I want to leave Windows and use a Linux (help needed)

[spsssw]

Hi all

I want to use linux because I like free things (:
I intend to leave windows for good because I don't want to be spending money on the features I don't use ...there are loads of junk in vista and 7

So now ,what linux distribution should I use or can I even use a linux ???

My system -----------------------
-Dell Vostro 1400 System BIOS
-Dell Touchpad / Pointing Stick
-SIGMATEL STAC 92XX C-Major HD Audio
-OPTIARC AD-5560A 12.7 tray IDE DVD+/-RW
-Intel Mobile Chipset
-Conexant D330,HDA,MDC,v.92,modem
-Broadcom 59XX 10/100 Ethernet
-Intel (R) Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN
-Intel Matrix Storage Manager - Notebooks
-Brother DCP 165-C printer
-Creative Xi-Fi 5.1 USB sound card
--nVidia GeForce 8400M GS

Will I be able to find the drivers all the hardware ?

This is what I do with my laptop
-Internet browsing (Firefox)
-Work ,pdf (currently using MS office 2003 and open office ,foxit reader for pdf)
-Listen to music and watch DVD movies (:
-torrent (currently using utorrent)
-music notation (currently using Finale 2009)
-Instant Messaging (currently using windows live messenger)
-Play warcraft 3 (may be??)

Will I be able to find alternative software if I switch to linux?

Thanks
thanks
thanks ...

[GNU-Fan]

I am not going to comment much on your hardware.
The best way to find out is to test install a distribution like Ubuntu is see if it does work.

As far as the software is concerned:
-Internet browsing (Firefox): Yes, same as Windows

-Work ,pdf (currently using MS office 2003 and open office ,foxit reader for pdf)
Yes, OpenOffice same as Windows. Several PDF readers are available.

-Listen to music and watch DVD movies (:
Yes.

-torrent (currently using utorrent)
Yes.

-music notation (currently using Finale 2009)
I don't know.

-Instant Messaging (currently using windows live messenger)
Yes.

-Play warcraft 3 (may be??)
Not really. While there are ways to emulate this, you had better keep a Windows partition for playing games. At least in the first days.

[nmset]

You should boot on live CDs and try as many distributions as you wish. Major distros have a live CD version. That's the best way to test drive your hardware. Mandriva is a very good distro, Puppy linux would also allow suit your needs. There are tens around, you won't be able to evaluate them all...

[reed9]

I will comment a little on the hardware.

Creative Xi-Fi 5.1 USB sound card: Creative Labs has had a bit of a rocky relationship with linux. I believe, though I have no person experience with this card, that there is a working linux driver now included in the kernel, so this should work out of the box with the latest release of most distros.
[Phoronix] Creative Labs Continues To Shaft Linux

Intel (R) Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN: May require installing the firmware in some distros, notably Debian. Most will have this working out of the box.

nVidia GeForce 8400M GS: Nvidia releases a decent linux driver, but it is non-free (as in speech), and I don't know of any distro that ships it out of the box. Many distros have an easy method to download and install the driver after install. There is a free and open source driver as well, nouveau, which only a few distros currently ship, notably Fedora. This also works quite well, but does not yet support 3D acceleration - so no fancy window compositing effects, ie, compiz. This driver will be included in kernel 2.6.33.

For software...
1. As said Firefox is available, Google Chrome is also available, though a Beta release right now, it works well.

2. For pdf, Evince in GNOME, Okular in KDE. There are some lighterweight options as well, epdfview, xpdf.

3. Music and DVDs - some distros do not support mp3 files out of the box, I believe because of concerns over patent issues. Very few distros support playing commercial DVDs out of the box. This is because the software required to do so, libdvdcss, is probably not legal, at least to distribute, in the U.S. Most video formats are patent encumbered or proprietary, so support out of the box is lacking in almost all distros. All of this can be added post-install, some distros make it easier than others. In Ubuntu, for example, just do

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras

4. uTorrent is not available for linux, but there are many native torrent clients that are quite good. Deluge and Transmission are two popular choices. Or Ktorrent for KDE.

5. http://www.linux-sound.org/notation.html

6. Pidgin or Empathy for IM. Kopete in KDE. Webcam support for some protocols is lacking, notably over Yahoo messenger.

7. Some games work with linux using WINE, but as said, you'll probably want to keep a windows partition for games.
WineHQ - World of Warcraft 3.3.X

[oz]

Welcome to the forums!

Check the link in my signature for lots of good information about getting started with Linux. You'll also find a couple of quizzes there that might help you to pick your first distribution. The linux kernel has most drivers included within it already, with the exception of some video drivers and wifi drivers, or drivers to new hardware that was only released within the last few weeks.

Not sure if this was mentioned already, but one of the best things new users can do is to setup a dual boot system so that you can choose at boot time whether to boot into Windows or Linux. This way, you can experiment in Linux until you find your way around, and boot into Windows when any critical tasks need to be done. Once you are comfortable with Linux, you can nuke Windows and you are on your way.

Hope it all works out well for you.

[Dazereth]

I too am a noob to Linux. I use Kubunutu. From what I hear it is supposed to be the most user-friendly version.

As far as games go on Linux, if you're not a really tech savvy guy or you aren't very patient. Dual Boot.

That's what most people do who have linux and would like to also be able to play games. I'm still having trouble launching EVE. I may just play it on my vista whenever I slink back to doze.