Software Help an Ubuntu beginner (previously 'Linux')

[Rtyh-12]

OK, the title wasn't too descriptive, but I couldn't think of anything else. If you can find better title please write it and I'll change it.

And now, let's go on topic.

I recently got a laptop. It was on a special offer, but it's quite goodrocessor 1.66GHz, 512 KB cache, 1 GB of RAM and 250 GB HDD (it's bigger than my computer, which is really small, 80 GB). The worst part is that it uses a version of Windows I've never heard of before, Windows 7 Basic Edition, I think. It's horrible, it looks horrible and you can't even change your wallpaper, which is horrible.

Well, I'm one of those guys that like stuff to look good...

And now I thought about 3 ways to solve it:

1. Buy a new, better edition of Windows 7. That would be quite expensive, so I would avoid it.​

2. Install Windows XP. I don't think that they still sell it.​

3. Download Linux, Fedora in the link seems OK. I don't know anything about Linux other that it's an operating system, but I would still go with this one, because it won't be THAT hard, right?​

If I go with the last one, I have some questions: how do I do dual booting, because I'd like to keep Windows, just in case I don't like Linux or something. Then I might uninstall Windows, but please tell me how to do that; I've never messed with OSs before, is it enough if I just delete the Windows folder under Linux?

And remember that the laptop is new, so that I can reformat it without having to back stuff up, so it's gonna be much easier!

And finally, does Orbiter work under Linux? (obviously I was going to ask)

Thank you, and !

 

[Wishbone]

The RAM is too small for most practical purposes. 2GB is minimum minimorum. Orbiter does not work under linux. If you know nothing about Linux, download linux HOWTOs first. Installing XP is your best option.

 

[Kveldulf]

-snip-

Orbiter has worked for some people in Linux, but I haven't gotten it to work very well. A simple search on the forums should give results.

As for everything else: if you've never really messed with another OS before, the last thing you want to do is wipe your drive and install an OS you don't know very well, with no way to go back. I can't say I've heard of the restrictions you've mentioned for Win7 Basic, but I'm on Windows 7 Pro :shrug:. My vote is for staying with Windows 7 however. If you dislike basic, save up and get a better version.

If you must run Linux, Google Wubi. It installs Ubuntu, and sets up everything for you. The good news is if you don't like it, you can remove everything through Add/Remove Programs.

 

[Hielor]

Sounds like you have Windows 7 Starter. If you search for "Windows Anytime Upgrade" on your computer (or on the web, possibly) you should be able to find your options for upgrading to Home Premium. I don't know what the cost for that will be, but that's how you'd find out.

 

[Linguofreak]

Orbiter 2010 w/ OGLAClient works under Wine on my 2.1 GHz dual-core, 3GB RAM, Ubuntu 10.04 laptop with an NVidia GPU. (In fact, OGLAClient runs better on my Laptop than our Windows desktop, which is generally a better machine, though the built-in DirectX client on the Windows machine works even better).

I do wonder, though, if Orbiter would run *well* on your machine. You'd probably get fairly poor framerates.

I disagree with Wishbone about memory limitations, as long as you don't plan on doing anything really intense with it like video editing or hardcore gaming. My laptop rarely goes over 1 GB of memory usage under normal conditions. (I do use Opera as a web browser, though, which can be a bit memory heavy, so I do see it every once in a while).

As far as Kvedulf's recommendation of Wubi, I'll second that (it's how I introduced myself to Linux), but I would try getting it onto a separate partition once you start to get comfortable with the system and before you put any critical data on it. Wubi basically uses a file on your Windows partition to store Ubuntu's filesystem, and as such it's fairly vulnerable to anything that might damage data on the Windows parition (like a hard shutdown). It's great for getting your feet wet, but a bit risky for everyday use.

 

[Ae7flux]

From the specifications it looks like a netbook type of machine (Nothing wrong with that apart from the horribly crippled Windows version) so you probably don't have an optical drive which rules out my standard advice of a live CD. However, if you go to pendrivelinux.com you'll find simple instructions for putting many different versions of Linux onto a usb memory stick. That way you can try the various alternatives without having to worry about making modifications to your existing system. I'd also recommend trying some version of Ubuntu not because it's necessarily the best Linux out there but simply, due to it popularity, you'll find it easier to get help if you run any problems.

 

[Enjo]

If you installed Ubuntu, Gnome would take most of your RAM. Kubuntu's KDE - even more. What you need is Xubuntu, based on a lightweight desktop environment - XFCE.

 

[Rtyh-12]

Very true, it's a netbook. Anyway, I've decided to give it a go on my PC. I've downloaded Wubi and created a LiveCD (I think). I used the 'Try Ubuntu' feature, and I can say that it's nice (I'm proud to say that I'm writing this from Ubuntu!). Yet, I'm a complete Linux newbie and I would really appreciate some help.

