Hi Y’all i’m noo ear.
I WANT to convert to ANY Linux OS. Unfortunately, i don’t know where to begin! Although, I’ve had a look around at which one I think will be best. It’s a toss up between LinuxMint or Isadora(9). This is where it all goes “Pete Tonge”. My desktop PC is teeth grindingly slow due to vista (makes symbol of cross with fingers!). I wanted to put either on a USB to use as a boot key, or maybe partition my HD to install it. Now, which is best? And, where can I find an idiots guide to doing either? I’m normally ok with computers, but with this i’m totally lost. Any help or advice would be gratefully appreciated.
Many thanks
umberto
Linux Mint and Isadora 9 are the same thing… It’s Linux Mint 9 (Isadora).
It will definitely run faster from a hard drive installation than from a USB stick, but there is nothing to stop you “test driving” it first before committing to your hard drive.
Get the LiveCD ISO image from the Linux Mint site:
http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php
and carry on from step 2 of the instructions here:
http://www.pendrivelinux.com/run-linux-mint-9-from-a-usb-flash-drive/
for instructions on how to create a LiveUSB.
or just burn the LiveCD ISO to a cdrom and boot from that
Caveat; Windows can be slow for many reasons, the main one is because the box it comes in lists a minimum memory requirement which people often take as “that’s all I need” … so, just for kick-off, how much memory is in your box?
(because a memory shortage will hit Windows and Linux in the same way!)
[For any modern OS, I wouldn’t consider less than 1Gb enough … to be honest I’m currently working on a 2Gb minimum for workstations … and memory is “so” cheap, it doesn’t make sense not to have enough!]
Many thanks guys.
To answer the second reply, i’m not too sure. The machine is about 4+ years old and I think it’s 512? (there is a website I believe which will scan your system and tell you what memory you need?) that would be a must me thinks. In response to the 1st reply. Well, it’s a good job I asked. I will look into both and then decide. Is my choice (albeit they’re both the same :-[, any good. Or is there a better option?
Cheers
Umberto
Yes, Mint 8 (Helena) or Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala)… both Mint 9 and Ubuntu 10.04 both have issues ATM.
512mb RAM is above the minimum requirements for both Mint and Ubuntu, but it never hurts to have more 
Howdy Guys
Done it! I partitioned my HDD drive and installed Mint. Absolutely lighning fast, compared to the cement mixer that is Vista. I’m struggling getting my e-mails through Thunderbird at the moment, but that’s probably me being a coconut. All’s left to do is play around with it and perhaps look at some additional applications. No doubt it’ll take time to have that Windows familiarity, but already it’s fantastic. So, i would like to thankyou for your help & advice. Cheers.
Rob