[SofaKingKev]

to the tech savvy crackies out there.. im sofaking lost..

im picking up a new laptop next week, and i have been researching ubuntu and the possibility of doing a dual-boot. ive figured out how to do it, but i have a few questions..

1) what are the pro's and con's of a setup like this?

2) what are your favorite things about ubuntu?

3) what is so great about ubuntu(why the millions of users)?

new laptop:
hp dv4
core 2 duo t6400
500gb hd

thank you for any insight

[bleeps]

to the tech savvy crackies out there.. im sofaking lost..

im picking up a new laptop next week, and i have been researching ubuntu and the possibility of doing a dual-boot. ive figured out how to do it, but i have a few questions..

1) what are the pro's and con's of a setup like this?

2) what are your favorite things about ubuntu?

3) what is so great about ubuntu(why the millions of users)?

new laptop:
hp dv4
core 2 duo t6400
500gb hd

thank you for any insight

I run Ubuntu on my Dell netbook. Here's my opinions:

1)Cons: if you're doing a dual boot setup, you'll still have Windows on your device.

2) Everything works (mostly), no viruses, everything's free, regular updates, software available is as good or better than that available on Windows, and it's all open source, runs smoother than Windows, takes up less resources, more options for customization, the list goes on.

3) See above? Plus, it's nice to have a computer and not be contributing to the bottom line at Microsoft or Apple.

One caveat. Ubuntu claims everything works, and to a very large extent, it does. If you plug in a printer, digital camera, usb drive, scanner, etc, it's going to do what it's supposed to do, with no hiccups.
However, if you are using some sort of device that is dependent on software that is only provided for Windows, well, that's another story. The only thing I need a Windows computer for is upgrading my BB device software. There is no Desktop Manager for linux. There are some workarounds so that you can sync, and when I plug in my Bold to my computer, it mounts the memory card in it with no problem, and I can transfer music, pictures, etc on and off easily. It also charges my BB just fine. A word of caution, though, memory in Linux isn't hot-swappable, so make sure you unmount your BB before you unplug it.

Good luck!

[SofaKingKev]

Thanks bleep! Do you know off hand if itunes or photoshop work on ubuntu? I know you can migrate the music and pic files, but what about those programs?

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[amazinglygraceless]

to the tech savvy crackies out there.. im sofaking lost..

I got nothing for you but that is one seriously funny play on a screen name

[SofaKingKev]

I got nothing for you but that is one seriously funny play on a screen name

im glad you got a chuckle out of it AG . i just thought it was sofaking appropriate

[bleeps]

Short answer, no. Long answer, kinda. There are a few good Windows emulators for Linux which allow you to run Windows programs. However, it looks like people have not had much luck with iTunes (probably because of some crazy Apple bs), and Photoshop (probably because of the resources it uses).

However, there are open-source linux programs that will replace (some of) the functions of those programs.

For iTunes, you can use GTKpod. However, this allows you to sync up your iPod, edit tags, transfer music, and such, but obviously not buy/download music from iTunes.

For Photoshop, there are a variety of programs available, depending on how advanced you need to be. GIMP comes with the Ubuntu build, and does almost everything Photoshop does. For vector graphics, you can use Inkscape.

If you do intensive audio, video, or graphic editing, there is a build of Ubuntu just for you. Ubuntu Studio comes pre-packaged with most of the software you need for that sort of thing.

New software and solutions come out every day, and the community working on it is huge. Depending on what you do, you may find that you need some work-arounds, but I doubt you'll have any more problems than you would on Windows. A lot of corporations and even government agencies are switching to Ubuntu. To each his own, but I'm happy I went with it.

[SofaKingKev]

well, i thank you very much bleeps. you are a wealth of information!.. i didnt expect much of a reply yeah, i was looking into the different builds, and i figured i would just go with the desktop version.. thanks again!

[squish101]

Check out ubuntu's latest - jaunty jackalope. Heard its got most of the packages that you need already made available. Instead of having it to dual boot you might like to run it off as live cd and see how it goes.

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[SofaKingKev]

Check out ubuntu's latest - jaunty jackalope. Heard its got most of the packages that you need already made available. Instead of having it to dual boot you might like to run it off as live cd and see how it goes.

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thats another good possibilty squish. i'll keep that in mind

[pi_admin]

Forward - I run 8.04 natively, with a VM setup - Windows 7 and Server 08 ... in a windows domain environment.

Pros: Does *most* everything out of the box. Download OpenOffice from Sun to get all the office stuff for free (reads 07 versions too). Small footprint (mine runs complete under 10GB). Multiple desktops ("workspaces").

Cons: Not much that I can think of.

Overall, it's just a different OS - and that's what you have to get used to. Things like windows media and flash/java that would work automatically in Windows, require configurations. Mounting and unmounting external drives takes getting used to and a little knowledge of linux commands and config files. File system is completely different (and requires multiple partitions) and NTFS doesn't readily work out of the box.

Personally, I wouldn't run a dual boot; But I'm not running it on a laptop and I have a full VMWare license...

Bottom line: I think that it's a very stable platform and once you get used to the differences, it's definitely a good choice.

[SofaKingKev]

Forward - I run 8.04 natively, with a VM setup - Windows 7 and Server 08 ... in a windows domain environment.

Pros: Does *most* everything out of the box. Download OpenOffice from Sun to get all the office stuff for free (reads 07 versions too). Small footprint (mine runs complete under 10GB). Multiple desktops ("workspaces").

Cons: Not much that I can think of.

