[Phillip2167]

i have an old desktop [7 years] pentium 3 500mhz 524mb ram. of course it cannot run XP or Vista.

im thinking about wiping out my OS of windows Me and installing Ubunto v6.10 i hear so much about Ubuntu being near bullett proof in viruses and malware and all the other pc nasties.

my questions is... How will Ubuntu Run on my old Pc [i.e. fast/slow WHAT??] and is it worth the time installing it??

i really need your help,i don't want to scrap my old pc for it's parts, but Win Me is running slower than a person with a chloesterol of 500:-)

[vtel57]

I would try Xubuntu on that system. It's Ubuntu with the XFCE desktop manager. XFCE is pretty frugal with resources (RAM) compared to Gnome (Ubuntu) or KDE (Kubuntu).

My fully-loaded Ubuntu (running Gnome desktop manager) uses about 350Meg RAM after being on all day long. This is with numerous applications running. However, on an older machine that doesn't manage its resources that efficiently, you might be better off with the Xubuntu.

With all this in mind, though... just install the Ubuntu standard and see what happens. If it doesn't work well, you've only wasted the time for the download and the time for the installation. You can always try Xubuntu later to see if it runs better on your system.

Luck!

Also... I would recommend you running Ubuntu or Xubuntu "Live" before you install it. The Live CD will run 100% from your CD player. It doesn't install anything on your hard drive till you actually install it. This way you can play around with it and see if you (and your system's hardware) will like it.

Later...

[inetbogey]

i agree with vtel57. i have the same stats as you do, only less RAM. (384 meg). i loaded Ubuntu on the box. now i am trying to learn the operation of the program. my focus is so much on how to work it that i don't notice if it's slow or not. when i do maybe i will load the "X" stuff up.
good luck.

[Phillip2167]

ok, whats the difference between ubuntu? kubuntu and xbuntu?

[vtel57]

In order to use Linux with a graphical user interface (GUI) like Windows, it requires an application called a "desktop manager". The main difference between Ubuntu (uses Gnome desktop manager), Kubuntu (uses KDE), and Xubuntu (uses XFCE) is the desktop manager application they use.

All this is explained in detail on Ubuntu's excellent website and support forums. Don't limit your learning to what you find out here. Do your homework. You'll be much more prepared for whatever decisions you need to make.

Have fun!

[Phillip2167]

the next big hurdle is...periphals. and i can say now i have a whole room full of periphals. scanners printers, digital cameras.

so what do i do when i want to use one of my brand spanking new devices with my Linux [i.e. kubuntu or Ubuntu]???

[vtel57]

Linux should auto-detect most of them. However, the Windows-based programs that came along with those peripherals will not work in Linux. There are built-in substitutes in most distros, though... CUPS printer drivers/interface, HPLIP printer tools, XSane for scanners, etc.

[Phillip2167]

i have a newer desktop athlon 1.4ghz 1.5gb ram and i'm thinking about installing linux [ubuntu or kubuntu] along with my existing OS which is WinXp.

my question is which is the best way. do i use a partitioning software and create a seperate space for linux??? or do i install a second HD and install linux there??? my hd is only 80gb'S and my hd is formatted in NTFS??... AND how does this dual boot option work? when i turn on the computer will it give me a choice?

i know some of you have probably answered these questions dozens of times over, but i'm the new linux guy:-) i liked what i saw in the ubuntu v5.10 live cd. so if i can work it out with out disturbing the Win Xp i might have ubuntu on all my computers including my two acer laptops,[if i dare do that] :-)

[vtel57]

Personally, I'd go with the separate hard drive. They're cheap and easy to install. That's how I've done it all along. My Windows, which I never boot to anymore (hard to let go of the security blanket), has always been on a separate drive on my system from my Linux installations.

