Looking for something new

Jacques18

Hello All

I've been using (dare I say it here) Microsoft Windows since forever and I thought it might be nice to try out something new.

Now since I'm a total noob and don't know anything other than Windows I need some help from you guys.

I run a Windows Vista Home Premium Laptop with these specs

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo CPU P8600 @ 2.40 GHz per core

RAM: 4 GB

HDD: 220 GB and Vista uses a lot so at most I have 80 GB dedicated to my new OS

I really want to learn as much as I can about Linux and was wondering what would be the best "distro" for me since I'm a new noob and would be running it on a laptop? Also how would I be able to use the new OS and still be able to use my Vista OS?

I know that it can be done by dual booting or some sort but this is unfamiliar waters for me so any help would be appreciated.

Thanks a lot in advance

Jacques

ford

My recommendation is to download Wubi (http://wubi-installer.org/). This way you can install Ubuntu Linux as if it were a program, restart the machine and choose Ubuntu from your boot menu. You'll be ready to go. Once you're in your new Linux environment, you'll learn how things are done simply by trying to do something new.

As an example, I am only 22. I consider myself something of Linux pro, but this is only due to avid curiosity and having an electrical engineer for a father. He brought older machines home from his college and his work place. Those machines were usually running some form of BSD, but after going on BBSs I heard a lot about Debian and Slackware. I downloaded them, installed them, and from about 7 on, I was using Linux. As I wanted my machine to do something new, I would look through tons of information online and learn how to do it. With your new Linux system, you could serve a website, make 3d films of photos, build your own OS, almost anything. Have fun.

Jacques18

Wow this sounds about perfect and to tell the truth I can hardly believe that it would be that easy but I guess it's because so many people are working on open source software.
Thanks a thousand!

EDIT: Okay I downloaded Wubi and there is something called an "Installation size" Will this be the amount of space for the new OS?

mfillpot

I agree with ford, the wubi installer is the easiest and best for new users.

The installation size is the size of the file that it will create to house Ubuntu,this space will be allocated from your windows HD to Linux, be aware that your ubuntu installation will not be able to excess that size, if your HD is large enough then I recommend the largest value allowd.

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Jacques18

I have a small problem. I install wubi and everything worked fine. I restarted the pc and selected the Ubuntu OS and it went on to install furthur. After that finished the computer restarted again and I selected the Ubuntu OS again, but this time it gives me a GNU GRUB version 1.97~Beta4 thing with a bunch of commands. I'm not sure what to do here. Any help?

Jacques18

I need some help. I installed wubi and restarted my computer. I then selected the Ubuntu OS and it installed furthur and when it finished it restarted. When I selected it again it gave me a GNU GRUB version 1.97~beta 4 thing. I'm unsure what to do here.

mfillpot

What does it say on the grub screen?

Jacques18

I managed get the .iso of Ubuntu and burned a CD. I installed Ubuntu along Windows and it works perfectly. Thanks for all help guys I really appreciate it.

mfillpot

WE originally recommended the wubi installer because it does not require you to repartition and most people don't know how to do it. But since you got the partitioning and installation done on your own then it looks like you are set. But now you will have to clean the wubi trash from you windows installation, you should see files and folders named wubi and ubuntu on your primary windows directory, it is safe to delete those now.

usr_local

I think that a good way for someone like you to start out in Linux is to install VirtualBox on your Windows machine and then, install Ubuntu in VirtualBox. This way, your still inside your Windows machine and you can also use The Linux install.

pogson

Installing dual-boot can be complex. You could try using a virtual machine, a programme that runs on your OS and behaves like a regular PC. Then, to erase a mistake, all you have to do is remove a single file. see VirtualBox, open-source addition from SUN, now Oracle.

see http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

You can point it to your CD drive to boot the VM or you can use an .iso.

This has the advantage that you can run both OS simultaneously.