.Logan Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 (edited) I just bought a new laptop last November and decided it's time for me to move to Linux, I'm just sick of Windows. Sure, I love the fanciness of Vista, and the simplicity. But too often do things take too long (laggy), slow startup... it's just annoying. I'd like to try Linux, and from what I've seen Ubuntu is the distro of choice? I'm quite novice to Linux, any servers I've worked on are on Linux... but I only usually do stuff via cPanel... sometimes I did mysql stuff command line, and installations, general navigation, but that's it. Questions: Here is my laptop, should Ubuntu work fine with this hardware?Toshiba Satellite Intel Core 2 Duo T5250 1.5GHz2GB of RAM160GB Hard DriveDVD BurnerBuilt-in WirelessIntegrated video Does Linux work fine with a core 2 duo? Use it properly? Is it possible to do everything point and click on Ubuntu? I want something as close to Windows as possible but without the windows-garbage. When would I ever need to use command line? Does Linux do plug and play like Windows? Example, plug in my flash drive, and it works instantly? Digital camera, etc... Edited February 18, 2008 by .Logan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xenomorph Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 If you don't like Vista, you could always run Windows XP. Or even Windows 2000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.Logan Posted February 18, 2008 Author Share Posted February 18, 2008 (edited) I have XP on my other home computer, the hardware is crappy, therefore XP is expected to not run great. I haven't tried XP on the laptop, I'm sure with the specs it would run quite well... but I would miss Vista, it's fancy, I love the explorer folder navigation, and other things. But I've had a lot of problems with it and would just like to try something totally new... yet something that can look nice and be easy to use. Edited February 18, 2008 by .Logan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fusi0n Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 Yeah, Ubuntu is the best. However, there is a learning curve to Linux. It will handle the Core 2 duo just like any OS. Also, no one can tell you if it is going to work "properly" it will take time to get everything working just right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CelticWhisper Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 1. Ubuntu will run like a dream on that. Switch on Compiz-Fusion and get some cool Emerald themes and your UI will put Vista and OS X to shame. I'm a big-time Mac fan and I swear to you Compiz can kick the Leopard UI's ass six ways till Sunday. 2. Yup. You can get the x86_64 version if you want to take full advantage of the hardware, otherwise the x86/i386 version will run fine too. My Athlon64 is running x86/i386 right now as I'd heard there were a few driver issues with the x86_64 version and my laptop has had a long history of hardware not playing nice with Linux. The only caution would be with the video card. ATI cards are notoriously difficult to make cooperate under Linux as ATI releases bloated, incomplete, half-assed binary drivers. NVidia's open-source drivers are much better. Ubuntu will work with ATI cards but some of the compositing features (Compiz) may be unavailable. 3. The vast majority of things are point-n-click on Ubuntu. I'd still track down a good CLI reference guide since you'll need to use it sooner or later (editing config files, writing scripts, using apt-get), but I'd say 98% of stuff has a reasonable GUI alternative. 4. Better than Windows. Plugging in a Logitech MX Revo would have required XP to spend a few seconds configuring drivers before it would start working. The same mouse worked literally the instant I plugged the receiver in. Storage devices automount and links appear on the desktop. My girlfriend recently asked me to upgrade her old Dell laptop from XP to Ubuntu and she regained use of a scanner that was collecting dust for years because the XP driver was buggy. XSANE picked it up and accessed it with no configuration necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEX4S Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 I am using one of my HDDs as a ubuntu drive - I can tell you that hardware will be fine -- I can also tell you the learning curve wouldnt be so bad if there were some readily available support. Yes there are a plethera of "forums" touting support for ubuntu, but many times they answers are waaayyyyy to word-y or intended for people with a basic knowledge of *nix navigating - not for someone like me who is doing the bare minimum and wanting to learn more... However if someone knows of a site that is great for complete uber-n00bs - then please let me & .Logan know (sorry for the thread hi-jack, .Logan) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stonkwell Bogtrotter Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 I've had more problems on XP than Vista. I'd really just like to take the plunge into Linux if I know things will work properly. So, you've had loads of problems with Vista...and XP? And with such a nice spec laptop too. