A couple queries before I go with Linux

[mjed0]

I am more than ready to make the big switch-over to Linux but I need to know a few things first.

1-Drivers, is it hard to locate the right drivers I'll need to keep all features on my laptop up and running?

2-Would I expect boot-up / boot-down to be faster or slower than I'm presently used to? (currently running Vista)

3-Will I be able to play any of my games / run my programs?

4-Does it have its own web browser?

There are probably more questions but these are a few of the main concerns.

Thanks in advance,
Dan

[techieMoe]

I am more than ready to make the big switch-over to Linux but I need to know a few things first.

1-Drivers, is it hard to locate the right drivers I'll need to keep all features on my laptop up and running?

That depends entirely on the hardware in your laptop. An awful lot of device drivers come with Linux out of the box. In other words, things "just work." Some systems require you to download other drivers, particularly for 3D hardware. ATI and Nvidia cards are well-supported and have official Linux drivers on their respective websites. The same goes for Intel integrated video.

2-Would I expect boot-up / boot-down to be faster or slower than I'm presently used to? (currently running Vista)

That depends on which version of Linux you choose. Some load more things at boot than others. You can configure most of them to load only what you want, which will speed up boot time.

3-Will I be able to play any of my games / run my programs?

If you mean "Will Linux run software designed for Microsoft Windows?" The answer is no. They are separate operating systems. See this thread for more details on that:
http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/lin...explained.html

4-Does it have its own web browser?

Firefox and Opera have native Linux versions. There are also several more browsers available for Linux than are available for MS Windows.

Before you take the plunge I recommend reading up some more on Linux with our New User Thread here:

http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/lin...ead-first.html

[mjed0]

Cheers Moe, thanks for the links, gonna do some reading now.

[Jonathan183]

I agree with techieMoe's comments ... I'd just add go for a dual boot, so you can still use Windows as well until you get used to Linux and are happy you don't need Windows any more.

[i92guboj]

3-Will I be able to play any of my games / run my programs?

If you want to use windows programs, then the logical option is to run windows, not linux.

You can achieve some compatibility, however, by using wine. Wine is a free implementation of the windows api on top of the linux kernel and xlibs. That means that it aims to provide a way to natively run in linux software designed and compiled to run in windows.

The problem is that it is not perfect. But it runs ok in lots of cases. For example, you can run oblivion and nwn2, which are very new games that makes intensive use of directx9 if I am not mistaken.

4-Does it have its own web browser?

There are thousands of browsers. Some of them like firefox, seamonkey and opera (to name just a few) run in windows as well. I think you don't have to worry about that.

That depends entirely on the hardware in your laptop. An awful lot of device drivers come with Linux out of the box. In other words, things "just work." Some systems require you to download other drivers, particularly for 3D hardware. ATI and Nvidia cards are well-supported and have official Linux drivers on their respective websites. The same goes for Intel integrated video.

The hardware support has grown spectacularly the last few years. I would start googling using the name of your model, and add "linux" to the word list. Probably, someone already tried it, and you can read opinions and maybe even how-to's.

That depends on which version of Linux you choose. Some load more things at boot than others. You can configure most of them to load only what you want, which will speed up boot time.

I addition, for laptops you might be interested in hibernation. That would reduce your boot time drastically.

[Manchunian]

Hello, and welcome to Linux!

Well, I can't really say anything more than what techiemole has already told you, but I would like to add a couple of comments. First, concerning the boot up time, this can be much faster than Windows. In the bad old days, when this computer ran on Windows XP, it took over a minute before the desktop appeared and just as long, if not longer, before I could actually do anything, as I had to wait for all the daemons, virus checkers etc etc to load up. Now, under Debian, I have my log on screen in 39 seconds (timed by a little programme called bootchart) and from there I only wait 3 seconds before I can start work (using a windows manager called Fluxbox). This means that my computer is ready and raring to go in around 45 seconds! However, this time does, as has already been indicated, depend on the distribution you use. Suse, for example, is much slower to load up. Also, you can change your Windows manager (something you can't do in Windows) - Fluxbox is fast, really fast, but a bit daunting for newcomers. Kde is the usual choice for newbies, or maybe Gnome, and these are much slower to get going, taking around 10 to 15 seconds on my machine. It's still a hell of a lot fast than Windows, though! Also, don't forget that not only is Linux faster to boot up than Windows, it's also much faster generally, being less thirsty on system ressources - it's a much 'crispier' experience altogether.
Next, programmes: yes, it's unfortunately true that Linux is not well supported on the games front (for now, at least: this is likely to change in the future as more and more people use Linux). Don't expect all Windows programmes to work on Linux - although many do. Word and Exel, for example, do work (albeit quite slowly as they need to go through an emulator), as do a lot of children's cd roms I've got. But the general rule is leave Windows programmes to Windows and look for Linux alternatives (which abound) rather than trying to get stuff to work with an emulator.

Hope that helps.

Good luck

[i92guboj]

Word and Exel, for example, do work (albeit quite slowly as they need to go through an emulator), as do a lot of children's cd roms I've got. But the general rule is leave Windows programmes to Windows and look for Linux alternatives (which abound) rather than trying to get stuff to work with an emulator.

As I said above, Wine Is Not an Emulator (hence the recursive acronym). At least, not in the traditional sense of the word. The speed of a given program depends on many factors. For example, in windows they take much less to start up, but it is not due to the emulation layer, but due to the fact that windows preloads stuff. Just look into the Startup groups in your menu, and you will find office stuff in there, which is responsible for preloading the office thingy.

Besides that, the registry might be responsible for loading some more libs and stuff.

Being that said, I agree as I said above, that, if you are going to run mostly windows stuff, you should be using windows.

[Manchunian]

For example, in windows they take much less to start up, but it is not due to the emulation layer, but due to the fact that windows preloads stuff.

Yes, this is very true. Office has a so-called 'quick starter' which sits in the backround all the time. Of course, this saps system ressources. Windows has many such quick starters.

[mjed0]

A huge thanks to techieMoe, Manchunian, i92guboj and Jonathan183 for the very informative replies. I am definatly going to go ahead with Linux, I like what I see. I will be trying more to go with programmes that are specifically designed for the Linux O.S., instead of trying to make my Linux operate in a Windows like environment.

Initially I will be putting Linux on my Dell Latitude 500mhz, 40gb, 192ram laptop. Not the greatest spec but it will give me the opportunity to get comfortable with the new O.S. before I put it on my newer laptop.

From what I've read it sounds like some versions are better for a desktop P.C. rather than laptop, unless I misunderstood. I also want to go with a "simple to use" version and then change to a version that requires more configuration on the part of the end user as I get to know the Linux O.S.

Does anyone have any opinions on what might be the best version to start off with? Bear in mind the old Dell laptop as my vehicle of choice at this time.

Thanks again,
Dan

[Jonathan183]

Before you take the plunge I recommend reading up some more on Linux with our New User Thread here:

http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/lin...ead-first.html

Initially I will be putting Linux on my Dell Latitude 500mhz, 40gb, 192ram laptop. Not the greatest spec but it will give me the opportunity to get comfortable with the new O.S. before I put it on my newer laptop. ...

Does anyone have any opinions on what might be the best version to start off with? Bear in mind the old Dell laptop as my vehicle of choice at this time.

Take a look at the links techieMoe provided, and also this poll on distro for new users.