Upgrading to Linux

Legfend

I'm a Vista user but I've finally given up on it. Stupid piece of crap. I installed Ubuntu gnome on a partition for a while and loved it. I d have some questions though:
Whats the easiest version of Ubuntu to use and also, whats the safest way to fully remove vista and then install Ubuntu?
I messed around with that Wine application, are there any windows programs that it cant run?
The default video player is pretty dodge, for DVDs anyway. Whats the best media player to use and will i need to be hunting high and low for compatible codecs?

Any help with the above would be gratly appreciated.

tba

I can help you with the media player. Get VLC it has almost every codec inbuilt and has a linux version.

marco_polo

Legfend wrote: »

I'm a Vista user but I've finally given up on it. Stupid piece of crap. I installed Ubuntu gnome on a partition for a while and loved it. I d have some questions though:
Whats the easiest version of Ubuntu to use and also, whats the safest way to fully remove vista and then install Ubuntu?
I messed around with that Wine application, are there any windows programs that it cant run?
The default video player is pretty dodge, for DVDs anyway. Whats the best media player to use and will i need to be hunting high and low for compatible codecs?

Any help with the above would be gratly appreciated.

Do you have any data you want to keep on the current disk? If not then just delete the current partition during ubuntru install and create a new one for ubuntu. I recently installed version 9.04 to dual boot with Vista and it took about 15 minutes maximum, to install (In a bout of rare foresight I already had unused drive space for the partition left ready).

Don't know too much about Wine, but I have heard it is pretty good for alot of common windoze programs with the exception of games etc.

Kinetic^

VLC for videos
Amarok or Rhythmbox for music
OpenOffice for an MS Office type app
Gimp for photoshopping

Probably a few more programs that are good substitutes.

Try making sure any files you need are safely stored on another hard drive or seperate partition to the one where you're OS is installed. Once you've got the Ubuntu image you want then just fire away and you can overwrite the Vista install.

Legfend

Ok thanks guys. I'm still a little apprehensive about doing this so I may be posting here again!

EDIT: One last unanswered question, whats the best version of Ubuntu to use if one has been raised on Windows? There are a LOT of different versions out there so I dont know whats the most suitable version for me.

marco_polo

Legfend wrote: »

Ok thanks guys. I'm still a little apprehensive about doing this so I may be posting here again!

EDIT: One last unanswered question, whats the best version of Ubuntu to use if one has been raised on Windows? There are a LOT of different versions out there so I dont know whats the most suitable version for me.

Not sure what exactly what you mean by a lot of versions, the current version is 9.04. If you are refering to the codenames Jaunty etc, they all map to a release number (Jaunty is 9.04, Intrepid is 8.10 etc)

Haven't used enough version to say which is best, there is a good thread in the Unix forum on best distros for newbies:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=183814

mus3

If you mean Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Ubuntu: The Netbook Remix, Ubuntu: Server Edition, Mythbuntu, Ubuntu Studio, Ubuntu: The Ever So Slightly Different from all the others Edition, then it really doesn't matter.
The three main choices are:
Ubuntu - Gnome
Kubuntu - KDE
Xubuntu - Xfce

The only difference is what is desktop enviornment preinstalled, you can easily change your Ubuntu into a Kubuntu by downloading the KDE resources from the repository if you want. So just download Ubuntu, and if you want download KDE, and see what one you prefer.
Gnome is the more stable, less cutting edge environment, while KDE has lots of new bells and whistles which you won't find anywhere else. Xfce is a simple low resource enviornment for when you want minimal resource usage or just a nice simple desktop. Stick with Ubuntu if you don't want to have to readjust much from Windows.

The rest of the versions are just for HTPCs or servers or netbooks or whatever, so don't worry about those.

ronkmonster

Kubuntu is probably the most 'Windows'-like.

chrisde

Xubuntu is good but to find help for it is hard plus the forums are more ubuntu that's my reason to stop using it

Amalgam

Once you dig around in the (software) repositories, there's a lot there to choose from.

I love Ubuntu, I'm partial to Gnome. VLC works fine, as does the likes of Handbrake, you can use Lightscribe on your DVD burner with Ubuntu, no problem there..

Games.. well, certain games are the only thing you might have to leave behind, but there are ways to get the likes of World of Warcraft and Half-Life 2 working, other than that, Ubuntu will cover you for whatever task you need.