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.Logan Posted February 18, 2008 Author Share Posted February 18, 2008 So, you've had loads of problems with Vista...and XP?And with such a nice spec laptop too. ;) You're right, I'm probably over-exagerating a bit. I haven't tried XP on this laptop, it's on my old home computer... runs crappy, expected though as the hardware isn't great. Vista on the laptop isn't bad up and running, startup takes a long time, and things get laggy at times... and I've tried to solve both issues to no avail. And, I'd just like to try something different :) Thanks for the great answers so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorak Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 Although this goes completely against the minimalist and true Linux user in me, I will recommend the following as an easier transition from Windows: PCLinuxOS Ubuntu Fedora The first one is specifically designed simplistic, for new Linux users. Ubuntu and Fedora are just so huge (Ubuntu mainly), that support, and guides, everything you need is in abundance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theresiststance2003 Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 Although this goes completely against the minimalist and true Linux user in me, I will recommend the following as an easier transition from Windows:PCLinuxOS Ubuntu Fedora The first one is specifically designed simplistic, for new Linux users. Ubuntu and Fedora are just so huge (Ubuntu mainly), that support, and guides, everything you need is in abundance. I've never used PCLinuxOS, but Ubuntu and Fedora are great. To the OP: I'd recommend Ubuntu for a beginner, as there's TONS of community support for it.. especially on the official Ubuntu forums. Also, I think it's a bit more intuitive than Fedora for new users. Glad to see you've jumped onboard! =) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.Logan Posted February 18, 2008 Author Share Posted February 18, 2008 I've never used PCLinuxOS, but Ubuntu and Fedora are great.To the OP: I'd recommend Ubuntu for a beginner, as there's TONS of community support for it.. especially on the official Ubuntu forums. Also, I think it's a bit more intuitive than Fedora for new users. Glad to see you've jumped onboard! =) Thanks! I'm definitely going to go with Ubuntu :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HawkMan Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 One of your primary motivators for switchign from Vista to Linux was slow boot time ? yeah... oh and I'd reccomend PCLinux OS over Fedora and Ubuntu any day. it's just better, better config tools and in my experience more compatibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.Logan Posted February 18, 2008 Author Share Posted February 18, 2008 One of your primary motivators for switchign from Vista to Linux was slow boot time ? yeah...oh and I'd reccomend PCLinux OS over Fedora and Ubuntu any day. it's just better, better config tools and in my experience more compatibility. In addition to lagging at times, and some applications I use not fully-supporting Vista. Of course, there's also the drive to want to try out Linux full-time. Not like the reasons really matter :p I'll take a look at PCLinux. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
night_stalker_z Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 The best way is to download Ubuntu and run it as a Live CD. Make sure the wireless works before installing since thats the most important part. Without it, you cant get any help unless you have another computer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CyberManifest Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 Give Linux Mint a try it's Ubuntu based and comes preconfigured with codecs and other propriatray technologies, such as flash and java. Linux Mint is not only easy to use but is beautiful and there are different versions available KDE, GNOME, XFCE, BlackBox, etc. Not to mention compiz is already installed and ready to use out of the box, it's simply a mater of enabling it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markwolfe Veteran Posted February 18, 2008 Veteran Share Posted February 18, 2008 I am a recent convert as of last week to Ubuntu (well, Xubuntu, actually) after using Red Hat/Fedora for all my Linux days. It really was much easier to set up than my normally preferred Fedora. The nVidia driver popped up after first boot automatically and asked if I wanted to install it. Browser plug-ins were installed with a click as I went to pages that used that sort of content (flash/java). I don't think you will be disappointed in it at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.Logan Posted February 18, 2008 Author Share Posted February 18, 2008 I am a recent convert as of last week to Ubuntu (well, Xubuntu, actually) after using Red Hat/Fedora for all my Linux days.It really was much easier to set up than my normally preferred Fedora. The nVidia driver popped up after first boot automatically and asked if I wanted to install it. Browser plug-ins were installed with a click as I went to pages that used that sort of content (flash/java). I don't think you will be disappointed in it at all. Very