Linux newbie

pctech24

Hey all I am interested in the whole Linux over Windows OS and was wondering where is the best place to download linux safely and start using it over instead of Windows, and any advice on security , settings, etc.
Thanks

AnCatDubh

start off with a live boot from a memory stick - http://www.pendrivelinux.com/

try a couple of distros and see what you like best.

pctech24

AnCatDubh wrote: »

start off with a live boot from a memory stick - http://www.pendrivelinux.com/

try a couple of distros and see what you like best.

Cheers thank you i will flute around with it tonight

Lovely Bloke

I think the best place to start, for someone coming from a "only ever used windows" background would be Linux Mint. It's a fairly nice OS, and isn't too different looking to Windows - it also works straight away once installed on a fairly modern machine - and some not-so modern ones too.

From there try Ubuntu, or one of it's many flavours.

Tom Dunne

pctech24 wrote: »

Hey all I am interested in the whole Linux over Windows OS and was wondering where is the best place to download linux safely and start using it over instead of Windows, and any advice on security , settings, etc.
Thanks

Just to clarify what others have said - you can download a Linux distribution to either a USB stick or CD and boot up the computer directly into Linux without installing it. Look for "LiveCD".

Try it out, see how you get on and you can then install it permanently on your hard drive if you like it. You will usually have to option of overwriting Windows, or having the two of them on the hard drive at the one time (choosing which you want when you switch on the computer).

excollier

Try Distrowatch.com for comprehensive listings, and download links, reviews etc. They cover just about every form of linux available.
http://distrowatch.com/

If you start out with Linux Mint, you will find it similar to Windows, and you don't really need too much knowledge of the command line, just some basics, so don't fear it.

PrzemoF

OP, welcome to the linux world!
Google for a few popular distros (ubuntu, mint, sabayon, fedora) and install [or use livecd] something that looks interesting for you. If you hit any problems come back here - we'll help you!

RodgersLFC

Ubuntu or Linux Mint are the best places to start - Ubuntu's Unity desktop is pretty user friendly, with the dock down the left hand side and easy search function through the Dash button. Mint looks more like Windows - I find Mint's menu to be annoying personally, but thats just me.

Xubuntu and Lubuntu (two lightweight derivatives of Ubuntu) are also nice and run well on machines with 1GB RAM or less.

Its great fun playing around and experimenting with them. I suggest that rather than doing clean installs, you either run a LiveCD or install VirtualBox on your Windows host and run some Linux distros as virtual machines, just to try them out.

Enjoy

rebeve

Go for it .Mint is simple and will recognize all your hardware .Then you can decide on a desktop ,great fun . You won`t look back .

Moving to linux was one of my better decisions .

Khannie

rebeve wrote: »

Moving to linux was one of my better decisions .

Same. It was a long time ago, so there was a slightly painful learning curve. I used to think of people who said that they couldn't go back to windows as being eejits, but I am now one of those eejits. There are no windows machines in my house. The kids use linux and find it grand (my wife and I met in computer science, so she was always going to be fine).

pctech24

thank you all , if i encounter any problems il be sure to hit you guys up :-)

Lovely Bloke

pctech24 wrote: »

thank you all , if i encounter any problems il be sure to hit you guys up :-)

yeah, do. Since I started using Linux a few years ago I've had many, many questions answered by friendly, knowledgeable people on this Forum.

I still just use Mint too, having briefly flirted with Ubuntu - and also running Live versions of a number of others.

It's great to play with the different versions.

rebeve

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

yeah, do. Since I started using Linux a few years ago I've had many, many questions answered by friendly, knowledgeable people on this Forum.

I still just use Mint too, having briefly flirted with Ubuntu - and also running Live versions of a number of others.

It's great to play with the different versions.

I use to hate KDE ,now I wouldn`t be without it .My main laptop is toast ,so I reverted to an old inspiron 6400 and it rocks .

excollier

Go for it, you won't look back.

Stuxnet

Give wubi a whirl

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/windows-installer

Grudaire

Does Wubi work well anymore? I heard they were dropping it for the next release because it wasn't working so good, and was a pain to upkeep!

