Linux

[playwithfire]

Okay, so, I have a PC laptop that I never use due to the registry of its Windows getting crazy infected a few years ago and it never really bounced back even after it got "fixed"... it decided the copy of XP I had on it was fake and I just didn't want to bother with it, so I stuck with my Mac. Anyway, I'm going to have a few days of a lot of time on my hands, and I want to get Windows off and Linux on. I'm going to do that before the few days so I have plenty of time to tweak things/begin to get a grasp, but I would really appreciate some advice on where to start. I was thinking Ubuntu?

[bgalbraith]

Yeah, go with Ubuntu. It's the most friendly of the distros at the moment for people who want something that will generally work out of the box without too much hassle.

[dogsipod]

I always suggest making a liveCD if you can. Lets you see if you will like it, plus they have some handy tools.

[Hula]

Linux Mint runs a little more smoothly than Ubuntu (and is basically the same operating system, running from the same repositories for the most part). I found on older laptops that it didn't like the inbuilt wireless adaptor sometimes but I had the same problem on some distros of Ubuntu, so... Yeah.

Echoing sentiments on the live CD. I'd also recommend avoiding Ubuntu's Natty Narwhal distro because it's basically Windows 8 (and about as uncustomisable as it).

[Goldfoot]

I've had decent success with Ubuntu in the past. The only reason I'm not using it is because the sound always has one issue or another on this machine. I haven't tried the latest version, but having proper sound is a must for me. Now the hold up for me would be that there's no linux version of Spotify. I've never heard of Mint until a couple minutes ago so I can't comment on that, but when I was using Ubu I really liked it, aside from the sound issues.

[danebraddy]

Anyone else here a fan of GNOME 3? It makes Unity look like a toy...which it basically is

[DVYDRNS]

Ubuntu is the way to go. its basic and streamlined. and easy to learn. Mint is a bloated skinned version of Ubuntu. Learn how to use the raw OS and then decide if want to move on to a skinned interface. You can always install the mint repos later.

[jmtd]

Anyone else here a fan of GNOME 3? It makes Unity look like a toy...which it basically is

I dislike both of them. I'm having a hard time deciding what to do about it at the moment.

[playwithfire]

Yay, so, I installed Ubuntu. Got my video card drivers and restricted stuffs. Also got MyUnity so I could resize the Unity sidebar thing. I am also currently trying to figure out Conky. Any other things I should be looking into? And by that I do mean recommendations for awesome shit I might not know about, not OMG GUYZ HELP.

[MAD]

Compiz Fusion!

You need to install that and play with it. (and mock your friends when they say Windows or Mac look great)