Something I don't understand about Linux...

You can access your data on the drives if you know where to look. It's what I was trying to say earlier. There will be a separate drive with your Windows on it. On mine it says 39GB File System because that's the size of the Windows partition (drive). Linux can read Windows drives (NTFS, FAT32, etc.) but Windows can't read linux drives without third party software.
If you do stick with Linux give me a shout and I will talk you through it.
 
Lose the beard said:
Gairdner said:
Wha......? Ain't Linux a character from Charlie Brown?
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It's an operating system that is allegedly user friendly.
People who use it rave about it. People who don't use it carry on with Windows or iOS blissfully unaware of how frustrating it can be getting your sound or your printer to work.
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Well I've just installed a distribution called "Fuduntu" on my netbook. (guess it wasn't named by a Scot) The sound works great and is actually a little louder than it was on Win 7 and overall performance is significantly better than it was in Win 7. Even Brewtarget works perfectly :) Actually it was Win 7 Starter so its also very nice to be able to change the change the background!

I wouldn't run anything but Windows at work but for home use linux works well and has ironed out most of its issues over the last few years.
 
Yeah there are so many distros now that if something isn't quite right just try another one. Although the constant development means there are always new things to break the old. I have Mint 13 Cinnamon but just use Cairo-Dock as my way of managing what's open and seeing notifications.
The sound problem I fixed is now not working again (f***ing annoying) but it is an old machine and I don't need sound on this one. It doesn't work in the newer Ubuntus on which this distro is based.
Puppy is also great for taking you through things as you go on older hardware and sound works on that!
I expect I will go down the tablet route at some point or get one of those tablets with keyboard docks. I'm not sure if that is a laptop or a tablet or what...
 
I've always had a flavour of Linux on the go and switched permanetly around 5 years ago. You have to work at it a bit but recent flavours are much more user friendly than they used to be. I've stuck with Ubuntu for the last couple of years for this reason as I don't have as much time as I used to for customising - it's there if I want to though. Oh and never had a vrus, trojan or any other kind of nasty.

And of course it doesn't cost a penny - unless you want to pay for a glitzy app that is usually free in a less glitzy format. YMMV

Well worth the learning curve in my opinion, but it doesn't suit everybody - neither does Windows, or DE Shaving or MWF etc..
 
Well I've now made the permanent switch to Mint. Yet to test the printer but wifi is just great and all else is working fantastically. Very pleased indeed so I feel a public thanks to NTS and n1vlo is due: Thanks fellas!
 
Gairdner said:
Well I've now made the permanent switch to Mint. Yet to test the printer but wifi is just great and all else is working fantastically. Very pleased indeed so I feel a public thanks to NTS and n1vlo is due: Thanks fellas!
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Excellent - well done you. Printers can be a bit hit and miss but, as with shaving, there are some excellent forums out there who can help.
 
Great work Graeme. I never got my Brother printer working because there was no driver for my exact model. It was about eight years old though. I have a cheapo HP now - new - and with a bit of extra work I got the official hp Linux software to work. Helps if you know what version of linux you're running, what it is based on so you can download the right packages (Redhat for rpm, deb for Debian/Ubuntu, etc.) If there isn't a pre-built package it can be a pain compiling from source code the first time.
A lot of hardware is already in the linux kernel anyway so separate drivers aren't needed.
 
Mine is a Canon and around 4 or 5 years old so hopefully it will work. Don't use it an awful lot and I've been known to pick up paper and pen to handwrite a letter instead. Still, for official type letters it would be handy. More importantly, I'd like to get some photos of Shortie printed off. I'll see how I get on. The other crucial thing that I wished Id checked first is the HDMI linking to the telly for watching downloaded programmes which we do a lot. I'm sure it'll be fine.......
 
It's all going the way of the pear! The internet performance has started to be really variable as has the desktop navigation speeds. A minute ago, just moving around was deathly slow but now it seems fine. The HDMi link to our Panasonic 32" which is 4 years old is also no good. All we get is the Desktop background but no icons, panel or menu and if, for example, I select a film to watch and play it in any of the installed players or VLC which I downloaded then all I get is the video playing on the laptop only with the TV stubbornly displaying nothing but the desktop. Oof, me head hurts and I want to watch TV from the laptop. Poo! :icon_cry2:
 
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