BSD & laptops

I currently have an oldish sony vaio laptop (specs in sig) running archlinux. I've been considering giving BSD a go - but from what I've read it seems to be aimed at servers and desktops. Does it have good support for laptops too? I'm not just looking for a cheap thrill to try real quick and be done with - so I want to make sure if I take the step it'll work well enough. Pretty much the only thing I do on this laptop is surf the web on wireless, write OO docs & save them on my pendrive. Nothing intensive.

I ran FreeBSD and Freesbie a few times. It is certainly fully featured but it requires a lot more from the user end. I think the part you would be hit the most on is things like proprietary apps - Adobe Reader, nVidia/ATI drivers, Flash etc. I know when I used it support for my wireless card wasn't great but I think in the upcoming releases wifi support will be better in BSD than linux, at least for the next while.

Thanks for the reply - maybe I'll hold out for a bit. I like flash (this version 7 business is hurting) and I need java. I'll hold on to arch for awhile but keep an eye on BSD.

I have openbsd running on a much older laptop myself with no problems whatsoever.

FreeBSD has native java (jdk and jre 1.5). Linux versions of RealPlayer and Adobe Reader can be installed from ports (FreeBSD package management system). Flash is also supported if you install the Linux firefox port.

pc-bsd is good for anyone who does not want to have to install a gui. Its great!!!

max

I thought I'd take the liberty of latching onto this post. I run FreeBSD 6.0 on my Acer Aspire 3500 (ATA) at home with relatively little trouble, but it freaks out and shouts about "no disks found" on my HP NX6310 which has an SATA drive. The more patch Tuesdays I have to sit through, the more worms and threats I read about and the more dodgy networks my job has me plugging my laptop into, the more I want FreeBSD on my HP notebook too.

I swear by FreeBSD, even on a notebook. I can get my wifi card and sound working, its fast, stable, and gives me a place to run my beloved Enlightenment E16. Currently plotting to roll it out across the lab and training room at work, just as soon as I make sure VMWare server will graft on it.