First of all, applications. Obviously one of the first things I did was trying Orbiter to see if it worked. It didn't. It just opened the archive manager and said that it isn't a .zip file, and obviously it isn't. So I tried to use Alt-F2, but when I pressed run, it said that it can't open from that location. I guess I'll have to move it to Ubuntu folder or whatever you call it?

Then, the screensaver. Does it even have one? I left my computer waiting while I did something else and when I came back the screen was completely black, and this blackness disappeared when I moved the mouse. So should I understand that there is a screensaver? If so, how can I change it?

And finally, if I decide to get myself a new HDD and actually install Ubuntu on it, what exactly will happen next? I mean the drives and the files, I guess I'll be using a small Windows partition and a big Ubuntu one, would you recommend it?

 

[Hielor]

First of all, applications. Obviously one of the first things I did was trying Orbiter to see if it worked. It didn't. It just opened the archive manager and said that it isn't a .zip file, and obviously it isn't. So I tried to use Alt-F2, but when I pressed run, it said that it can't open from that location. I guess I'll have to move it to Ubuntu folder or whatever you call it?

Welcome to Linux. Programs built for Windows won't automagically work. For Orbiter, you can look for help in this thread: http://www.orbiter-forum.com/showthread.php?t=16401&highlight=linux

 

[Lucy]

You're entering another world. Linux and Windows are fundamentally different operating systems with some common elements. I suggest you read up on how linux works, and at a minimum check the Ubuntu documentation and forums for some linux usage instructions and tips.

 

[Linguofreak]

If you installed Ubuntu, Gnome would take most of your RAM.

A significant portion, but by no means "most". My laptop tends to run about 300-400 MiB used right after logon. He has a Gig of Ram, so he should be good, but I probably wouldn't run Ubuntu on much *less* than he has.

 

[Lucy]

Since this page lists 1GB of RAM as a minimum for Ubuntu, I would agree with that assessment. I have run the core Ubuntu on less and felt the difference, but it's a helpful guesstimation. Xubuntu obviously has a smaller footprint by design, and I believe it's happy to sit in 192 MiB as stated on their site.

 

[Rtyh-12]

You're entering another world. Linux and Windows are fundamentally different operating systems with some common elements. I suggest you read up on how linux works, and at a minimum check the Ubuntu documentation and forums for some linux usage instructions and tips.

Oh, you think I haven't tried to? I looked both on the website and in Ubuntu's documentation, but I haven't found anything about this subject, so I decided to ask here. I will rename this thread to a now more appropriate 'Help an Ubuntu beginner'.

Also I seem to have another problem:the text on websites is much smaller, including the text I'm writing right now. What exactly is causing this?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Enjo]

Fonts set to smaller versions that you got used to, and which can be changed under Linux just as under Windows.

 

[MeDiCS]

As for running Windows apps on Ubuntu, Wine should do the job.

 

[velcroman5]

PlayOnLinux might help

I've also got a netbook with Windows 7 home (very) basic.
I resized Win7 to a small partition to make way for Ubuntu to be installed.
Orbiter is the only Windows application installed on Win7. (Uninstalling the junkware took a long time)
Orbiter 2010 runs OK in a small window (quarter of screen size) on Win7 with basic graphic options, but not too well full size + advanced graphics. (I think I've only ever booted to Win7 a couple of times - perhaps I'll try it again and test the latest OGLA).

My desktop PC has a good nVidia card so netbook 3D is always going to seem limited to me. I'm afraid I haven't bothered to test Orbiter on Ubuntu on my netbook.

If you want to try Orbiter on Ubuntu, PlayOnLinux may help. It adds a nice gui on top of WINE to make installing WinApps easier to configure.

You should find it in the Software Centre.

 

[movieman]

The RAM is too small for most practical purposes. 2GB is minimum minimorum.

Geez, my Linux server only has 2GB. My Ubuntu laptop is currently using 1.2GB with about forty Firefox tabs, Rythmbox, Vnc, OpenOffice, Steam, kpdf and a bunch of terminal windows open.

We ran Ubuntu on a 1GB netbook for a year with no real problems: I only upgraded it to 2GB because my old laptop had 4GB that I no longer needed after buying the new one.

As for installing, you can use gparted to shrink the Windows partitions and make space. However, this laptop already had _three_ recovery partitions as well as the actual Windows partition so I also had to delete one of those in order to free up a partition to install to.

 

[Enjo]

I admit that I've had bad experiences on 512 MB, but did you bother running "free -m" to see how much swap is being used, thus slowing down the performance?