbook so this is more to have an extra usable laptop to play with but wondered if anyone had any tips before I started.

 

[igotsanevo4g]

Use google chrome, search restricted in the software center and get the proprietary stuff, and... enjoy

 

[Smitty_82]

Great, I'm looking forword to it. Having a little trouble getting it loaded, but it's mostly due to windows making the computer run really slow to get the CD set up to run it. If all goes well I can hopefully have a Apple/Microsoft free house! Thanks for the tips!

 

[Smitty_82]

Urggg! This won't install on my laptop. Just the hourglass forever. Must be a bad cd rip. Just venting, lol. I'll try downloading again and try again after some sleep.

 

[neechi]

If you are having trouble, there are some lighter weight distros available. I use Asturix myself-because it has a smaller footprint. You probably already have checked but distrowatch has info on just about every flavor imaginable- including some made for older hardware.

Sent from my Samsung Continuum

 

[RHChan84]

There are smaller verison of ubuntu if you want to try but I want to ask, why ubuntu? There are others other there that are good. Mandriva is good. Knoppix is a live cd/dvd that you can try. You could always check out pendrivelinux.com and make a bootable USB drive but as long as your laptop's BIOs can boot from usb.

 

[Smitty_82]

Thanks for the responses, I figured out what the issue was and am up and running with Ubuntu 10.10. One down, one to go and I will be completely Microsoft and Apple free, lol. I love it so far. I had to add RAM and it is running like a champ now. Never thought this 6 year old laptop would be this fast again. No bad. A $30 RAM upgrade and I have an extra computer that's usable! FYI, this is my first Linux OS and Ubuntu was recommended by a friend that uses it. Pretty easy once I got everything figured out.

 

[RHChan84]

Gotcha. I like Knoppix and Mandriva/Mandrake better but thats personal preference. Also you can install Ubuntu to a USB drive and bring it everywhere with you but then again, you already wiped and installed a new OS. pendrivelinux.com is a good site to check out for usb Linux setup.

 

[Smitty_82]

Lol, I tried the usb first. My laptop doesn't support booting from usb. Ubuntu is much faster than windows, lol

 

[RHChan84]

Any linux is overall faster then windows. I have Windows7 with a virtual drive with Windows XP, Ubuntu and Mandriva and all with the same specs for setup and Linux justvrubs so much faster. Actually Windows XP is setup to use 768mb ram and both linux are setup for 512mb.

 

[Smitty_82]

Very impressed, I'm sold on Linux. Just need to figure out if I can get my netbook set up now. Don't want to pay the cash to upgrade from W7 Starter, lol. I haven't been able to find any way so far to set up the internal VZW 3G. If they would hurry up and come out with a LTE MIFI that would solve all my problems, lol

 

[RHChan84]

I think Q2 or Q3 are when the new MiFi comes out with 4g but again, I rarely listen to what any reps say.

If your not sure on which one is for you there are options. Pendrivelinux.com is a good site that can help you put a bootable Linux on a Flash drive. Also there are live-cd/dvd to run off your computer and see if you like it if you do not have the option to boot from USB.

 

[igotsanevo4g]

Just pop out some wifi from your DX

Only thing that ubuntu lacks for me is my integrated GPU support, it supports it but it blows. haha, oh well its a 10 year old computer

 

[zero3187]

I love ubuntu. I have a dual boot on my laptop for if I ever want to mess around with it. It's compatible with most hardware and there's plenty of open source programs that do everything that programs on other os' can do. Also the price point is just amazing lol

 

[RHChan84]

I thought about dual boot but I did not want to reformat and re-do everything over. I ended up using VMWare Player. It's close enough to dual boot without reformatting.

 

[Mr Pandroid]

There's always a work around with Linux instead of dual booting! I'm on Ubuntu 10.10 at the moment; I've used Kubuntu, Xubuntu, OpenSUSE, Arch, and Mint. Anything I need to do with "windows" I use WINE. Or 3rd party/open source. It's great, I'll never go back to Windows. (Although I will admit, Windows 7 is a pretty nice OS....)

 

[RHChan84]

Windows 7 is eh but steps ahead of Vista. It's just a lot of work stuff needs Windows to work. Window 7 is growing on me and I like it but Linus is more stable and faster with the same hardware.

Using just VMWare Player, windows XP is eh and sluggish. Again with VMWare, Linux with less RAM ran smoother.

 

[Mr Pandroid]

I do enjoy Linux overall...its actually a lot more simple than I originally thought it would be. I've learned a lot about it too with things like conky and archlinux.