Moving to LINUX

Where can I find out about LINUX? I have a laptop that has Windows Vista on it but I don't like it. I was wondering if it would be better for me to run LINUX instead.

I am new to this so I don't know all of the ins and outs, the advantages and disadvantages of LINUX over Windows. Can most programs be run on LINUX instead of Windows? I was also wondering if it would be safer or better or even faster to get rid of Windows altogether or leave it for a dual boot option. How hard is it to do? Any known issues or problems?

I'd rather hear from people who have gone through this experience as opposed to hearing the company line from Microsoft or Linux.

Cheers.

 

That depends upon the program, open source software probably has you covered.
http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/Linux_software_equivalent_to_Windows_software

You can do what you wish, keeping 2nd OS till you are comfortable with your choice of Linux distro
As far as safety- I do not use any anti viral, never needed it. Stability- up and running till I mess with it!
Fast would depend upon your pc and choice of distro-- I have several old 800mhz pcs running Damm small Linux and they cook right along as file servers.

Used windows till about 5 years ago and have never looked back once I got a taste.
(kinda fun to fix a windows OS with a Linux box tho..... LOL)

Wow that was good coffee.....
P


.

 

i have a tripple boot system with mandriva linux as my primary o/s with win2k and xp,

my linux is a lot quicker than windows at virtually everything, all the programs i use are free (including linux itself) and are easy to find via the software manager, no need to go hunting around the web,
most hardware is supported 'out of the box' so, again, no need to go hunting for drivers,

all the software you may need will be in the repository, which is accessable by everyone on that version of linux, so the chances of a 'bad' piece of software is about - nil,
if there was a 'bad' program that got through the testing, it would be reported straight away and removed from the repository,

safer ? - i guess you mean malware, all i use is rkhunter, its a rootkit detector and takes about 2 mins to do a full scan, and my routers firewall - compared to ca antivirus, spybot, spyware terminator, spywareblaster, zone alarm, defender and a couple of others on my windows,

there is no need to defrag on linux, or run a disk cleanup program, disk imaging, cloning, backup/restore are all free - its an all round good egg:-D

the downside is ........... erm ......... ah ........ havn't found one yet

linux is not hard - its just learning new programs and the names (eg nero = k3b + devede)

and then there is windowsrolleyes

just my bit

 

I read tutorials and such on line for months before I finally dove in (right about the time Vista was released) as I knew I wanted to dual boot XP and Linux from the get go. You should try to dual boot Vista with a Linux distro, backup Vista, and have a way to reinstall your Vista system if the need arises. Imagine your BIOS is already set to boot from CD/DVD (optical) drive. First step is to try some Live CD's.
http://www.livecdlist.com/
Softpedia has a Linux Distributions section as well if you are so inclined, not all are Live CD's...
http://linux.softpedia.com/catList/248,0,2,0,1.html:-o
Download the ISO's of the distributions you want to try, and burn them with a freeware program like IMGBurn, or K3b if your using Linux.
http://majorgeeks.com/ImgBurn_d4870.html:major
I use rewritable cd's and dvd's so if the burn goes bad can erase and try again, usually by lowering the write speed, or downloading again. Also Verify copy after burning. Have fun, and take a break once in a while...:tired
I Love Linux :heart
Guess I need professional help:-D
Dual booting Windows 7 and PCLinuxOS 2009...today

 

I agree with most all the posts I have seen in this thread. I am not an IT guy, don't consider myself a geek. I want to use my computer, not have a relationship with it. Start with the cd images and run from the cd drive without modifications to your system. You needn't delve into the finer points of Linux until you find a distro you are comfortable with. Some look like Windows, some are refreshingly different. All just work! Super Ubuntu has a nice set of apps and has a user friendly package manger to add apps. You can find something out there you will be comfortable with. Driver support can be an issue.

 

try the ubuntu live cd. if you get networking, sound, and of course vid, youre good to go

 

Printer drivers are the biggest issue I found. HP gives the best support for Linux. I bought a cheap HP printer and installed HPLISP and viola! I found migrating easy because I didn't have to set-up networking, or find drivers for sound and video cards. I have a basic machine and Linux recognized everything but the printer. I have all the apps I need except for AutoCAD and Wine will enable that (when I figure out Wine).