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To Ubuntu or not to Ubuntu; that is the question.
garym:
Hi David,
I think the version you have downloaded is not a LiveDVD. I think it is just an installation disk. I definitely wouldn't get rid of your Vista system yet, until you've tried Linux.
I don't think openSUSE is that popular with home users, most seem to use Ubuntu or Mint now.
http://hubpages.com/hub/Top-5-Linux-Distros-for-beginners
Now you know you can burn an image to a DVD, I would suggest trying Linux MATE from here
http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php
The one you want is the fourth one down the list either 32-bit or 64-bit, I can't remember what your PC spec is.
Keep persevering.
Gary
garym:
Or if you fancy Ubuntu it is here:-
http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop
Gary
vtsteam:
I couldn't make it throught this whole thread -- read 5 pages and just skipped to the end here (so far).
I'm going to be the odd man out here again, and totally confuse the "which flavor should I use" question. But the simple truth is:
I use Puppy Linux. And have for years.
I can and do occasionally dual boot into XP or Win7 or whatever windizzy hyper slowness is on the boot sector of whatever computer I'm using to do occasional jobs with oddball windizzy software that won't work in WINE in Linux.
BUT, 99% of the time it's this amazing free OS that is about 100 megabytes in size TOTAL, WITH APPLICATIONS that run IN MEMORY at about ten times the speed of windizzy programs, CAN RUN off a CD, with NO installation necessary, and will EVEN RUN on a 486 machine, DOESN'T require antivirus software, and DOESN'T crash, and DOESN'T waste my time automatically updating itself, or try to force my computer to close, or tell me to wait to shut it off, or wait to start using it, or try to record what I'm doing, or try to sell me software, or install crippled "freeware", or try to hide it's inner workings.
I get enough of those problems when I occasionally boot back int Win 7.
And if you liked Win98 (I did) Puppy Linux will look real familiar, unless you want to trick it out. I don't, but you can.
If you want to run Puppy Linux, just download a copy onto a CD and run it from there. No need to install.
If you like it, just do a "frugal" install inside whatever OS your computer came with -- they can happily coexist. No need to do a "full" install -- I never have, and a frugal install has many advantages over re-partitioning your drive, etc.
Run WINE in it and you can run many Win programs (I use a few) though probably not AutoCAD. I use the old free Google SketchUP in Wine when I want to draw anything. There are enough free add-ons to that to do anything I want. It's definitely not AutoCAD though, and certainly won't satisfy an expert AC user. But for me, it's a breeze, and I get tons done with it quickly.
Anyway, just thought I'd mention another Linux alternative, relatively unknown, but immensely useful, compact, efficient, and timeless, in terms of what it will run on.
I do all my work on that.
DavidA:
Gary,
You're probably correct in that I may have inadvertently downloaded an installation version and not a live one. But at least I have a version of openSUSE to play with.
I'll get there eventually.
VT,
I've heard of Puppy linux. And it got a good review.
As I accidentally almost wiped my Vista last night I think that I may fit up another of my old machines (a 486) and try Puppy linux on that. I'll down load it and burn the dvd via the Vista machine. Then load up the 486.
If it works I can then move on more confidently to one of the other flavors if I feel the need.
Losing the XP wouldn't be a disaster as I have my own (licensed) disk. I can always re-install. But I would also have to replace the applications and that would be a real pain.
At times like this it is nice to have a loft full of old computers.
Dave.
vtsteam:
Dave, great -- but just to be a little confusing -- there are versions of Puppy Lnux, and to run on a 486 you will need the right one.
It won't be very fast on such an ancient processor, but it should work -- which is more than you can say for any other OS these days. I believe the version you would need is called Puppy 2.17.
But really, to be fair, just try a later version on your present computer, by just booting off a CD. Your computer doesn't even have to be working -- it will ignore the faulty Vista installation and happily just run off the CD. It actually doesn't need the hard drive.
Many people put Puppy linux on a thumb drive and run it on laptops that have dead hard drives, and never fix the hard drive.
There are a lot of flavors of Puppy Linux.
For 64 bit machines and multiple processors try Racy Puppy.
For single processor 32 bit machines you can try that or if that doesn't work out, try Wary Puppy.
For ancient machines try 2.17.
Then there are versions which use the application programs from other Linuxes. For instance, Precise Puppy can use all of the Ubuntu applications from Ubuntu program repositories.
There are also versions for Debian, Slackware, etc.
Lots to choose from and try out if you want -- all on CD (or thumb drive) none of which require actually installing on your computer to run.
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