Daninku Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Hi all... yes the title says it all. I was thinking of downloading Windows 7 yesterday, but thought why not try a Linux distro instead? Well, if I had to ask whether to try Windows 7 or Linux in this section, the answer would be to try Linux haha... so I'm not asking anything about that. I'm trying to find a user friendly Linux distro, x64. I might keep using Linux in the future too. So... keep the suggestions coming :) Thanks :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney T. Administrators Posted January 10, 2009 Administrators Share Posted January 10, 2009 We have several threads on the pluses and minuses of various distros. Here is on to start you: https://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=512334 I am sure others will have specific recommendations here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daninku Posted January 10, 2009 Author Share Posted January 10, 2009 There's so much to choose from that it's difficult to choose on your own, especially when you don't have enough knowledge on Linux. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syanide Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Linux Mint 6. Usually everone would recommend Ubuntu, but this is coming from a n00b as well, so I guess you might appreciate it more. It is slick, it is stylish, it comes with almost everything as Ubuntu. Actually comes with more stuff: codecs and some other useful things are pre-installed, so you can use it even without internet if you need to for some reason... Installing both Ubuntu and Ubuntu based distros is probably the easiest thing I have seen when it comes to installing an OS. Trust me, you'll be done in no time. Other than that I find Fedora to be really nice. Oh and a general advice, the biggest trouble I had (actually I'm still having it...) is wireless support. So check if there are any known problems with your wireless (especially if you use it as an internet connection), or any other hardware for that matter with the distribution you want to try, and prepare yourself for some tweaking, download some documentation so you can do it right away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney T. Administrators Posted January 10, 2009 Administrators Share Posted January 10, 2009 I'm trying to find a user friendly Linux distro, x64. I run Debian Lenny x64. I used the netinstall and it works like a charm. Debian is the parent distro of Ubuntu and has thousands of packages in its repositories. Debian is one of the oldest distros and is completely volunteer managed. It really rocks! http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daninku Posted January 10, 2009 Author Share Posted January 10, 2009 I found this table, which makes it more difficult to choose from. http://libreamoi.com/images/linuxdistrotimeline.png The problem is that I don't know what I really need, except an alternative to Windows as I'm kind of fed up of Windows. I believe that you can do more with Linux, especially when one knows how to really use it. So Windows is becoming kind of limited. A simple question, but maybe a long answer. What are the differences between Gnome and KDE? Is it only the look (GUI)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnuman Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 KDE has a Windows type feeling where the menu bar is at the bottom. GNOME is where the menu is at the top, has a "simpler" menu style but its somewhat a bit harder to update that KDE. For beginners, I would suggest either Linux Mint 6 or Fedora 10 or OpenSuse 11.1. Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu with some stuff added on. Fedora 10 is nice and is more advanced, so I don't know how much you want from it. But if you go with Linux Mint, any forums that are about Ubuntu will still apply to you and the support pages for Ubuntu are incredible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daninku Posted January 10, 2009 Author Share Posted January 10, 2009 (edited) Thanks gnuman. So, what you're saying is that two different distros using KDE look the same? I think I will try Mint. Just a few questions. Does Linux needs the usual software you find on Windows... anti-virus, anti-spyware, reg cleaners, blah blah... (noob question!) Edited January 10, 2009 by Daninku Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daninku Posted January 10, 2009 Author Share Posted January 10, 2009 Mint x64 version was released a few days back, and it's not a stable version yet... so I guess I will have to go for Ubuntu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markwolfe Veteran Posted January 10, 2009 Veteran Share Posted January 10, 2009 Yeah, for dipping your feet in, it might be best to go with a popular recommendation, and find out what works well for you, and what you need changed. The changes might be best done with your current distro/environment, or might be easier if you jumped to another distro. But no one can guess this before you come back and tell us what you like, and what you don't. ;) Just a few questions. Does Linux needs the usual software you find on Windows... anti-virus, anti-spyware, reg cleaners, blah blah... (noob question!) anti-virus,Not required, but various companies like Avast make AV for Linux. Trend Micro's website works if you use Linux and browse to their online checker. But there aren't nearly the number of threats out there for Linux that there are for Windows. I currently have Avast installed, but I have only checked on occasion. If there is a sudden report of a Linux virus, I already have it installed. Going on 6 years now, and I haven't actually heard of any new threats.anti-spywareI haven't heard of Linux spyware. Maybe a rootkit? If you are concerned about rootkits, there is 'chkrootkit'. When I first dabbled in Linux, I used Red Hat. And, being an uber-noob, I was afraid I would break something with updates (carry over from Windows at the day, which was at the 98/Me timeframe). So, leaving the default Red Hat install that included sendmail server (I still think that this is a poor decision to enable by default app for Red Hat) and never updating my Linux boot, my box was taken over (at least sendmail was compromized and 'pwned' by someone else) and was used as a spambot for several hours. I guess the lesson is that if you leave a Windows box or a Linux box to rot without getting your updates, you put yourself at risk.reg cleanersNot needed. Application configurations are small human-readable text files.blah blahDefraggers, you say? Also not needed.(noob question!)We were all noobs once. