Linux Mint

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Bowser

Namaste
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I just loaded this OS on an old IBM laptop and am thoroughly impressed by it. It even allowed me to use a windows driver for my wireless card. How cool is that?
 
Yes, Mint was my final choice as best Linux distro, after messing around with 3 different Ubuntu versions. For laptops Mint had the less problems and basicly it worked immediately out of the box, you don't even need to download Flash....
 
What is the menthol to carvone ratio?

Sorry for that outburst.:eek:

I hope this works out for Bowser. Haven't seen that character for a long time around here. Always remember the avatar.

Could either of you clue me in as to what is great about this OS? I hear lots of Linux talk, and I am aware there are multiple concurrent versions (or in this case, flavors?) of it, but I would just like to know what is so advantageous or attractive about it.

What does it do for ye?

Other than probably being streamlined, fast, less error prone, etc?

I'm a cave man. I struggle to make fire.
 
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Mind you, this is from me, who is usually very critical of Linux or any unpractical and not-user friendly applications,software.

Could either of you clue me in as to what is great about this OS?

1. Very small memory print.
2. Usability.
3. It works out of the box. (Ubuntu needs to install Flash,wi-fi instantly recognized)
4. It is the fastest. (among Linux versions and including XP)
5. Probably the best overall choice for laptops.
6. No chance of virus even when visiting "questionable" websites.

I use it as a dual-boot back up on my laptops, wife like to use it for puzzle games. :)

I have one old Acer that simply can not be used with XP anymore, but when I wiped out Windows completely, it still runs just fine using Mint. Go figure...
I only use Linux for webbrowsing or some logic games, so I can't say anything about CD/DVD usage or burning stuff, but just for cruising the web, it is generally faster than XP and safer. Vista is about the same speed, so there was no advantage in that regard....
 
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I happened upon a cave-mum lizard once. The Horror!

Pray tell! Details, mademoiselle! Did it take you to its sepulchral lair? Did it, you know, do things?:bugeye:

Mind you, this is from me, who is usually very critical of Linux or any unpractical and not-user friendly applications,software.

Some might disagree with you there. There seems to be a surprising amount of software available for that platform.
I confess, never having used the system, I don't know if it's unpractical or unfriendly.

1. Very small memory print.
2. Usability.
3. It works out of the box. (Ubuntu needs to install Flash)
4. I think it is the fastest. (among Linux versions and including XP)
5. Probably the best overall choice for laptops.
6. No chance of virus even when visiting "questionable" websites.

I use it as a dual-boot back up on my laptops, wife like to use it for puzzle games. :)

I have one old Acer that simply can not be used with XP anymore, but when I whipped out Windows completely, it still runs just fine using Mint. Go figure...
I only use Linux for webbrowsing or some logic games, so I can't say anything about CD/DVD usage or burning stuff, but just for cruising the web, it is generally faster than XP and safer. Vista is about the same speed, so there was no advantage in that regard....

So you use it mostly for internetage? Probably the safest bet.

I have heard that many of those systems just boot from disk (cd or similar), no questions asked.

Could be wrong there.

5. Probably the best overall choice for laptops.

Why is that? Limited capacity for things?
 
You tend to missunderstand some of what I said, maybe I wasn't clear...

Some might disagree with you there. There seems to be a surprising amount of software available for that platform.

I was refering to the general usability of Linux here, not its software aviability. Or just general to anything that is non-user friendly, be it a hammer or whatever...

So you use it mostly for internetage? Probably the safest bet.

Yes, if you use porn or visit Russian websites for movies,music, or have children who goes anywhere, the best is to have a dedicated Linux machine for that purpose, or dual boot, when you want to see the ladies. :)

Why is that? Limited capacity for things?

I was refering to Mint as the best among Linux distros, not that it is best
among all OSs. But again, if you have an old (5+ years) machine, Linux can breath new life into it and make it still usable....

The bottomline is, if you ever want to give a try to Linux, start with Mint. Also, for safety reasons it doesn't hurt to have a dual boot option on your computer, just in case something goes wrong with the Windows part...
 
Is it possible to run both windows and Mint on the same machine?
 
I like it. It has a few advantages over plain ubuntu.

Is it possible to run both windows and Mint on the same machine?

Yes you could:
1: Duel boot: install windows and then Linux on separate partitions (in that order), when you start up your machince you can decide which to boot up via the GRUB menu that automatically comes up during booting.
2: Virtual Box: You can run windows inside of Linux via a virtual box application that will allow you to boot windows inside of a "virtual machine" while linux is already boot up, this has advantages in that you can use windows apps in Linux without the problems of windows emulation (see blow), but there are problems playing windows games in a virtual box as many video card drivers can't make heads or tails out of the virtual machine system. Also I recommend a lot of memory for this certainly 2GB or better I would say 4GB+ and 64 bit Linux and 64 bit windows.
3: Wine: Wine is a windows emulate you can download in the linux app installer and will emulate SOME windows programs successfully within linux, some apps work, some don't.
 
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The #2 option what EF mentioned has some disadvantages. If Windows gets a virus and can not be opened, you can not access Mint either. Also you lose the speed advantage, because it runs both the Windows and the Mint OS at the same time.
 
The #2 option what EF mentioned has some disadvantages. If Windows gets a virus and can not be opened, you can not access Mint either. Also you lose the speed advantage, because it runs both the Windows and the Mint OS at the same time.

Well I never seen a windows virus in a VB in Linux effect the Linux OS like that I will agree on it will slow things down, your running 2 OS simultaneously. But I have seen it work pretty well with on an old Athlon XP pruning ubuntu and win xp in virtual box, the only problem was the video card driver issue.
 
Well, my point is/was that the Windows part can get a virus while it was running in Windows mode, and no Linux can help it if it doesn't start. But if the machine is dual booted, Grub and Linux will still start even if the Windows part is dead.

So just for data saving puprposes one could have a Mint dual boot even if one never uses it except when shit hits Windows...
 
I tried to load Windows on this old system, but its operation was buggy and slow. Out of desperation, I downloaded Linux Mint and installed it. It configured all of the hardware and was operational within a short time. I did have to load a driver for my wireless pcmcia card, but that was very easy and didn't present any problems. There's a ton of applications for this OS. I downloaded one today for my digital camera. It works perfectly.

I honestly think the people who developed this OS have done a wonderful job. Kudos! ;)

http://linuxmint.com/
 
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