10.04 cd

[Feilin]

I have an Acer laptop, dualcore T4200 2.0 GHz Intel Pentium Processor (64-bit), GeForce G105M 512 MiB Graphics Card, 4 GiB DDR3 memory. What version of Ubuntu 10.04 should I download and burn as a Live CD? (the reason that I ask is because I'm confused by different sites that, in my eyes, have different views about whether and how much 32- vs 64-bit matters; some only have one option, some have the choice of 32-/64-bit version, some have even more information)

[mikewhatever]

Download the default one from ubuntu.com, and you should be ok.

[mörgæs]

Whatever you do, wait a day or two until 10.04.1 is released.

You will find a lot of opinions on the 32/64-bit matter in 'recurring discussions'. Mine is: Begin with 32 bit, and only if you experience a slow system it is worth to consider 64.

[TBABill]

Feilin, being new to Ubuntu I would recommend the 32 bit OS, install ubuntu-restricted-extras and get a feel for Ubuntu and how to ask questions, get help, learn how to change your machine (appearance, screensaver, adding software, etc) and just enjoy the speed you will surely gain from Ubuntu over Windows. My brand new Dell with Intel Core i3 is pretty fast with Windows 7, but blazes with Linux. You'll like it once you adjust to the differences.

As far as "which" to get...Ubuntu comes in different "flavors". The differences between Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu, etc. is mostly the desktop environment. If you're not familiar with that term, basically imagine the difference between Win95, WinME, Win2000, WinXP, Win Vista and Win7. Mostly they can do a lot of the same things, but they appear and configure quite differently. Still Windows, just different "versions". Ubuntu and the other *buntus are still the same core beneath, but that's the best analogy I can give. You can always add different desktop environments to a regular Ubuntu install (or the others). Ubuntu itself is probably best to start out on, but that's just opinion from someone who was in your shoes not so long ago.

[mikewhatever]

Whatever you do, wait a day or two until 10.04.1 is released.
...
You make it sound like a 'life and death' decision, and it's not. ;)