Hi, I have just taken delivery of a 'new' (to me, used off eBay) Acer 9920 laptop, 4GB RAM, 320GB disk. It has Windows (Vista Ultimate!!) on it ... I tried sticking a Ubuntu 12.04 USB stick in, and hated it. I run various older Ubuntus on my other machines but have resisted going beyond 11.04 because I just don't resonate with the way Ubuntu have taken the system lately.
I then booted an older Ubuntu (10.04) live CD on the machine so I could get to GParted, and have split the 320GB disk into roughly: 60GB NTFS Windows 80GB Ext2 spare 160GB Ext2 spare (like most deals these days you seem to end up with a total that does not match the sum of the parts - I think of it as fees/commission ;-) I am thinking of installing some sort of Linux onto the 80GB, having the 160GB as a network shared drive and keeping WIndows because the system includes a webcam, Bluetooth Skype-phone, TV tuner and remote etc which I might have trouble driving under Linux should I ever want to use those features. The system does not have a Windows CD. Questions are: 1. given I have Windows installed on the HDD but not on CD, can I look at setting up a VM arrangement whereby I could run a Linux system but bring up Windows if wanted in a VM? 2. Have any other disenchanted Ubuntu users settled on an alternative system that suits them? I have the feeling that there are a lot of 'traditionalist'(*) Ubuntu users among the LUG and similar communities who do not really agree with the recent direction Ubuntu has taken. I am wondering about Mint , or Cinnamon ... other suggestions? How hard would it be to go to hard core Debian? I think I am sufficiently apt-habituated that going to a Red Hat style would be a bit strange, but maybe I have to get over that too... thanks victor (*) maybe correlated with number of grey hairs... -- best regards, Victor Churchill, Bournemouth -- Next meeting: Bournemouth, Tuesday 2012-04-03 20:00 Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ New thread on mailing list: mailto:[email protected] How to Report Bugs Effectively: http://goo.gl/4Xue
