Question about Linux

If this has been asked before would a mod please notify me and delete this topic.

Ok well i`m sick and tired of Windows XP, my latest problem is with the file svchost.exe, for some reason during startup, it crashes along with alot of my hardware like my sound card and such, so i`m left with no sound and sometimes internet.
Anyway i`v installed Linux Abuntu on a spare 10GB drive, i had to see what it is like. Its different but i want to get used to it. Does anybody have any suggestions of the differents types of linux i could use. I`m not a novice with computers but i dont want too much hassle.
I dont want a resource heavy program either, i`v seen a video of one type of linux that is like a cube you can rotate to get to the different workspaces, thats not what i want.
I want it to be fairly basic. This Ubuntu is ok but i`v noticed it has multiple workspaces too, i`m sure this uses more resources than i need to, since i will probably only using one workspace.

I would be grateful to hear what types of linux anyone has used or using and your experience with them.

The only thing i have to keep in mind is that my woman insists on being able to use MSN messenger, i`v got aMSN to keep her quiet.

Thanks for feedback anyone gives me.

I'm pretty satisfied with Suse Linux...If you are used to the Windows usage then I guess suse is a good start for getting into linux. It has a quite intuitive GUI. I also tried Ubuntu (didnt like it that much for some reason) debian (I think that one is not that well suited for linux beginners) and solaris 10 (can be a real pain in the ass).

Anyways: dont expect too much of the windows "double-click and it works" behaviour. there are still some tricky parts in linux (any distribution) you bette want to handle using the shell

OpenSuse 10.2 will be out on december, get that one.

No one can know what kind of Linux you want, but you. My suggestion is trying out each of the major distros for a few days apiece and decide for yourself.

I use Mandriva 2007 Powerpack.. It's fantastic!! You can see DVD, divx, xvid, .mov, .mpeg, any type of picture.. Try it!

heres an Old thread that Bachiotomy started a while ago, goes into alot of detail into using Linux
and has input from a lot of people, i tried various distros and made a few comments too.

hope this helps http://www.whatboyswant.com/forum_read/2482424/

And if you're looking for MSN you can use http://gaim.sourceforge.net which does MSN along with AOL, IRC, Jabber, Y! and a bunch of others. Don't get 2.0 though.

Is there anyway i could use my 250gb drive i use for storing pics n vids on linux or will i have to format it for the linux filesystem?

Just use a nondestructive partitioning tool to create a partition out of the remaining space on the drive.

I was thinking that, but is there a way to get my pics and videos from it so i could use them on linux, theres about 90GB worth so burnig onto DVD`s isnt my first option.

Thanks for the feedback.

I have my laptop with Ubuntu 6.06 and my desktop side by side XP and Ubuntu 6.10. I'm very happy with Ubuntu though the 6.10 is a little bit buggy (just have one week). Ubuntu is the fastest growing Linux community, it is very well sponserd, its free and its made for every languege.
The files you have don't have anything to do with the OS de problem is the way the HD is formated. This means that the windows formating (NTFS or FAT) don't work for Linux so you have to format in ext2 or in ext3 and make a partition for Linux Swap. I think you must do a backup of your files if you want to jump to Linux for good. However, if you want to keep windows and live with Linux side by side, Ubuntu 6.10 make that real easy and you can access the windows files just by clicking on the desktop the windows drivers (mount/unmount windows partition).

What? No love for the Fedora?

in ubuntu you can still use your ntfs partitions, look for ntfs-3g, it's in the universe repository (6.10).
have a look at that http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=217009
after you've installed that you can read and write on ntfs partitions.

For the MSN thing, just use Gaim, it should be standardly installed in ubuntu.

Ok. Let's put some things straight here! (Where's Kanzen when you need him )

First: if you have an (external) HD with your pics/vids on it, don't worry. If it is external (using USB), just plug it in. Most certainly it will mount and you will be able to access your files directly. If it is built in in your computer, you can still mount it. It should appear in the "devices" list somewhere in whatever file-browser you use with your Linux.
If it is formatted as NTFS you probably can only read the files (writing on NTFS from Linux usually doesn't work). If it is VFAT or whatever, everything is fine. You can just use it as you used to under Windows.
Of course, you need a decent player for your Vids, but you use VLC anyway already, right

Second: I use Ubuntu myself, used to use Suse and Knoppix. Ubuntu is great because everything is free, there's a decent number of developers, and it doesn't behave as strange as Suse as soon as you start doing something more advanced with the system.
But no matter which distribution you use you can still choose your Window-Manager (aka the GUI) independent from the distro. Most common are KDE and Gnome. I myself use KDE 'cause I'm used to it. But Gnome is fine, as well. All in all, they pretty much behave like Windows from the interface point of view (luckily, they behave much better from the software point of view).
Anyway, all I'm trying to say is that you should keep the distro and the GUI conceptually separated, because you can use (to my experience) any GUI on any system.

Third: The workspaces you were referring to depend on the GUI you use, not the distro (see above). You can enable or disable them, choose the number of workspaces you wanna have, etc. I don't think that they result in any observable perfomance decrease. As usual, performance is mostly a matter of open programs (or, to be more precise, running processes). So don't worry about the workspaces, you'll realize that they are very, very handy. I'm forever lost to Windows for several reasons, a prime one being the workspaces

Fourth: I forgot...

Quote:

Originally posted by wutz

in ubuntu you can still use your ntfs partitions, look for ntfs-3g, it's in the universe repository (6.10).
have a look at that http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=217009
after you've installed that you can read and write on ntfs partitions.

For the MSN thing, just use Gaim, it should be standardly installed in ubuntu.

Great, with ntfs-3g it is possible to write in ntfs with Linux though its 100% safe to work with it. However they are thinking to add it to Ubuntu in futures releases as soon it is reliable.