Overall, it's just a different OS - and that's what you have to get used to. Things like windows media and flash/java that would work automatically in Windows, require configurations. Mounting and unmounting external drives takes getting used to and a little knowledge of linux commands and config files. File system is completely different (and requires multiple partitions) and NTFS doesn't readily work out of the box.

Personally, I wouldn't run a dual boot; But I'm not running it on a laptop and I have a full VMWare license...

Bottom line: I think that it's a very stable platform and once you get used to the differences, it's definitely a good choice.

thanks pi, and the plot thickens.. im not sure what i want to do now.....

[roastdawgg]

Advantages to dual booting are you can use Ubuntu for most things and only boot into Windows when you absolutely have to. I have run this setup on and off but always end up going back to Ubuntu.

Disadvantage to dual booting is your hard drive will be partitioned into smaller pieces to accommodate both OS's. This isn't necessarily a bad thing if your hard drive is big.

Ubuntu is great because it's free (as in beer). It will not nag you to update it, it won't whine if you do not register it, and it runs like a diesel truck...solid.

There is a HUGE community of users growing every single day that can provide help in dozens of forums. There is likely no problem that you will have that isn't understood, documented, and complete with a workaround or fix. Since you aren't using Windows you also will not have to worry about viruses, malware, trojans, etc. You can browse the Internet free of worry. There are free programs that can do anything you want. And they are really easy to get.

Vista is admittedly one of the worst OS's put out by MS (they even admit to this). If you have no reason to use MS products don't. There are times when you need to use a piece of software that only works on Windows (Photoshop, and Blackberry Device Manager come to mind). For this reason my lappy now runs the new Windows 7 RC with Ubuntu 9.1 Jaunty running in a VirtualBox virtual machine.

Bottom line is if you don't need MS stay away. Ubuntu is robust, customizable, and nobody will nag you when you don't use it the way they intended you to. 99.999% of your Windows programs have free linux alternatives. A bunch of Windows apps can even be installed and run in Ubuntu using Wine (a Windows Environment Emulator).

Even my wife uses linux (Mint, which is an Ubuntu spin-off) on her laptop. It uses fewer resources than Windows on her old laptop and she saw a considerable speed increase when I installed it for her.

[SofaKingKev]

Advantages to dual booting are you can use Ubuntu for most things and only boot into Windows when you absolutely have to. I have run this setup on and off but always end up going back to Ubuntu.

Disadvantage to dual booting is your hard drive will be partitioned into smaller pieces to accommodate both OS's. This isn't necessarily a bad thing if your hard drive is big.

Ubuntu is great because it's free (as in beer). It will not nag you to update it, it won't whine if you do not register it, and it runs like a diesel truck...solid.

There is a HUGE community of users growing every single day that can provide help in dozens of forums. There is likely no problem that you will have that isn't understood, documented, and complete with a workaround or fix. Since you aren't using Windows you also will not have to worry about viruses, malware, trojans, etc. You can browse the Internet free of worry. There are free programs that can do anything you want. And they are really easy to get.

Vista is admittedly one of the worst OS's put out by MS (they even admit to this). If you have no reason to use MS products don't. There are times when you need to use a piece of software that only works on Windows (Photoshop, and Blackberry Device Manager come to mind). For this reason my lappy now runs the new Windows 7 RC with Ubuntu 9.1 Jaunty running in a VirtualBox virtual machine.

Bottom line is if you don't need MS stay away. Ubuntu is robust, customizable, and nobody will nag you when you don't use it the way they intended you to. 99.999% of your Windows programs have free linux alternatives. A bunch of Windows apps can even be installed and run in Ubuntu using Wine (a Windows Environment Emulator).

Even my wife uses linux (Mint, which is an Ubuntu spin-off) on her laptop. It uses fewer resources than Windows on her old laptop and she saw a considerable speed increase when I installed it for her.

fantastic! well, i think what im going to do is just put ubuntu onto my old laptop and test drive it for a few weeks to see how much i like it.. and then go from there with my new laptop. thank you guys/gals(as the case may be) for all of your help

[MCMXCIII]

All of the above stated. Plus it's a much more pliable system. You can tweak it to look and feel as you want, commands are easy to learn and pick up and I find myself going back to linux time and time again. I dual boot XP and Ubuntu on my Desktop replacement laptop and XP and Mint 6 on my netbook, all runs flawlessly. Only thing I use windows for is games now really. GIMP image editor also recognises and compensates for photoshop templates and plug in's flawlessly 99.99% of the time. I find myself using GIMP more than photoshop. As for berrys' there are a few ways to go about it. I'm in school, but I'll subscribe and post em' later. I bought a guide to blackberrys for my dad when work chucked one at him and the linux methods are very detailed. I'll post later.

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[pi_admin]

Vista is admittedly one of the worst OS's put out by MS (they even admit to this).

+1. The reason I'm running Ubuntu at work is because Vista x64 bombed my registry on the update to SP1... On a Service Pack.

I don't mean to hi-jack, although it may be of some use to you; What's the feed back on Jaunty? Changes / Differences from Hardy (8.04)?

[MCMXCIII]

+1. The reason I'm running Ubuntu at work is because Vista x64 bombed my registry on the update to SP1... On a Service Pack.

I don't mean to hi-jack, although it may be of some use to you; What's the feed back on Jaunty? Changes / Differences from Hardy (8.04)?

Jaunty is a bit nippier with a slightly quicker over all feel and better package support. I've definately found it more stable. I migrated from Hardy 8.04 to Jaunty a few days ago. Been rather pleased.

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