Best Linux?

[Rum]

Thanks for the advice/views and opinions. On balance and having visited a few specialist sites too Mint seems to be the best for my particular needs. Wish me luck!

[klr]

Thanks for the advice/views and opinions. On balance and having visited a few specialist sites too Mint seems to be the best for my particular needs. Wish me luck!

Seriously, make sure any important information from your Windows8 installation is saved first.

Then nuke it.

[Jason]

Or just create a new partition and install along side it.

[Azathoth]

Or just create a new partition and install along side it.

Not as easy as it used to be. W8 doesnt play well with others

[Rum]

The laptop is to all intents 'spare'. Nothing vital on it at all.

[MiM]

Thanks for the advice/views and opinions. On balance and having visited a few specialist sites too Mint seems to be the best for my particular needs. Wish me luck!

l8 here, but we went from Ubuntu to mint on one of our laptops some time ago. Feels like it was a good move. Mint, being built on top of Ubuntu has most of the benefits of it, with many drawbacks taken away.

[jaydot]

when you've got the hang of it you might like to play with pclinuxos. somewhat similar to mint.

[Drewish]

If you MUST go with linux mint, then please choose the KDE edition... unless the machine you're installing it on is underpowered. Then go with MATE.

[klr]

If you MUST go with linux mint, then please choose the KDE edition... unless the machine you're installing it on is underpowered. Then go with MATE.

I'd reverse the order myself - MATE and then KDE, with very little to choose between them. But that's based on usability, etc. rather than hardware requirements. I've found KDE to only be slightly more demanding than MATE, even on 4 1/2-year old hardware. Cinnamon on the other hand is definitely something of a resource hog as Linux distributions go.

[Drewish]

If you MUST go with linux mint, then please choose the KDE edition... unless the machine you're installing it on is underpowered. Then go with MATE.

I'd reverse the order myself - MATE and then KDE, with very little to choose between them. But that's based on usability, etc. rather than hardware requirements. I've found KDE to only be slightly more demanding than MATE, even on 4 1/2-year old hardware. Cinnamon on the other hand is definitely something of a resource hog as Linux distributions go.

As an aside, is anyone else psyched about what's gonna happen with KDE when they update to use Qt 5?

[klr]

If you MUST go with linux mint, then please choose the KDE edition... unless the machine you're installing it on is underpowered. Then go with MATE.

I'd reverse the order myself - MATE and then KDE, with very little to choose between them. But that's based on usability, etc. rather than hardware requirements. I've found KDE to only be slightly more demanding than MATE, even on 4 1/2-year old hardware. Cinnamon on the other hand is definitely something of a resource hog as Linux distributions go.

As an aside, is anyone else psyched about what's gonna happen with KDE when they update to use Qt 5?

As long as it doesn't try to become "more like Windows than Windows"*, I'll be happy.

*Other than copying and improving on the good bits of course.

[Pappa]

Or just create a new partition and install along side it.

Not as easy as it used to be. W8 doesnt play well with others

Don't install W8. Simple. :B

You're all making me want to try mint now.

[mistermack]

I wouldn't wipe W8. I haven't used it, but W8 with a licence adds value to the laptop, if you ever want to pass it on.

I would just buy a cheap s/h hard disk, and put linux on that, and keep the W8 disk in case you want to part with it at some stage.
If it's just for a spare, and for use with linux, you wouldn't need anything fancy.

Or alternatively, put Ubuntu on a usb sdhc drive, and operate off that. It works fine for me. Not that I use it much.
I still use xp, it's comfortable, like a favourite pair of shoes.

[klr]

I wouldn't wipe W8. I haven't used it, but W8 with a licence adds value to the laptop, if you ever want to pass it on.

I would just buy a cheap s/h hard disk, and put linux on that, and keep the W8 disk in case you want to part with it at some stage.
If it's just for a spare, and for use with linux, you wouldn't need anything fancy.

Or alternatively, put Ubuntu on a usb sdhc drive, and operate off that. It works fine for me. Not that I use it much.
I still use xp, it's comfortable, like a favourite pair of shoes.

I still use XP as well where I can - even Windows 7 gets to me at times.

As for leaving W8 on a machine to preserve the value ... I think it's too late for that in this case, unless Rum has some backup media, which I think he hasn't.

And the way things are going, leaving W8 on a machine might well decrease its value in the eyes of some potential buyers.

[mistermack]

I suppose so, but you can always sell it with the OPTION of linux, or both, if you do what I suggested.

Generally though, windows does increase the value over linux, even if it's shit windows.

One major thing I use my laptop for, is as a tv recorder, and I don't think my editing program, videoredo tv suite, will install on Ubuntu.

I love the way it removes ads, and saves as any format you want. And the same with cool edit pro for audio recording and mixing. I haven't got a linux version.
All I use linux for is practice, to keep up with it, and for deleting the odd thing that windows will sometimes refuse to delete.