Which Linux, version is the best, anyone know? Suse or Mandrake or Red Hat? Any suggestions? I'm planning to multiboot with Windows too, anyone know what the issues are with that? kiwi

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Suse is good what I think.. But when you think about Multiboot with Windows... You should deside what you'll be using the most... If you are using Linux only for some stuff and not use it reguarly choose Linux Knopix You can download a ISO from them what you can put on a bootable CD and when you insert that CD you will run linux without multiboot... It's very handy if you use Linux rarely and windows more... Good luck with your choise!

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If you have no experience with linux, you should go
for Lindows(Linspire) or Xandros or Mandrake.
Install windoes first, then Linux. Your pc specs is determined
by windows, as Linux will run on almost anything.

A bootable cd is good to tryout the varous distro's but not much else.
Since it is a rom, you can't add any programs and there is no swapdrive.

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i have the new mandrake and it rux

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Thanks for the advice!

I have two hard drives, so what if I made one a Windows drive, and one a Linux drive? Could you multiboot that, or would simply unplugging and replugging the drives be better (although that would be a pain!)? The bootable CD sounds interesting, but not being able to load new programs is kinda weird.

I'll get around to figuring out Linux eventually, , thanks again!

kiwi

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Once you have one ore more OS' installed, you shouldn't change the boot sequence of your harddrives.
You will most likely find that you have to change back if you wanna be able to boot again.

If you already have installed windows on your primary hdd and your second one is empty,
you can install Linux the second one.
But first make sure your first hdd is fully used by
windows partitions (start>settings>control panel>administrative tools>computermanagement>disk management).
Careful if there is any free space here don't add it to the windows partition,
just create a new partition. This will ensure linux goes on the second harddrive.
Linux installs two partitions. When you are using windows you can see these two drives,
but not access them. Windows will tell you they are not formatted and do you want to format now - don't.
If you do, you'll find Linux gone and may have problems booting into windows.
Near the end of the installation you will be asked if you wan't windows or linux to be the bootmanager.
You can choose either but if you choose linux, remember to boot into windows you have to choose the
"NT" option in the bootmenu.

Good luck. 8)

 

 

 

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I've tried Mandrake and was very pleased with it. Also try Debian or its derivatives, I use that now and don't plan on switching any time soon.

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I am sure you will get a lot of different opinions from different people.

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Yes, you probably will get a lot of differnet answers as which distro is the best. It really depends on what you want to do with your pc. With that said, you really can't go wrong with any distro. Different distros have different advantages and disadvantages. For example, Debian if very good and stable, but to achieve this they are not "cutting edge". I'm not sure what kernel they are using now, but I think it is 2.4. They don't put out upgrades as fast as other distros because they are more concerned about stability and security. SuSE is pretty good for someone new that just wants to install and use. SuSE is pretty good at recognizing your hardware and configuring your system, but it also has some draw backs, mainly the directories that it uses for diffenent items. Slackware is considered "The Linux Distro" since it is concerened with keeping things very standard. But, some people find it hard to use. Those that do use it usually say it was hard at first but now that they are used to it find it the best.
So, my advice it to download a couple of distros and play with them and decide which you like the most, which one fits your needs.
As to installing, it doesn't matter how you have your harddirve(s) configured, you can do this all when you install Linux. I usually install to a second hard drive when doing a dual boot. If you do have free space at the end of another hard drive, which if very uncommon, you can still choose where to put Linux, it won't automatically install in the empty space. I actually use more than two partitions when installing Linux, just like when I install Windows, I use many partitions.
Good luck with your adventures in Linux. I do recommend getting a good book to learn it. I got a couple from my library to learn and eventutally even bought a couple of books. There are times when I can't remember certain commands and have to look them up.
After using Windows for nearly 9 years, I started playing around with Linux a couple of years ago and now rarely do I boot into Windows. The only time I do is when I need to run a program that only runs in Windows.

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redhat is best for multibooting 1st you install both den you set up gnome to boot both drives...easy pm me if you need help..

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