Linux System

I have run Mandrake, Mephis, Ubuntu and Kubuntu on a Dell laptop. I am currently using Kubuntu and like Ubuntu/Kubuntu for the ease of keeping the software up to date. Mandrake was really good a IDing hardware, but suffered from lots of dependency problems.


You can get several live-CDs and test them on your hardware.

Raincatcher, you asked if any laptop runs linux - I was trying to point out the distros that I have used on my Dell laptop - i.e. Dell seems to run a variety of versions without major issues (as do many other brands of laptops) - and it seems that was your original question. Linux can look and function very similar to Windows in terms of the desktop, although there are differences - after all Linux is not windows. If you are able to figure out OpenOffice, having worked with MS Office (I presume), I suspect you should be able to figure out how to use Linux - but you probably want someone to set it up for you. If you have the harddisk space available, you can have someone set up a "dual boot" system for your laptop - when you turn it on you decide then whether to run Windows or Linux, depending on what you want to do.


If you do a search on the varous Linux distros that might interest you, you should be able to find images of the standard desktops. However, that will be confusing since you can have any number of different looking and functioning desktops to choose from (KDE and Gnome are the most common desktops, and Ubuntu/Kubuntu, Mandrake are very popular Linux distros and user friendly) - unlike Windows where one size for everyone is what you get.


If you don't want to try something different, and put a bit of effort into learning how it is different, stick with Windows. Do a bit of internet searching and you should find the info you are looking for.

Linux can run on any laptop, but you need to configure it right.


If you enable all features in Linux (any distribution) it'll become more unstable than Windows XP (been there done that)


Mandrake is probably the easiest one to install and use as it knows most hardware available today.

horse - it is not a question of being able to run - it is a question of "user friendly", and all distros are not - Ubuntu has probably taken the mantel of easiest/best away from Mandrake - I gave up on mandrake over a year ago because of the incessant dependancy problems (hope that doesn't scare raincatcher away ;^)

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There are different internet brousers under Windows, there are different e-mail programs under Windows, there is (generally speaking) one desktop under Windows - so you do have some choices availalbe under Windows. There are different distributions under Linux (ways of doing things) but they all generally use the same series of kernels - and the options and choices you can have are numerous - but those options and choices are optional - Linux runs quite nicely without the user making a lot of choices - you can have an almost Windows experience.


You would be best advised to pick one of the popular distributions, have someone set it up on your computer as a dual boot system, and tinker with it. I would recommend you use Ubuntu even though I use Kubuntu (similar except for desktop being used) - Ubuntu has much better package management than Mandrake in my opinion (unnecessary detail added in response to Horse's comment above).


However, if you wish to spend a lot of time "researching" and probably scaring yourself off before you even give Linux a try, you can start with www.distrowatch.com, as well as some judicious internet searches such as "linux newbie"

Windows can have more desktops as well, you just need to download the program that enables it and believe me it works pretty convincing.


The latest mandrake has won several prices for user friendliness when installing and also for upgrading with packages etc.

horse - remember - "generally speaking" - I know there are desktop alternatives for windows, but you have to do that which MS would not want you to do, and these are not what cheesy is looking for.


I found Mandrake (now mandriva) very easy to install in the past, and I used it for about a year, but I got so fed up with dependency problems under mandrake that I switched. I much prefer the debian-based package system to RPM. But there is no denying mandrake is good, but there is also no denying that distrowatch has had Ubuntu as #1 for quite a while, and at the moment mandriva is #5, behind Ubuntu, Fedora (from whence Mandrake came), and Mephis.


Cheesy would do well with Mandriva, Ubuntu, Knopix, Mepis, or any other distro that someone installed and configured it. I simply prefer Kubuntu - for the moment, but still run it as a dual boot with XP.