[Phillip2167]

what about the application software we use in everyday life?
P2P software? cd/dvd burning software? backup/restoration software?
i know anti-virus or firewall software is never needed beacuse ubuntu/kubuntu is bullett proof. i assume Linux has some kind of,freeware or shareware database where you can find the linux equivlent. i have so many apps i use with windows,BUT i still want to try linux...this is going to be hard, almost as hard as when i bought my first desktop

[mrbrownstone]

X/K/Ubuntu come with most of these kinds of software, however they do not come with the ability to read DVD video or P2P software. You can install many of these kinds of software using the included Synaptic Package Manager but the easiest way to install things like DVD playback is by using Automatix.

[vtel57]

For every application that you were used to using in Windows, there are probably three open source equivalents... many are better than that apps you're used to.

Photoshop --> The Gimp in Linux

Nero --> Gnomebaker in Linux

P2P --> Bittorrent in Linux

Partition Magic --> Gparted in Linux

Back-up app --> SBackup... and many others in Linux

There are many, many more examples.

By the way, GNU/Linux is NOT bullet proof. However, it's much less susceptible to the bad stuff out there because most of the malware, spyware, and virii are written for the Windows operating system, so they won't have any effect on your Ubuntu if you happen to run across them.

There are anti-virus and firewall apps for the Linux OS... Firestarter (firewall manager), ClamAV (anti-vir), etc. and many others.

Windows uses the executible (.exe) method for installing applications. GNU/Linux does not use that method. Each distribution of GNU/Linux has its own methods for acquiring and installing software. Ubuntu uses Debian's apt-get method with the Synaptics Manager as a graphical front end. Other distros use other methods... Fedora Core use YUM with RPM packages. Slackware has no package manager, but you can manually install .tgz packages. Software for your Linux OS is available (mostly free) all over the Internet. You just have to find packages and sources that work with your distribution.

Here's a link to a post at Scot Finnie's Newsletter Forums --> All Things Linux that has a lot of information sources, tips, and tutorials for Ubuntu:

http://forums.scotsnewsletter.com/in...dpost&p=208155

Have fun with it!

[Phillip2167]

i am a regular reader of both PCW & PCM, and sometimes they stray into the linux arena. and the first thing they say is if there is a problem or a patch needed someone is quick to jump in and fix the porblem. and that surfing the web is much more safer because hackers and crackers,and keyloggers and phishers can't target you.
it's what drew me to take the plunge and try linux. they also said it's an "unpolished" OS with lots of "rough edges"


well OK i guess i can live MORE anti-virus and firewall software to worry about.

i hope i'm not also mistaken that linux doesn't crash? of have tempermental days and meltdowns like my Win Me desktop does.
ive only used XP sparingly,and so far all of the crazy software i've installed hasn't bit me in the Butt.

BUT. i say truthfully the more i read these "security watch" articles about all the vunerabilitys desktops have, i get paraniod the way a lobster feels in the display tank at the sea food restraunt

[vtel57]

Phillip,

Quit worrying so much. Jump in the Linux pool. The water's fine!

[Rashard]

Couple of things, First to the original poster, I have installed xp on several older PII systems with a minimum of no less than 384MB of ram and they work just fine (for the kids and my son plays several games such as WarcraftIII just fine) so it will work.

As far as distros, there is also a really neat kids version called edubuntu that my 6 year old son loves to play around with (when he is not playing warcraft)

I have a dual boot set up on a 200 GB drive which came out 93GB for XP (back then I thought I would use it way more then I do now) 43GB for a spare storage partition which I have not touched since I have a 300GB external hard drive. 40GB for ubuntu install and a 3GB memory swap partition which was the recommended max for a system with 1GB of memory = memory x 3, I swap between them daily (since my mx revolution mouse doesn't like to work the way I want it to on ubuntu) and so far have not had any problems in the last 6 months since I installed it as a dual boot. It only took about an extra 20mins to set up the boot while installing and the ubuntu site has a nice quick guide for the steps. Which I installed after I had already set up the full 200GB for an XP install that I didnt want to reinstall, and it all worked really well. I use my external drive for sharing files while in xp or ubuntu with the other 5 computers in the house and everything works really well.