Linux Windows user moving to Linux

E

Emil

Level E
I am a windows user and want to shift to Linux. I understand that there are several good Linux distros that have a windows like look and feel. This is important for ease of migration for the whole family.
Which distro is recommended to make migration most painfree?
Would my MTNL broadband work plug-n-play with the Linux?
What about all my Mobo/gfx drivers that came on the CD with the Mobo?
What about drivers from my HP AIO? My iBall webcam?
How about Skype and other VOIP applications? Would I get equivalents to run on the Linux distro?
I also use a nice small free program called Miniminder that helps me keep track of dates (birthdays, FD maturity dates, etc) I suppose I will get a suitable equivalent in Linux as well?

Would my system run faster using Linux than it does on Win XP? Particularly with regard to boot time and launch of applications?
 
Emil said:
I am a windows user and want to shift to Linux. I understand that there are several good Linux distros that have a windows like look and feel. This is important for ease of migration for the whole family.

Which distro is recommended to make migration most painfree?
Click to expand...

Try Ubuntu. here a guide on to switch

Would my MTNL broadband work plug-n-play with the Linux?
Click to expand...

Yes, its plug n play; If you use always on mode(username & password save in modem). for Dailer, you need to supply your username or password.

What about all my Mobo/gfx drivers that came on the CD with the Mobo?

What about drivers from my HP AIO? My iBall webcam?
Click to expand...

Best is to download Ubuntu and see what hardware works and what not. if it does not work, post here. what's great is you can try it without installing to a hard drive.

How about Skype and other VOIP applications? Would I get equivalents to run on the Linux distro?
Click to expand...

Skype has a Linux Client. you can also use Gtalk as well.

I also use a nice small free program called Miniminder that helps me keep track of dates (birthdays, FD maturity dates, etc) I suppose I will get a suitable equivalent in Linux as well?
Click to expand...

Most probably. Perhaps, calendering application might suit for this purpose?

Would my system run faster using Linux than it does on Win XP? Particularly with regard to boot time and launch of applications?
Click to expand...

No, on same hardware. speed should be same.But you might notice increase in speed, since you won't be running any security software that eat system resources. Also, Linux does not suffer from feeling "tired & slow" gradually over the time.
 
Emil said:
I am a windows user and want to shift to Linux. I understand that there are several good Linux distros that have a windows like look and feel. This is important for ease of migration for the whole family.
Click to expand...

There are many flavors of Linux and picking one is very important. I think the first thing you should do before installing a particular distribution is to try out its Live CD.

Ubuntu is the best-known and most popular distribution of Linux. It is well designed, nice interface, easy-to-use and user-friendly.

Linux Mint is also gaining in popularity and basically upgrades Ubuntu to be more multimedia friendly.

Try out both of these with Live CD, and use the one that suits you best.
 
Thanks Dark Star, Gaurish and XTechManiac.

I plan to use the Live CD but I have one more question regarding that. Will running the OS from the CD be slower, faster or same as running after installing on HDD?
 
No, dude emil, live cd is strictly for one time trial.The experience is much sluggish than an installed one.

for regular use i suggest u install it.that way it will not only be much faster, but your settings will be saved and you can install new softwares.

and why shouldnt you? all you need is one free partition

and yeah, i suggest you try Linux mint http://www.linuxmint.com/

its based on ubuntu, but comes with a better interface and pre-installed codecs.
 
CD will be a little slow but it is basically to let you get to know the feel of the distro before you install and start using it.

and like others out here suggested Ubuntu, mint are pretty good distro's to start with :)
 
Emil said:
Thanks Dark Star, Gaurish and XTechManiac.

I plan to use the Live CD but I have one more question regarding that. Will running the OS from the CD be slower, faster or same as running after installing on HDD?
Click to expand...
Unless your computers's optical drive works faster than HDD, obviously it would be slow :P
 
i used the wubi installer to try out ubuntu in my office.

looks good so far. in fact it is so intuitive that i will probably settle on it when my RMAed hdd returns
 
Ya Ubuntu or Linux Mint...Both are good for starting with Linux. Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu but the difference is Ubuntu doesn't includes proprietary softwares(you need to install them manually) whereas Linux Mint comes with basic Codecs etc which helps to play common audio, video formats.
 
Ok I have a small issue with the wubi-ubuntu installation on my office computer.

I am not able to set my monitor to the correct resolution. It is a Viewsonic E70 CRT with 1024x768.

My Ubuntu says "unknown monitor" and only allows me to choose between 800x600 and 640x480. Clicking the Detect Monitor button produces no result.

Any clues how I can resolve this?
 
Emil said:
Ok I have a small issue with the wubi-ubuntu installation on my office computer.

I am not able to set my monitor to the correct resolution. It is a Viewsonic E70 CRT with 1024x768.

My Ubuntu says "unknown monitor" and only allows me to choose between 800x600 and 640x480. Clicking the Detect Monitor button produces no result.

Any clues how I can resolve this?
Click to expand...

These might help:-

HOWTO: change resolution/refresh rate in Xorg

[wubi] Resolution Problems - Ubuntu Forums
 
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