Dual boot Linux

[docwebster]

So what I'm looking for here is two things - a Linux distro good for we poor schlubs whose acquaintance with Linux is nodding at best, and a kind of Dual Booting For The Compleat Idiot so I can dual boot with XP.

Comments

[ruisseau.livejournal.com]

I dual boot XP and Ubuntu. I had my husband set up my partitions but mostly Ubuntu is dead easy.

[tsjafo.livejournal.com]

I'll say one good thing about MacroSux Vista, it has done more to promote Linux than anything I've ever seen. I'm also a Linux newbie, but learn I shall.

[veloracat.livejournal.com]

As far as I can tell, Ubuntu is the new sexy thing in Linux distros. I personally love Mandrake (now calling itself Mandriva). Many distros set themselves up to be just a matter of clicking around and finding things. Mandriva has a singal application to help with all sorts of setup tasks which can be quite nice.

Choosing your distro is the hard part. Dual booting will take care of itself. Depending on your distro, it'll set up grub or lilo by default. Either gives a menu at the start to choose which you want to run. They'll be set to boot the linux by default, but that can be changed if desired.

Okay, enough advice from a total stranger.

[docwebster.livejournal.com]

Advice very much welcomed, and hey, anybody that's a friend of Glinda's is okay by me.

[foxsynergy.livejournal.com]

Ubuntu and Kubuntu are both pretty friendly and compatible. Choose the first if you want slightly easier use, the second if you want slightly more options. You can switch one to the other later on, so I'd probably say Ubuntu to start with.

*Don't* just smack it on as a dual-boot first thing. If you're already running Windows, odds are your filesystem is NTFS, which Linux cannot reliably write to. I'd suggest making a bigass chunk of your drive FAT32 and moving your non-OS files onto that area so both operating systems can read and write there. Before and after doing any kind of repartitioning, be absolutely sure to defrag to avoid permanent performance loss.

The rest will attend to itself. If you want to dual-boot and need someone to step ya through it, lemme know.

[foxsynergy.livejournal.com]

...though Ubuntu's setup using GRUB will more or less take care of the bootsector on its own. If you need to reinstall Windows in the future, however, please keep in mind that Windows will eat your bootsector and replace it with its own, so bye-bye Linux. Just a note of caution.

[docwebster.livejournal.com]

Hey, what's your email addy to add you on MSN messenger again?

[foxsynergy.livejournal.com]

foxsynergy @ gmail.com minus the spaces. :)

[midnightmadness.livejournal.com]

Look around distrowatch.com , check out the different distros and sites. There are links to all of the free download locations as well.

My personal favorite is the Mepis Distro. Maybe because it's the closest the the Windows feel for me. I like Ubuntu as well - it's definitely the most masses friendly distro and the one that's most likely to be recommended to you often. Both Mepis and Ubuntu will allow themselves to be run as a "live" CD first for you to try them out and see if you live before you commit to a HD install, and they will also install to a dual boot system if you like. I also use SUSE for server work, but SUSE is not really a beginners distro, even at the desktop level.

Do be a slight bit careful though if you're installing on a comp that has XP on it. Linux doesn't play completely well with the NFTS files system on XP/Vista, and while it usually isn't a problem to install a dual boot on an already existing comp, some people have reported toasting some of all of their Windows install. I'd back up anything you want to keep for sure first.

Also a caveat too, there isn't a completely Windows like Linux distro just yet. There are going to be some things you'll have to learn Linux wise in the long run (plus when you figure out the power and versatility of the Linux system, you'll like WANT to learn to play). You probably won't be doing your own build anytime soon, but you'll probably want to dive into some of the meatier stuff in the long run.

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

one more vote for ubuntu. it has a great and active community, apart from everything else

[havoknkaos.livejournal.com]

Ubuntu. Seriously. It is quite mature, handles newer hardware very well, and has gads of software available to install with a click. The installer is the only thing that leaves anything to be desired, but it's mainly a lot of hitting the "Enter" key - except for partitioning. It will automatically detect an XP partition and add it to the bootloader. As a side note, it will not detect a Vista partition (yet). :) Triple-booting XP, Vista, and Ubuntu, for the record.

[electramyst.livejournal.com]

I dual boot xp and xubuntu on my laptop. Xubuntu uses xfce wich seems to a little more less bloated then gnome or kde... Only drawback is xfce isn't as "slick" or as pretty as kde or gnome.