New to Linux

[mayanbilly]

Hello All,I`m thinking about installing Linux Ubuntu on my laptop,I do have an installation disc,can anyone give me any advice on how to do the install,or is it just the same as installing windows,

Can Linux do all the things that windows does?

will my printer etc work as usual with Linux?.

will my wireless connection work just the same as windows?

I am fed up with Windows Vista and fancy a change..

mayanbilly..thank you..

[oz]

Welcome to the forums!

You'll need to put the installation disk in the drive and reboot your machine and allow it to boot from the dvd/cd drive. The installation is generally pretty simple and menu driven. Just don't allow the installer to take the entire drive if you want to dual boot between windows and linux.

The answer is "maybe", but we'd need more details on your other questions.

Hope you have fun with Linux.

[teenytinylinuxgrl]

Test drive it first! Most Linux distributions come on a bootable "Live CD." Pop it into the CD-ROM drive and reboot. Some time while the computer is booting up, you'll see a message something like "F12 to enter Setup" (your mileage may vary). Enter setup and choose "Boot from CD-ROM."

From there it'll boot up to your Linux CD, but you don't have to install it! Just run it off the CD to have a look at it, kick the tires, drive it around the block a few times. No need to make any changes to your computer at all, just use the live CD. Then if you decide you want to install it, most of the CDs have an icon to click on to install Linux.

Not all Linux flavors perform the same as the CD once they're installed - they're better! Faster for sure.

Which Linux you use depends on what you want to use your computer for. There are some that are better suited to multimedia (PCLinuxOS is the first to come to mind because that's the one I'm playing with now), and some for business, and most for "plain ol' household computing" like web browsing and e-mail and word processing, school work, stuff like that. Ubuntu is the most popular for that, and it's awesome.

You can download or order CDs of several of the top "flavors" of Linux (Distrowatch lists them), pick a few that look interesting, and take 'em for a nice test drive.

I'm new too (just a month!) and having fun learning about the different "distros" of Linux out there.

Enjoy!

Amy

[reed9]

Howdy and welcome. I suggest you read the Ubuntu guide on switching from Windows to Ubuntu.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Sw...tu/FromWindows

Also, you can find good information from the guide "The Perfect Desktop: Ubuntu 9.04".

I personally think the guide recommends too much cruft and redundancy, but it's a good starting place. EDIT: For example, it looks like it has you installing 5 different video players, which seems like overkill.

You might also want to consider Linux Mint, which is based on Ubuntu (closely enough that any Ubuntu guide will pretty much be applicable), but includes some nice custom tools, and includes flash and multimedia support out of the box.

Main Page - Linux Mint

A review: Raiden's Realm: Review: Linux Mint 7

[eks]

Check out Wubi (installs Ubuntu inside a regular Windows file, then you can boot into either Windows or Ubuntu; much easier for a novice than setting up a dual-boot system).

[mayanbilly]

Thanks to those who replied to my for help with Ubuntu..I will take everything on board..mayanbilly