With the demise of support for windows XP, I'm considering what to do, and besides getting a new one, I was thinking of 're-using' my slightly older dell laptop. I was thinking of trying to install win7 on it, but that's getting costly and complicated. This leads me to Ubuntu.

So, basic question is, would I be able to install and use it on this laptop? And if so, can I do this by either downloading the OS directly from the web or installing it from a USB flash drive?? Also, where can I see what programs are available? I think I mainly want to use the laptop for email and web browsing, but I might also want to do some writing (word processing) and edit photos, as I do now with Photoshop. Creating a bootable USB is probably the best route. Once you've rejigged your BIOS settings to allow booting from the USB to take precedence over the machines internal drive you should be given an option to 'Try without installing'. This option gives you the chance to explore the OS by running it directly from the USB without affecting your current installation.

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I spent the best part of two weeks, on and off, using this option before deciding to go for a full install to my HD. This was with Xubuntu, which breathed new life into a 6 year old Sony Vaio. I'd add this caveat though, Linux is not Windows - so don't expect it to be like Windows. I was thinking of trying to install win7 on it, but that's getting costly and complicated. This leads me to Ubuntu.I don't think new copies of windows 7 have been available since the end of last October.

I do know people who have downloaded 'cracked' copies of windows and installed them but that's just stupid. Remember the big fuss when people found out that Internet Explorer was downloading system/usage details to Microsoft? They stopped that but now Windows itself does it. It's not exactly well documented. So I'm not surprised this is leading you to ubuntu. So, basic question is, would I be able to install and use it on this laptop? And if so, can I do this by either downloading the OS directly from the web or installing it from a USB flash drive??

It shouldn't be too much trouble. There may be some issues with hardware support which may take a bit of configuring.

I've come to expect at leas a bit of config in linux. But that's more of a problem with bleeding edge hardware, not xp machines. As mentioned, you need to post detailed specs. Which affects which ubuntu version you'd want. I'm seeing a lot of total linux novices here lately who don't understand that there are 4 ubuntu desktop versions. Unity may be their 'default' one but it's designed for modern hardware.

It's as heavy on resources as windows 7. On my more modern laptop that came with windows 7 I use kubuntu (with the KDE desktop). It's considered weighty but unlike unity you can pare it down in settings and make it run a lot faster. But I've had it on my 1Gb netbook too and, while it's surprisingly good and faster than the Win 7 Starter it came with, I'd want at least 2Gb RAM for KDE. I'm using lubuntu 13.10 (LXDE desktop) on my 1Gb netbook now. I also have a minimal KDE install but I'm going to upgrade the RAM to 2Gb before I decide whether or not to use it.

LXDE is seriously fast. Also, where can I see what programs are available?

Download Lagu Bangjoneng Reggae Tengah Sawah. I think I mainly want to use the laptop for email and web browsing, but I might also want to do some writing (word processing) and edit photos, as I do now with Photoshop. I haven't had any problems. In fact in Windows 7 I used mostly programs that were ported from Linux because they're better behaved.

Especially media software. Windows ones have a bad habit of installing flaky 3rd party codec packs because the developers can't or won't do their own. You can't do that so easily in linux. The permission levels actually work the way they should. This is largely why there aren't linux viruses. I know guys who have been running linux on their personal computers for 20 years.

Not one uses an antivirus program running in the background like you have to in windows. I'm seeing a lot of new users who think they can run all their windows programs using Wine. That isn't strictly true.

It's not reliable. You can get close equivalents generally but not always.

Many linux people, for example, say you can use Gimp instead of Photoshop, and that's true for many users. But if you're actually using it professionally, no. There's a proprietary file format used by all digital printing shops and Gimp doesn't support it.

With Pantone it's the same situation. For that reason, I'd recommend keeping at least one Windows partition and dual boot that, though if that has to be XP I'd never, ever go online in XP again. It's called an air gap and it's pretty effective security. As good as you can get. In response to an earlier post asking for more info about my laptop: Latitude D430 Processor Intel Core2 CPU U7600 @ 1.20GHz Processor Speed 1.17 GHz Memory (RAM) 2048 MB Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, Ver. 5.1.2600 Hard Drive 74GB capacity. Wifi: Dell Wiireless 1390 WLAN Mini-Card Rev 4.4 Chipset: BCM4311 / BCM2050 Based on this, if people can give me suggestions for which flavor of the OS might be best, that would be great.

Pulp A Different Class Ziparchive Not Found more. Also, where can I look at which programs are available in Ubuntu? Last edited by freedda; March 29th, 2014 at 04:39 PM. If you have a reasonably fast internet connection, I suggest that you try standard Ubuntu as Vladlenin5000 suggests, and also Xubuntu, with a 'medium light' desktop environment (lighter than standard Ubuntu).

Broadcom wifi needs some tweaking to work, so it is best to use wired internet (ethernet) for updating/upgrading until you get the wifi working. And please let us know about your graphics chip/card: Intel or nVidia or AMD/ATI/Radeon? And the model number, if you can find it via the Control Panel in Windows.

I'm sure that your computer can boot from USB, so Unetbootin should make a good USB boot drive from the Ubuntu or Xubuntu desktop installer ISO file (unless the USB system is damaged). -o- Finally, there is a Software Center, where you can find many programs to install easily from the repositories. It is much better to install programs from the repositories than to download programs from an external site, [compile and] install it. You can also search for programs or applications via the internet; use the search phrase linux kind-of-program for example linux video player.

And don't forget that you can get personal recommendations, if you ask here at the Ubuntu Forums. But open a new thread for that purpose to attract persons who can help with that/those program(s) that you need.

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