Posted: 7/5/2007 8:07:13 PM EDT
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Back in the day I had Red Hat. Today I use my computer for surfing the web and doing schoolwork (typing). I dont play games or anything. I have Windows XP on a laptop with intel centrino vista capable. I want to get rid of windows (and brush up on spelling and sentence structure) and get Linux again. If someone could answer a few questions for me I would appreciate it. I use wireless internet that comes from a Linksys wireless G router (this forum helped me out with it  ) is there a linux that will search for wireless signals (like XP does) so I can hook up to them effortlessly?I have had UNIX/LINUX classes so I can work my way through it but what is the linux for me? (Typing, suring the web, no gaming, on a basic PC) Also, is there a linux that will guide me through the setup and let me remove windows or else parition it so it has almost no space (since I wont use it)? Thanks! |
OpenSuse 10.2 I'm posting this from it on a laptop via wireless. The wireless tool is very easy to use. Disk partitioning and setup is a breeze. ETA: I haven't used it in years, but Mandriva (Mandrake) used to be the only Linux that could safely resize a Windows partition during setup. The others had tools for chopping off part, but it was risky. Mandrake used Partition Magic technology. Don't know if it still does though. If you aren't going to use it I'd go with Suse and just check the option for deleting everything. |
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fedora does what i need it to do. fedoraforums will help will the technical questions |
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I will throw in a vote for Ubuntu. The setup is painless and will pick up most hardware. Hell I bought a new mouse the other day with the left-right tit on the mouse wheel, and it worked out of the box! Wireless in Linux can be hit or miss for out-of-the-box running. It can be done, sometimes more work is needed then other times. |
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Just about any modern distro will support wireless these days. It is card compatibility that will be your main issue. I recommend a card with an orinoco or prism2 chipset for out of the box compatibility. Others can work ...and some will work with driver mods like ndiswrapper and so forth. as far as which distribution, i recommend Fedora. It is a great system. |
I can't really answer any of the other questions since I'm new to Linux, but I downloaded NimbleX and ran it as a live cd on my wife's laptop. It will search for wireless signals. I also have a Linksys wireless G router. I'm currently running Puppy Linux (see here, here, and here) on my desktop so I don't know how wireless friendly it is. If you can make it past the kiddie theme, it's very newb friendly.  Works great if you only have one cd drive as it'll run completely from RAM. |
Yep, fedora's network management is great. And you can install a program called Wifi Radar to easily scan for and view wireless networks in range. |
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I'm posting this from Ubuntu so I'll recommend it. There are options during the install for what to do with your disk so you should be able to add a partition for Ubuntu during the install. If you don't want to do that, Ubuntu is a Live CD that includes GParted (a linux Partition Magic type program) that you can use to shrink your Windows partition and create free space for Linux to install to before you ever start the installation. I haven't put Ubuntu on my laptop yet, but I have booted it from the Live CD. It uses Intel Centrino technology for wireless, and it detected my wireless network right out of the box so you'd probably be good to go there. The Live CDs are a great way to test your system for hardware compatibility before installing anything. If you don't know what a Live CD is, it allows you to boot and run the operating system from the CD and RAM without having to install anything. Ubuntu uses the Gnome window manager, but there's Kubuntu if you prefer KDE, and Xubuntu if you want xfce. It's also pretty easy to add KDE to Ubuntu, Gnome to Kubuntu, etc. so that you can choose which window manager you want to use each time you login. |
Do you have your computer setup to boot from the DVD/CD drive before the Hard Drive? You should verify that in your BIOS first. I have no experience with power2go burning software so I can't help you with that. |