Anything that I've missed from Windows, Wine has covered it, Alt.Binz, CDRLabel etc.

marco_polo

mus3 wrote: »

If you mean Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Ubuntu: The Netbook Remix, Ubuntu: Server Edition, Mythbuntu, Ubuntu Studio, Ubuntu: The Ever So Slightly Different from all the others Edition, then it really doesn't matter.
The three main choices are:
Ubuntu - Gnome
Kubuntu - KDE
Xubuntu - Xfce

The only difference is what is desktop enviornment preinstalled, you can easily change your Ubuntu into a Kubuntu by downloading the KDE resources from the repository if you want. So just download Ubuntu, and if you want download KDE, and see what one you prefer.
Gnome is the more stable, less cutting edge environment, while KDE has lots of new bells and whistles which you won't find anywhere else. Xfce is a simple low resource enviornment for when you want minimal resource usage or just a nice simple desktop. Stick with Ubuntu if you don't want to have to readjust much from Windows.

The rest of the versions are just for HTPCs or servers or netbooks or whatever, so don't worry about those.

I knew Xubuntu was the barebones OS, haven't come across Kubuntu before, might just have to give it a go too at some stage . Does it have a fairly regular release schedule as well, or would it generally be a a little behind ubuntu terms of the core OS?

mus3

marco_polo wrote: »

I knew Xubuntu was the barebones OS, haven't come across Kubuntu before, might just have to give it a go too at some stage . Does it have a fairly regular release schedule as well, or would it generally be a a little behind ubuntu terms of the core OS?

Nope, not behind at all. It follows the exact same release schedule as Ubuntu. The core is exactly the same, its just the top layer that you see that's different. If you want to try out KDE, just install xubuntu-desktop from the repository, and at the login screen, you can change the session type to Gnome or KDE
You get the exact same experience you would as if you downloaded and installed Kubuntu. It's nice to be able to change to a different desktop environment whenever you want. I prefer KDE to Gnome, I'd definitely recommend you try it out! As far as desktops go, it has a lot of new ideas. And if you don't like, it's just as easy to remove.

duffman85

@marco polo - ubuntu,kubuntu,xubuntu,netbook remix,server editons are all released at the same time

@legfend - the most windows like is kubuntu.
Kubuntu:


There is also a Linux Distro called Linux Mint - which I use and quite like myself.
It uses the Gnome(as opposed to KDE in Kubuntu) but has a "Start" button similar to Windows/Kubuntu.
It also has all/most of the codecs and packages needed to play dvds,mp3s,flash preinstalled and there's a few tweaks to the look.
It's based on ubuntu.

Linux Mint 7:


Also if your pc/laptop has an Intel integrated graphics chip - read the release notes for ubuntu 9.04 or mint 7 as there is an issue with this chip.

If you need more help there's a Unix/Linux forum on boards which is very helpful. http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=32

marco_polo

Some of those look pretty good, I found the out of the box look and feel of ubuntu a little uninspiring tbh (I have yet to install the proper ATI drivers so I will hold out on full judgement, and I am sure it is customisable to a degree) but I have been extremely impressed with it ease of installion / use so far.

Haven't had a home version of Linux in a few years, although I use linux and solaris quite a bit at work (from the command line almost entirely) but I know SFA about desktop managers etc. From the above screenshots I will be looking up KDE for sure.

kingofleinster

Hi

Agree Vista is a useless piece of crap .....

Linux on the other hand is great ......What you can do on a microsoft OS you can do on a linux Box for FREEE.

I myself use both ubuntu (great for beginners) & Debian for the more experienced.

I agree what you said about ubuntu is correct , But its a great introduction to the world of linux for somebody coming from the Windows world.

Here is a list of software I use , I'll put the windows equiv in just to give you an idea

linux Windows
Open Office Microsoft Office
Songbird Windows Media Player/Itunes
Brasero Nero
VLC player Windows Media Player/power DVD
DeVeDe Nero
Firefox Internet Explorer

But the best piece of software is called VirtualBox , It basically allows you to use your windows OS while on running your linux distro & its Free

And all the above can be installed (exceptSongbird) by typing the command below in a linux terminal

sudo apt-get install software

If need any more info give us a shout

helios12

To ease the transition you could have Virtualbox on standby for any MS apps that might be vital. Just a thought, anyway enjoy the freedom :pac:

( I'm stuck with a dual-boot for the shootan gaems )