Linux advice- a new world for me

I consider myself just above a novice on Windows - but I really don't have time for W8 which is the OS i currently run. So I am pondering running Linux although I know zero about it (apart from its clean and not Microsoft).

Anyone point me in the right direction for start up tips , where to get it - how does its programmes compare to Windows based progs and most importantly can I "partition" my hard drive (how is that done) and run both W8 / Linux until I get used to it?

Cheers:cool

 

Try Linux Mint 14... the best distro of the lot and join their forum here: http://forums.linuxmint.com/index.php can't be beat.

 

Linux Mint 13 is stable and has Long Term Support thru 2017

Also see the Major Geeks Linux Forum...

 

Both versions of Linux mentioned have GParted included in the distros. Make sure you get the "Live" version of the Linux distro so you can run it from the DVD.

You can use GParted to resize/move the Win 8 partition, create unallocated space and then install the version of Linux you chose to that unallocated space. You should then be able to dual boot into either Linux or Windows.

Best of luck.

 

How about a version of Linux that boots in just a few seconds, requires no partitioning of your hard disk, in fact doesn't even care if you have no hard disk at all, and for good measure doesn't touch your MBR? (Nearly all Linux distributions install Grub as boot manager in place of your standard Windows boot manager). I'm talking about Puppy Linux, which can (by installing EasyBCD in Windows) be run directly from an iso file stored on your hard disk - no CDs or even CD drive required. It's lightning fast (runs entirely from RAM), has all the software you would expect to find and, if you foresee yourself primarily using Windows, be the only Linux you will ever need. At the very least it's an amazing intro to Linux and a great tool for recovering files from non-booting systems.

http://puppylinux.org/main/Overview and Getting Started.htm

 

minigeek posted detailed instructions for using Puppy Linux the way Earthling describes at:

http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic/dual-boot-linux-puppy-and-windows-7

 

A "layman's" personal experience...

I am a complete novice with Linux. But I managed to set up a LINUX system in very short while by myself. i stress that this a very recent personal experience and it is not the only route.

How to set up a simple system - see the first few pages on www.linux.co.uk
I set up a Linux bootable flash (pen drive, USB stick) drive which boots into Linux from the flash drive if you set up your PC to try booting from USB first. That way you don't have to do any drive partitioning and you can create a Linux system that is totally isolated from your Windows system.
I set up MINT 15 which is the latest release of MINT, following a method outlined for creating a LiveUSB system on the website I referred to above.

Step-by-step (all the steps can be found on the first few pages of the website I referred to)

Download the iso file of the Linux distribution you want (don't worry about it it being an iso). Ubuntu is very popular, and perhaps has the widest software base, but I chose MINT as I said. There are several 'desktops' (which assume means GUI interfaces) to choose from, I select MINT with the MATE desktop although I could have chosen the Cinnamon desktop on the download site I visited. This was contained within the iso. All of these choices were slightly arbitrary.

Now go to the bottom of this page if you haven't already found it. I chose the UUInstaller. This will install the Linux iso to your flash drive as a bootable OS. Running this gives you a vast list/choice of distributions that it can install to a USB, so as I had previously decided upon the MINT15 distribution, I selected this one. I entered the location where the is I had downloaded was, and followed the steps, and I had bootable Linux system on my USB flash drive, a next time I booted with the flash drive in place I was in Linux !

One thing with this MINT distribution, there are some larger screen icons (three: computer, home and install). As I was installing the system (for the first time) I selected the large install icon - which was a mistake - I hadn't realised that MINT was already installed ! Instead, look to the bottom left of this screen, and click on 'menu' icon where a more familiar type of "window" will open...

Hope this helpful

Dumb_Question
9.August.2013

 

I want to delete THIS post and leave my other one
dumb_question

 

A good solution for someone wanting to experiment without committment is to burn a LiveCD and boot to it, no install required to explore Linux.

http://livecdlist.com/ is the site to visit, check out the offerings by type, download the .iso, burn to CD/DVD, boot to it and explore without ever touching your hard drive and the Windows install ther until/if you wish...

Mint, Puppy are good choices for the novice...