New to site, new to all Greetings from the other side.

[Kissker]

First off just call me Kissker, that's all I ever go by anyway. I am a -forever- windows user, however some recent complications with windows xp, security breaches and the like have made me wonder if I've just been fooled for all these years, and so I seek a new OS.


Now to the goodies.
I am a complete noob when it comes to Linux, and after reading... a lot of info.. I understand even LESS then when I started. I am not a complete moron, I just don't have any C++ or anything under my belt. So toned-down geek speak or using Windows lingo woudl be appreciated, for if I cannot understand what your trying to tell me.. there's no way I can try it out myself ^.^

I would like to give Linux a full fledged shot on a Laptop I own, it has been put down and dogged so much in my neighborhood growing up that I never even considered switching to it- however with smaller sizes and the fact "Windows 7" is re-doing there entire Kernal proccess to make in incredibly small (they stole the idea from Linux makers after all) I figured it's about time to download and give it a fair shot.

The problems were mentioned earlier, and include more- besides knowing nothing about the structure or anything, I don't have any extra money right now to use for this- so a Free OS version would be wonderful (I just dished out money to validate my win XP- and wondering if it was a waste)

The laptop isn't super state of the art, some 256MB memory, very low Video support, and a 20GB harddrive that seems to hate windows a bundle (or the fact that it may be going out as some files go corrupt that are required by windows to load...)

I have some pen drives I can use if an OS you reccomend will boot from them- to prevent my judgement of Linux from being hindered by a poor HDD (if not- I will not let the HDD drag down my opinion)

The Laptop is ready for formatting and a New OS. I have some High standards for linux from some of the things I am reading.

The laptop will be used as a general net browser, think email, youtube, myspace and general garbage like that = stuff that normally clutters drives and creates problems (aka typical behavior so I have something to compare Linux with) and so I will need support for such, but other then that I have no idea where to start, which version to choose, where to download or how to install from the pendrive (or run from it)

I just want basics here to start, if I like it (chances are I will) I may install on my game computer- which will open a whole new door to things I will need, and need to learn. I understand most games are Linux compatible now-a-days, however they may require some patching. Again that is for later- for now lets just get something that will boot- support sound and general internet garbage and we'll see where it goes.

Thanks a bundle in advance, I know I will get some great feedback here.

[Jonathan183]

Welcome to the forums.

Try out a couple of live cds Live - Linux Downloads Directory they let you try out the system before you install it to hard disk. As well as the downloads section of this site you could also take a look at distrowatch.com. There are a number of linux distributions which run on lower performing hardware such as DSL.

If I were you I would dual-boot so you can still use windows applications if you need them.

[elija]

There are many distros that can be used for your requirements. As
a starting point, you could look at SimplyMepis or Ubuntu which are
supposedly two of the easiest to get to grips with. I can't say what
distro will suit you however. A good starting place would be here

I seem to have settled on XUbuntu which is a lighter weight version
of Ubuntu.

As for games, well most games are not Linux compatable, although
some do release Linux versions. There is a layer called Wine which is a
Windows compatability Layer (not emulation). This allows Windows software
to be run under Linux. There is a commercial version called Cedega which
is optimised for games.

Linux is very different to Windows. I was a very experienced Windows
power user and felt like a no-nothing newb when I started with Linux.
I stuck with it and when I have to use Windows at work, it feels like
a backwards step. It didn't in the beginning. It's a wonderful Linux
world, but it is a bit scary at first.

[oz]

Welcome to the forums!

Hope you have fun here and can visit often.

Check the link in my signature for lots of good information on getting started with Linux.

Enoy the Linux experience...

[Kissker]

thanks for the input- and so quickly I might add. I was transferring some final data before I start up on this, and now I'll read into everything you've provided.