A live CD/USB is the best way to go imo!

RodgersLFC

Cliste wrote: »

Does Wubi work well anymore? I heard they were dropping it for the next release because it wasn't working so good, and was a pain to upkeep!

A live CD/USB is the best way to go imo!

Yeah they're dropping Wubi from the 13.04 release, but it'll still work with the current release. Its a handy tool, but my advice would be to install Ubuntu as a virtual machine if you want to check it out. At least that way, you're not messing with dual booting and potential bootloader issues

Grudaire

RodgersLFC wrote: »

Yeah they're dropping Wubi from the 13.04 release, but it'll still work with the current release. Its a handy tool, but my advice would be to install Ubuntu as a virtual machine if you want to check it out. At least that way, you're not messing with dual booting and potential bootloader issues

As long as the PC is powerful enough - on an older PC Linux would appear slow and useless!


Jaysus nothing like a few options to scare a new person away!

RodgersLFC

Cliste wrote: »

As long as the PC is powerful enough - on an older PC Linux would appear slow and useless!


Jaysus nothing like a few options to scare a new person away!

Better than having no options at all the recent Ubuntu releases arent for older machines, but if you need something for an older machine there's lighter versions of Ubuntu such as Lubuntu, Xubuntu and Kubuntu. There's lots to be learned in the Linux world but its fun finding out all about it

pctech24

My heads spinning haha

rebeve

RodgersLFC wrote: »

Better than having no options at all the recent Ubuntu releases arent for older machines, but if you need something for an older machine there's lighter versions of Ubuntu such as Lubuntu, Xubuntu and Kubuntu. There's lots to be learned in the Linux world but its fun finding out all about it

Installed Lubuntu on an old dell dimension 4600 ,using midori browser for the web .

.It is so fast ,and it picked up the wi-fi from an old netgear usb dongle that xp struggled

with .My buddy reckons the machine is faster now than when he bought it . All on 512mb

ram .

excollier

Sounds about right, most linux distros are faster than Windoze.

rebeve

So what we are trying to say is Linux rocks .

RodgersLFC

rebeve wrote: »

Installed Lubuntu on an old dell dimension 4600 ,using midori browser for the web .

.It is so fast ,and it picked up the wi-fi from an old netgear usb dongle that xp struggled

with .My buddy reckons the machine is faster now than when he bought it . All on 512mb

ram .

I'd believe you, Lubuntu is one of my favourite distros.

I reckon with the demise of Windows XP next year, alot of people will go down the Linux route with their old machines rather than bin them for something with Windows 7/8. Whats the point in spending hundreds on a new machine if all you want to do is email and browse the web?

Khannie

Agreed. I can't understand how the hell your average punter needs 4G in a laptop. What? 8G in mid range ones. Nonsense! That's a server ffs!

RodgersLFC

Indeed. The only issue you might currently have with an old machine is playing videos on youtube at decent definition settings. I've an old Dell Inspiron 1300 that I use regularly, and it struggles to play anything over 360p because the chipset is very weak. I've upgraded the RAM so im able to browse perfectly etc, but streaming is a problem.

Aside from that, I dont get people's fixation with buying the newest hardware just to browse, email and chat online. Crazy stuff.

pctech24

pctech24 wrote: »

Hey all I am interested in the whole Linux over Windows OS and was wondering where is the best place to download linux safely and start using it over instead of Windows, and any advice on security , settings, etc.
Thanks

Just an update, I am using Linux Mint at the moment and I am like a pig in ****e, i know how geeky that may make me seem but honestly its brilliant, thanks for everybody's suggestions and help,

excollier

Once you learn how to set up a multi-boot......well it is addictive doing a bit of distro hopping, I have five different on mine, I'm still like a kid in a toyshop.

PropJoe10

pctech24 wrote: »

Just an update, I am using Linux Mint at the moment and I am like a pig in ****e, i know how geeky that may make me seem but honestly its brilliant, thanks for everybody's suggestions and help,

Awesome if you want to try out some other distros, consider installing VirtualBox and running them as virtual machines. Its a great way to discover different distros. Also handy if you need Windows for anything (such as iTunes, Netflix or Sky Go).