On Monday 16 March 2009, Jack Chastain wrote: ... > The CPU is listed as: "Intel Core2 Duo processor E7400". I searched > this a bit and it appears (thought I am not at all certain) to be a > 64-bit CPU. > > I downloaded Ubuntu 8.10 last night, but this morning noted the > file name is "Ubuntu-8.10-desktop-amd64.iso" > > That "amd" part concerns me.
Don't let that worry you -- the amd64 version is the correct version. ia-64 essentially means "Itanium 64-bit" and won't work with standard 64-bit Intel or 64-bit AMD CPUs. It's unfortunate that the nomenclature lends to this confusion. > Two questions for anyone: Is this CPU in need of the 64-bit or > 32-bit Ubuntu package, and if 64-bit, is the above listed file > appropriate? The Core2 Duo can run either 32-bit or the amd64 64-bit version, but not ia-64, at least as far as I know. > (It is really weird - Dell's first page for Open Source systems > shows a desktop system with Ubuntu all over it, but they presently > only sell Ubuntu-loaded laptops. Sigh.) > > I will also take any alternate advice on the "proper" Linux for > this system. The "proper" Linux is the one that you like, are most familar with, understand, and can keep up-to-date. Ubuntu is relatively easy to keep up-to-date and so is probably a good place to start, however the best thing I can suggest is that you try several different distributions over time to get familiar with a few of them. If you click on a few of the distributions at http://distrowatch.com on the right-hand side bar named "Page Hit Ranking", you can get a discription of each distribution and links to reviews that can give you an idea of what unique features each of the distributions offers. -- Chris -- Chris Knadle [email protected] _______________________________________________ Mid-Hudson Valley Linux Users Group http://mhvlug.org http://mhvlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mhvlug Upcoming Meetings (6pm - 8pm) MHVLS Auditorium Mar 7 - Web Hack-a-thon - SUNY Newpaltz Apr 1 - EC2 and Cloud Computer May 6 - TBD
