Need help choosing linux distro

gunbuster363

Hi guys I am new here.

I had used OpenSuSe back in the school but now I use Win xp usually. I feel the whole bunch of windows stuff are overwhelming my PC ( e.g: Silverlight, Visual C++ stuff ). I am wondering if I use linux, I could have better performance with my PC. However, I realized that many linux distro came after win xp, so the performance with regards to low end pc MIGHT not be that great.

I like linux because it is free and kinda cool.

Would you help to give some light here?

I need moderate user-friendly environment ( similar to XP, easy access with mouse and keyboard ), normal GUI experience ( no need to be fancy stuff, just stick to the level of win xp is okay ), easy installation especially dual boot install after having a win xp in the hard drive ( So that it wont screw up my pc ). I might do some python/ruby programming. The usage is watch video and music, it better to have good support for different video format. Should be able to play rmvb.

Could you give reasons for your suggestion?

P.S.

CPU : AMD Phenom II X3 710

RAM: DDR2 2Gb 800+ Hz Ram X 2

MB: ASROCK

VIDEO CARD: ATI HD4830

saqman2060

For startes, Linux works great on low-end PCs. In fact, PCs actually run better with a Linux OS installed.

If you want a Linux OS that user friendly and a gui easy to use like winxp, try linux mint 13 or Zorin OS 6. Both are very stable and will allow you to play and watch music and videos.

I recommend Zorin OS 6. Zorin is a Linux OS that has a windows look and feel to it and eye-candy designs. So if you prefer to navigate your PC they way you do in windows, Zorin is perfect. You can even change the deskop Gui to other styles that resembles older or newer versions of windows. This way, you don't have to relearn how to get around your system.

Zorin can even dualboot with your current installed OS easily with no complications. You will love it.

You have a powerful graphics card which will work wonders with Zorin.

Checkout this link

Zorin OS 6

If you need help installing it, let us know. We can walk you through it live.

saqman2060

Another note, you can use most of the popular programming languages in Linux.

friTTe

I have to recomennd Fuduntu, now completetly forked from Fedora but still uses .rpm for packages.

Great for laptops since it got Jupiter applet, and ATI gfx cards works like a charm.

http://fuduntu.org

Jupiter
http://www.jupiterapplet.org/

gunbuster363

Hi guys I've mess with Linux Mint 13 Mate for a few days.

At first it is okay but I found it lack way to configure it. For example, I am getting slightly mad when I found that I can't edit the size of my scroll bar.


Can you recommend another easy to use Linux Distro which is user friendly? By the way I think Linux Mint is okay but I need more customizable configuration.