Using Ubuntu to replace another distro

[Jedi_Amara]

I installed SUSE yesterday and decided I didn't like it. Do I need to uninstall it before installing Ubuntu or can I just install Ubuntu over the top? Will it automatically take care of the boot loader/record etc?

edit: I forgot to say, this is a dual-boot with Windows XP.

[smolloy]

If you are using the SuSE bootloader (grub by default) then when you erase SuSE the computer won't be able to boot into anything. So when you install ubuntu you would have to install the bootloader, and configure it to know where your windows partition is -- probably in much the same way as you did when you set up SuSE.

I think it would be best to erase SuSE, format the partition (assuming you will be putting ubuntu onto the same partition), and install ubuntu in the empty place, making sure you configure the bootloader as part of the install process.

[aysiu]

This is simply not true. When you install Ubuntu, just pick the former SuSE partition to reformat as / and install Grub on the MBR. Ubuntu will automatically recognize your Windows partition and overwrite the SuSE boot loader.