ok...

[ddb]

ok well ive allays wanted to try linux... but i don't know much about it.

is there like diffrent versions? (what is your favorite/ most popular?)

can i portion my HD half Windows half linux?

can i use the same hardware i have know with it?

thanks

~ DDb

[RNA]

ok well ive allays wanted to try linux... but i don't know much about it.

is there like diffrent versions? (what is your favorite/ most popular?)

can i portion my HD half Windows half linux?

can i use the same hardware i have know with it?

thanks

~ DDb

Versions are Distrobutions(Distros for short) there are TONS, personally Im a gentoo guy, but I believe b_b is a debian guy. I hear ubuntu is good for starting off.

Yes, you can use something like Norton Partition Magic(which for a norton product is damned good) or a livecd like gparted. You'd have to use a boot loader like grub to set it so you can chose what to boot off, however it is not very hard to set, when I was seting up gentoo on my friend's system it set it up fine on its own.

Yes, most hardware has good compatability, and in the cases of things without linux drivers, many have made their own or the ndiswrapper thing.

I will look you up a Distro quiz to help you pick one.

~RNA


Edit:
Added Gparted link up above.
Here are a few Distro quizes, you dont have to follow them, my first distro was Sourcemage followed by Gentoo, neither are the easiest to install.

http://polishlinux.org/choose/quiz/
http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/

There are alot more, this was only from a quick google search, by all means check places like distrowatch for more information

[ddb]

when i took the first quiz this is what i got

1. Debian GNU/Linux
2. SUSE Linux
3. Ubuntu Linux
4. Xandros Desktop OS
5. PLD Linux


and second one


Kubuntu


Ubuntu


OpenSuSE


Mandriva

[ayu]

lol found this...might be hard to choose one from this, but hey give it a try ^^

http://www.linux.org/dist/list.html

[bad_brain]

yeup, I'm a Debian guy...
imo Debian is one of the best distros because it's easy to install for beginners (when you have a free partition all you have to do is to pick the "beginner install - install everything on one partition")....but the thing I like the most is the huuuge software repository, also the Debian community is very active so security flaws are patched very quick (this makes Debian a very good server distro). BUT I recommend to install kernel 2.4 because to get a working desktop GUI with kernel 2.6 is nothing for beginners imo. and the hardware support in Debian is not as good as in other mainstream distros like Fedora and SuSe, simply because Debian is more strict with the "open source only" philosphy.

but well, best is to try different distros until you found one you really like.
a good way is to first try a live distribution (if available), if it works fine it means it'll work fine too when it is installed on HDD....

[ddb]

yeup, I'm a Debian guy...
imo Debian is one of the best distros because it's easy to install for beginners (when you have a free partition all you have to do is to pick the "beginner install - install everything on one partition")....but the thing I like the most is the huuuge software repository, also the Debian community is very active so security flaws are patched very quick (this makes Debian a very good server distro). BUT I recommend to install kernel 2.4 because to get a working desktop GUI with kernel 2.6 is nothing for beginners imo. and the hardware support in Debian is not as good as in other mainstream distros like Fedora and SuSe, simply because Debian is more strict with the "open source only" philosphy.

but well, best is to try different distros until you found one you really like.
a good way is to first try a live distribution (if available), if it works fine it means it'll work fine too when it is installed on HDD....

ok well i decided that i want to give linux a try so im whiling to reformat and install linux but one problem my CD burner isnt working do i ahve to burn it i may just just linux 100% instead of windows

you got msn can we chat?


PS im gonna try to install it on my spare comp so if i make a mistake it wont hurt that much