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daninku Posted January 10, 2009 Author Share Posted January 10, 2009 Haha ok, thanks for the information. ... I'm still thinking how did you guessed about the 'blah blah'! hehehe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knife Party Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Opensuse - fast, visually appealing and easy to configure with gnome Xubuntu - getting the hang of Xfce takes a tad bit longer, yet worth the learn ( learning curve basically minimal) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daninku Posted January 10, 2009 Author Share Posted January 10, 2009 I've put the downloaded files onto a CD and booted from CD... but it booted Windows instead! What's wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markwolfe Veteran Posted January 10, 2009 Veteran Share Posted January 10, 2009 Sounds like you went wrong by "putting files onto a CD". You should have downloaded an .iso image. That contains the files and the boot information. If you opened the ISO to burn the files.... You don't get the boot info. That would be my first guess. To be more sure, did you get an iso file? If so, did you burn as an image? Or did you use some other method? Also, are you sure your BIOS is set to boot from optical media before the hard drive? That is another thing that is sometimes missed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macf13nd Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 check your BIOS that you are set to boot from CD first? (sorry obvious but it is the obvious explanation!). Other than that, make sure you press the required key when prompted to boot from CD....? If you've done both of those then my next step would be to post on Neowin, & I'll shut up! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daninku Posted January 10, 2009 Author Share Posted January 10, 2009 lol ok... yes it is set to boot from CD. I'm not sure hat I've downloaded but I opened to downloaded file with winrar and extracted the files then burned them on a CD. These are the folders (F) and files (f) on the CD: F - .disk F - casper F - dists F - install F - isolinux F - pics F - pool F - preseed f - autorun f - md5sum f - README.diskdefines f - ubuntu f - umenu f - wubi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markwolfe Veteran Posted January 10, 2009 Veteran Share Posted January 10, 2009 ... but I opened to downloaded file with winrar and extracted the files then burned them on a CD. That's what you did wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daninku Posted January 10, 2009 Author Share Posted January 10, 2009 Not sure if it was .iso and appeared with the winrar icon. But I've deleted to original downloaded file now. Is it possible to re-archive the files into .iso? My guess is that it was .iso Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markwolfe Veteran Posted January 10, 2009 Veteran Share Posted January 10, 2009 Winrar must have associated itself with iso files. Extracting got the files, but missed the boot info. Winrar was evil, and screwed you over, buddy :p You need to get the iso image again. DO NOT 'extract' anything from it. Just use whatever burning tool you have to burn it as an image. That should do it. (Y) P.S. You can't 're-archive' it, since you have already lost the boot information when you deleted the correct iso you downloaded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dysphoria Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Hi all... yes the title says it all. I was thinking of downloading Windows 7 yesterday, but thought why not try a Linux distro instead? Well, if I had to ask whether to try Windows 7 or Linux in this section, the answer would be to try Linux haha... so I'm not asking anything about that.I'm trying to find a user friendly Linux distro, x64. I might keep using Linux in the future too. So... keep the suggestions coming :) Thanks :) Personally I love both OpenSuse and Fedora. I've been using both distros for a while and havent really run into anything I can not resolve. There is also large online documentation, so you can always get some help and pointers by searching on google. Cheers Not sure if it was .iso and appeared with the winrar icon. But I've deleted to original downloaded file now. Is it possible to re-archive the files into .iso? My guess is that it was .iso Just download the ISO image of the distro and then burn it by using any of your burning apps. Do not use winrar to open it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daninku Posted January 10, 2009 Author Share Posted January 10, 2009 lol... I'm downloading fedora. I already have a bunch of original ubuntu CDs but they're old. I've already used Ubuntu so I'm going to try Fedora seeing I've screwed everything :p Is the second one what I need? 64-bit? http://torrent.fedoraproject.org/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dysphoria Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 lol... I'm downloading fedora. I already have a bunch of original ubuntu CDs but they're old. I've already used Ubuntu so I'm going to try Fedora seeing I've screwed everything :p Yeah I have Fedora 10 on my Laptop and I love it. It's my first choice for sure. Has a great crew of developers. Have fun! Yes get the Second x86_64 DVD image Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mclaren05 Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 1: Download Ubuntu 2: Download ImgBurn 3: Install ImgBurn 4: Open ImgBurn 5: Click Write image file to disc 6: Search for the ISO on your HDD 7: Burn that bitch 8: Turn off PC 9: Turn on PC 10: Enter BIOS 11: Make sure your CD-ROM/DVD-ROM is the first device your PC boots from 12: Insert your burned CD into your drive 13: Restart PC 14: Install Ubuntu And if you honestly go wrong on any of those steps, Im sorry but Linux is not for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daninku Posted January 10, 2009 Author Share Posted January 10, 2009 ... do you think I don't know how to do it? I just have extensions turned off so I didn't realised it was an iso since it had the winrar icon so I just extracted! BTW... hope you'll be fine :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Spork) Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Yeah I have Fedora 10 on my Laptop and I love it.It's my first choice for sure. Has a great crew of developers. Have fun! Yes get the Second x86_64 DVD image hows the partition manager in fedora ? it is like Ubuntu where you can drag it to the side you want the partition ? or different Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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