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Use Linux instead of XP for novice

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by marykmusic

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Hi, I'm trying to go to Linux OS and need to know the easiest way to start using it. I'm not in business but just want to get away from Microsoft. Just a simple desktop operating system would be fine.
I do use media players & other entertainment software a lot, and email, online banking, and research.

Would appreciate any help. Thank you, Mary

13 replies

by ---tk---

I would normally say, go with the latest and greatest Ubuntu. But I am not impressed with the latest and greatest. I would suggest Using Ubuntu 8.10 or 9.04.. Probably 9.04, its a little quicker than 8.10.

Email client comes pre-installed, so all you do is have to set it up. The brower will be firefox3, which is will suite your needs just fine. Eventually you will have to install flash, which it will prompt you... pretty easy to figure it out.

For Media Players, I always recommend using vlc... you can search for it in the add/remove programs or go into a terminal and type "sudo apt-get install -y vlc" (no quotes)... enter your passwd and your good to go.

Best of luck! Any more Q's feel free to post up!

by marykmusic

I don't like FireFox because, after using it awhile, it's very complicated to find answers for the tweaks I like. So I also don't like FireFox's email ThunderBird. I do like Opera, but haven't used others as much. Anything instead of FireFox would be nice.

by jck

Would be something like Kubuntu.

I'd say, if you have the resources, to go buy a really cheap PC from like Dell Outlet or Dell Financial Services for $200-300, and install Kubuntu over the top of Windows.

Then, get:

Firefox for web browsing
Thunderbird for email
Amarok (I think) is the media player

Get used to using them. And, slowly look for any high-end apps you might need.

Good luck with that. I hope you find your way to the Linux world successfully :)

by dldorrance

The linux versions mentioned above, plus my personal favorite, pclinoxos, can be downloaded free and transferred to CD's and run as bootable Live CD's.

As a Linux novice, I tried the versions mentioned and settled on pclinox, as it feels to me to be relatively similar to Windows and I don't yet know much Linux command line code.

by marykmusic

I'm going to try pclinoxos, and did learn about Live CD's. I sure appreciate the help ya'll have given. Thanks much, Mary

by marykmusic

I forgot to ask after reading some of the commands I may need to put in, is will I have to learn dos? I hope not!

by seanferd

As DOS is a Disk Operating System. The was MS DOS and others, but Linux/Unix never has a "DOS" per se. You may have to enter a few commands at a command line, but you won't have to learn all the CLI commands. Anything you might have to do will likely be spelled out for you, especially with the "friendly" distros like *ubuntu or PCLinuxOS.

by nicknielsen

Most live CDs will give you the option to boot or install. If you choose "Boot", it will boot the distribution to the desktop so you can use it. If you decide you want to keep it, there may be an "Install" link on the desktop or you can reboot the CD.

by jackbones

it sounds like you may have found a good match, but i just wanted to throw this out there. if your main goal is to get away from windows, ubuntu is cool. if you really want to get into linux and use it to its potential, i would strongly suggest trying out centos if you're running a server and fedora if you want to run a desktop. fedora may take some tweaking to get flash working(not hard, dont let people scare you) but thats half the fun and the best way to learn something is to get your hands dirty. thats what worked for me. good luck.

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