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Jason Kuzhively
April 27th, 2013, 02:43 PM
Hey Guys, After I installed Ubuntu 12.10 on my PC, I had a lot of problems. After getting tired of all the BS, I installed Windows XP on my PC and removed Ubuntu. I still want to use a Linux Distro. I think it was because of 12.10 being Beta that I got all those issues so I am planning to dual-boot a linux distro with Win-XP. The question is, Should I go for Ubuntu or Some other Linux-Distro? I am tech-savvy and I am looking to explore Linux so I'm basically a beginner. If the answer is Ubuntu, then which version of Ubuntu should I go for, or if it is any other Linux Distro, then which one?


My PC Specs:


Intel Core 2 Duo CPU
E4500 @ 2.20 Ghz
2.19 Ghz, 1.99 GB of RAM

sudodus
April 27th, 2013, 03:07 PM
There are so many alternatives. If you want a version that is well debugged and stable, and will remain so for years, try Ubuntu 12.04.2 or some flavour of it, Lubuntu, Xubuntu or Kubuntu. If you want the most modern Ubuntu version, install 13.04, that was release a few days ago. Linux Mint, with Ubuntu under the hood, is a beginner-friendly distro ...

Download several iso files and try them live, booted from CD/DVD/USB before deciding what to install. Depending on hardware, you may need some boot option to get it running https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BootOptions

If you specify your computer, at least cpu, ram and graphics card/chip, you can get more specific advice about suitable flavours and versions to try.

Jason Kuzhively
April 27th, 2013, 03:27 PM
Intel Core 2 Duo CPU
E4500 @ 2.20 Ghz
2.19 Ghz, 1.99 GB of RAM

Here are my specs, Thanks for replying sudodus.

dino99
April 27th, 2013, 03:34 PM
Before being a confirmed user, everyone has been a noob, fighting with a bunch of issues, because they still thing the MS way :mad:
So dont worry, the elapsed time will help to forget about MS and using ubuntu will be easier & easier (ubuntuforums are there to help in case you need it 7/7 & 24/24 all the year long)

Jason Kuzhively
April 27th, 2013, 03:40 PM
dino99, I agree with you 100%. Ubuntu Forums is attractive, fun, helpful and usable. It's there for me 24/7. I <3 UbuntuForums.

sudodus
April 27th, 2013, 04:34 PM
Intel Core 2 Duo CPU
E4500 @ 2.20 Ghz
2.19 Ghz, 1.99 GB of RAM

Here are my specs, Thanks for replying sudodus.

You have enough horsepower for all the Ubuntu flavours, so it will be up to you to balance speed versus eye-candy and select the style you like for the desktop environment. The engine underneath is the same for all flavours.

Your hardware is also old enough, that 12.04.2 LTS should work well with it, the 32 bit as well as the 64 bit version. I run the 32 bit version on a similar system (with 2 GB RAM). Your graphics card/chip is still unknown to me, and it might cause problems, so that you need some boot option.

Jason Kuzhively
April 28th, 2013, 01:46 AM
After a lot of running around, I still can't decide which one to choose, Linux Mint or Ubuntu. I really wanna try out Mint but I really don't wanna leave Ubuntu and it's Forums. Love UbuntuForums. I wish it was more easy to make a choice.

malspa
April 28th, 2013, 02:05 AM
You could always run them both. Debian's my "primary" distro, but I like others (including Ubuntu) as well. So I run them, too.

snowpine
April 28th, 2013, 02:21 AM
The more distros you try, the more you realize they are all basically the same. :)
I personally am using Linux Mint these days, because it's just so darn easy.

Jason Kuzhively
April 28th, 2013, 02:36 AM
A friend of mine told me that Ubuntu had some issues with Nvidia and Intel Graphics. Is this true, cause if this is, then I'll have to go with Mint since I had enough of Unity in 12.10. It is extremely slow and glitchy, it wouldn't speed up even if I tried different Desktop Environments.

Jason Kuzhively
April 28th, 2013, 02:40 AM
Guys, I wanna know one thing, if I decided to go with Mint... then can I still hang out in UbuntuForums? Can I ask and answer questions? It breaks my heart to leave such an awesome community.

snowpine
April 28th, 2013, 02:42 AM
A friend of mine told me that Ubuntu had some issues with Nvidia and Intel Graphics. Is this true, cause if this is, then I'll have to go with Mint since I had enough of Unity in 12.10. It is extremely slow and glitchy, it wouldn't speed up even if I tried different Desktop Environments.