good to hear, thank you :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tha Bloo Monkee Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 I tried Ubuntu for a month, I didn't mind it but went back to XP after. I missed the simplicity of simpler things in Windows, but Ubuntu I find is much more customizable to suit your needs. The only thing that really lacks is gaming (which I think is assumed), but if you don't game, no worries. About the plug-n-play thing, I had one hell of a time trying to get the drivers to work properly for my wireless card on XP (the drivers didn't work right, which I didn't know at the time and had to get another update), in Ubuntu - NO drivers needed! I was quite impressed. The only drivers I had to install were my ATI ones, which worked for me (Radeon Xpress 200). Using Linux really opened the world of open-source software to me and showed me that there's really a free alternative to everything you could ever want... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ultimate99 Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 Ok, I'll hijack this thread a bit... I have a 5-6 yr old laptop and XP Home that came with it is REALLY REALLY slow!! It's a P4 2.0 (probably desktop, not mobile), 256mb ram, and maybe an ati gfx, don't really remember as I haven't used it for a long time, and 30gb hdd. (no wireless or integrated bluetooth) My question is, should I install Ubuntu, or will it be slow also? And, will it be compatible with other windows machines, i.e. plugging and unplugging usb flash drives and external hdd's, sharing word documents, excel, and powerpoint presentations?? I have used linux in the past, but not for too long and I know there's is open office, is it good, or did it improve, any alternatives? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foub Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 Ok, I'll hijack this thread a bit...I have a 5-6 yr old laptop and XP Home that came with it is REALLY REALLY slow!! It's a P4 2.0 (probably desktop, not mobile), 256mb ram, and maybe an ati gfx, don't really remember as I haven't used it for a long time, and 30gb hdd. (no wireless or integrated bluetooth) My question is, should I install Ubuntu, or will it be slow also? And, will it be compatible with other windows machines, i.e. plugging and unplugging usb flash drives and external hdd's, sharing word documents, excel, and powerpoint presentations?? I have used linux in the past, but not for too long and I know there's is open office, is it good, or did it improve, any alternatives? Install Ubuntu. It'll be much faster. On a desktop system Ubuntu can run the same sort of desktop graphics as Vista(Aero), and much, much, much more and only use a fraction of the resources as would Vista. Its almost embarrassing that it does so much better than a commercial product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markwolfe Veteran Posted February 18, 2008 Veteran Share Posted February 18, 2008 I'm not sure that Ubuntu will be "much faster". If you find that Ubuntu isn't quite as peppy as you think it ought to be, might want to try Xubuntu. Basically you change your Gnome desktop for an XFCE one. I think you can even just add XFCE from within Ubuntu, giving you a choice in which session you want to start when you log in. (Y) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicane-UK Veteran Posted February 18, 2008 Veteran Share Posted February 18, 2008 I've been using Linux on and off for about 11 years and Ubuntu was the biggest breath of fresh air for me when I first tried it about a year ago... it still has a little way to go, but it really is so so good compared to what we had to muddle along with back in the late 90's! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlibbyFlobby Posted February 18, 2008 Share Posted February 18, 2008 You should definately dive in with Ubuntu imo. I've tried quite a few distros and I always end up coming back to Ubuntu in the end. There is tons of support for it (Google/Ubuntu forums/Ubuntu wiki/IRC), you can get proprietary codecs and plugins (Java, Flash, mp3s, DVD's, drivers etc) working with it quickly and easily. Plus there is loads of great software in the repositories which can be installed in a few clicks. Good luck. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foub Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 I'm not sure that Ubuntu will be "much faster". If you find that Ubuntu isn't quite as peppy as you think it ought to be, might want to try Xubuntu. Basically you change your Gnome desktop for an XFCE one.I think you can even just add XFCE from within Ubuntu, giving you a choice in which session you want to start when you log in. (Y) It still does just about the exact things that Vista can do, and more, at a fraction of the resources. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Litespeed Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 Ubuntu would be my choice. I've found it's very well supported for Linux newbs like me. I feel confident that if I get stuck the answer is often just a Google away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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