For example, the pipe character results in the > character and I haven't been
able to locate it.
See
https://trisquel.info/fr/forum/how-get-keys-thinkpad-t60-german-keyboard-layout#comment-60582
I found opening applications not slow but a little sluggish.
It may be because you are using a Live CD (access to CDs are slow). If you
feel the same way after the install, you may want to try Trisquel Mini.
Does the fact the 64-bit live cd is operating that the chipset supports a
64-bit OS?
Yes.
Can someone provide a checklist of tests I should perform through the live cd
to see what works and what may not?
Besides graphics (3D acceleration, video decoding acceleration, etc.),
everything should work. If you buy a Wifi card, go for the only vendors that
guarantee Linux-libre can perfectly drive them: http://libre.thinkpenguin.com
or http://tehnoetic.com
root 20 GB, swap 5-6 GB, home 55 GB?
20 GB for / is a lot unless you plan to install several heavy games, you use
applications that write a lot to /tmp (Popcorn Time for instance), etc. You
can take a look at how much space you use in the root partition of your other
systems (and maybe double the number to feel at ease):
$ df -h
5-6 GB for a swap partition is a lot too. When the system swaps (because the
main memory is all used), it becomes close to unusable and I doubt you will
have the patience to run a desktop system that uses 5-6 GB of swap. That
said, if you want to suspend your system (to save energy), then be aware that
the whole memory that is used is dumped to the swap partition, which must
therefore be sufficiently large.