Mint IS Ubuntu, and both of them run well on the majority of Intel and Nvidia cards. I suggest you use the Search box at the top right to search for your specific graphics chipset.

Lots of non-Ubuntu users hang out here on ubuntuforums. ;)

Jason Kuzhively
April 28th, 2013, 02:53 AM
My graphics card is the Intel 82945G Express Chipset Family

snowpine
April 28th, 2013, 03:01 AM
My graphics card is the Intel 82945G Express Chipset Family

This is a very low-end graphics card (see here (http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/video_lookup.php?gpu=Intel+82945G+Express)) which will probably struggle with Unity desktop, flash, high-def video, 3D games, etc.

It will probably work OK for light web surfing, word processing, mp3 listening, etc. if you install a lightweight desktop environment such as Xfce.

No additional drivers are required for your card on either Ubuntu or Mint.

Jason Kuzhively
April 28th, 2013, 03:09 AM
So that's why Ubuntu 12.10 was so slow:mad: So, will Mint be slow on my PC just like Ubuntu?

snowpine
April 28th, 2013, 03:20 AM
So that's why Ubuntu 12.10 was so slow:mad: So, will Mint be slow on my PC just like Ubuntu?

Mint will not magically transform slow hardware into fast hardware. Mint is Ubuntu at its core.

That being said, Ubuntu's default Unity desktop environment is a resource hog. If you switch to a lightweight desktop environment (such as Xfce or LXDE) you will probably see some improvement.

All of the lightweight desktop environments are equally well supported in Ubuntu or Mint.

Jason Kuzhively
April 28th, 2013, 04:26 AM
I decided to go with Xubuntu... it looks pretty attractive.

pissedoffdude
April 28th, 2013, 05:36 AM
If you're curious, I'd say give as many as you can a try. And if you feel you've settled on one, then more power to ya. Personally, I'd recommend Bodhi, Mageia, Fuduntu, OpenSuse, and Sabayon

sudodus
April 28th, 2013, 09:42 AM
I decided to go with Xubuntu... it looks pretty attractive.
That's a good choice. Good luck :-)

malspa
April 28th, 2013, 02:16 PM
Guys, I wanna know one thing, if I decided to go with Mint... then can I still hang out in UbuntuForums? Can I ask and answer questions? It breaks my heart to leave such an awesome community.

Yes, there's even a section of the forums called "Other OS/Distro Support": http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=401

Mopar1973Man
April 28th, 2013, 02:48 PM
Here is the full listing of distros' for you.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_distributions

But me personally as a suggestion to a noobie I would fall back to 12.04 LTS and start there. The 12.04 is very stable and less likely to give you much grief as your trying to learn Linux.

Jason Kuzhively
April 30th, 2013, 01:22 PM
I installed Xubuntu and I have zero problems with it. I'm slowly getting rid of my Alien-OS-o-phobia, living too long with Windows makes you pretty Close-Minded and Narrow. I wanna thank everybody for answering. One last question: How do you change a thread to "[Solved]"?

sudodus
April 30th, 2013, 02:40 PM
There is a temporary work-around for it since the upgrading of the web-site.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2121377&p=12536730#post12536730

Jason Kuzhively
May 2nd, 2013, 12:04 PM
Thanks for helping me guys, I'm havin' a beautiful time with Xubuntu!

forrestcupp
May 2nd, 2013, 06:01 PM
Guys, I wanna know one thing, if I decided to go with Mint... then can I still hang out in UbuntuForums? Can I ask and answer questions? It breaks my heart to leave such an awesome community.I primarily use Windows 8, and I still hang out here. ;)

I do have an Ubuntu/Gnome Shell laptop, though.


Thanks for helping me guys, I'm havin' a beautiful time with Xubuntu!That's probably a great choice for you. You didn't like Unity, and Xubuntu is lighter weight. I'm glad you're liking it. If you have the hard drive space, sometime you should try installing kubuntu-desktop and try KDE out. You can have KDE and Xfce (Xubuntu's desktop environment) installed at the same time and choose which one you want to use at the login screen. I like KDE a lot, and it's not nearly as heavy as it used to be.