Gettting Ubuntu

[Floor66]

I'm planning on switching to Ubuntu on one of my computers, but I'm very much in doubt about what to pick..

Ubuntu? Kubuntu? Xubuntu?
Can anyone give me a short list of pros/cons for each of them? I'd like to also bot on there, if that's possible.

[Sex]

Specs? If the computer isn't ancient, then go with Ubuntu. if it is old use Xubuntu. Kubuntu uses KDE instead of GNOME (which Ubuntu uses), so you can choose that if you want. (X/K)Ubuntu are derivitives of Ubuntu so they should all have the same stuff (should come upstream I guess)? I just started using Linux a while ago so I don't know a whole lot :). I don't use Ubuntu though, has too much shit. I use OpenSUSE on my laptop (because it has a great OOBE), and on my desktop I have Fedora.

[Floor66]

Core 2 Duo @2GHz, nvidia 7600GS, 1gb RAM (I think? maybe 2).

I just want a nice-looking, fast OS that's NOT windows ;)

What does Ubu has and is too much shit? And also, what's OOBE?
And the diff between X/K/Ubu|Fedora|OpenSUSE?

[Sex]

The OOBE is the Out Of the Box Experience.

Specs are more than adequate for Ubuntu. If you have a duo core you most likely have 2gb of ram.

Ubuntu was my first distribution as well. I haven't used it for a while. Um, I said that because I just don't like having a lot of applications that I don't need/use. I prefer to have like a semi-bare OS and just install whatever I need.

Afaik xubuntu uses XFCE (a very light desktop environment), kubuntu uses KDE (an alternative to GNOME), Ubuntu uses GNOME. Fedora is a derivative of RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux), and x/kubuntu are derivatives of Ubuntu. Ubuntu is a derivative of Debian. They use .deb package files and the apt package manager. Fedora uses yum. OpenSUSE I just installed and I think Fedora is better, but Fedora just wasn't working out for me (on my laptop). The touchpad was horrible and I could find no good fixes/software for it. OpenSUSE worked straight from the start. I don't know much about OpenSUSE and I don't think its derived from anything :p. Um, the package manager it uses is zypper I think. I'm just using it because it was the best distro that would work on my laptop.

Edit: OpenSUSE seems quite bloated as well and doesn't use the traditional GNOME set up (at first). But, as always, it is completely configurable to your tastes. One of these days I want to try Gentoo. That seems cool building your own kernel and shit.

[Floor66]

Wow thanks for the info! :D
I'd also like a 'bare' OS (so Fedora will be the best?) but how will it go with network adapters, mouse/keyboard, etc. does it have drivers for them?

[Harry]

Try the normal version of Ubuntu (or xbuntu maybe) if it's your first distro, else you'll be having problems for hours.

[Floor66]

I'm thinking about going with Xubuntu after some more research.

I also read that it's possible to load whole programs to RAM? I have a PC with 5gb RAM so I could for ex. load Photoshop in there and then it's super fast?

[Sex]

Yes, Fedora will probably be your choice :p. Oh forgot to mention, my headless home server runs Debian without a desktop environment. Depends on your hardware. Mouse/keyboard will work fine on anything. Ethernet should be supported just fine. I haven't had problems with wired connections. For wireless it should also be fine, depends on what you got though. If there is no native drivers/firmware then you can just use ndiswrapper (only if all else fails though). If you get it installed, I'll help you :). Do note though, I'm not a Linux guru xD.

Edit: Yeah, there are distros that do that. xubuntu should. Also DSL and Puppy Linux do :p.

[**BANNED The Man]

I only started using Ubu a few months ago, love it, beats winblows anyday.
BUT, keep a Winblows machine/partition.
Also to start off, as you are installing/setting up, go to #srl.
Harr(y/i) will help you xD

[Floor66]

I also read that using WINE I can play games, even the latest ones.
Does WINE utilize your CPU and GPU efficiently, in other words: will I be able to play for example Call of Duty - Black Ops on Ubu+WINE the same as I would on Windows?

Specs of my windows 7 "main" PC (not the one I'll be switching to Ubu on right now): Intel quadcore Q9550 @ 2.83GHz + ASUS EAH4890 TOP gfx card (both were pretty new 2 years ago).

@Dynamite;
I've got 2 PCs right now, 1 WinXP (wanting to switch to Ubu), 1 Win7 (main PC, important stuff, keeping it this way for now).

[Sex]

Yeah, I have a 40 GB partition for Windows 7. I may eventually go all Linux but I want to keep Windows around as it is a laptop :p. On my desktop though, I don't have one and if I need Windows (rarely), just use xen.

Edit: If you haven't done so already, download a Live CD of Ubuntu. You can boot from that and see how you like it without making changes to your hard drive. If you like it, you should be able to shrink your NTFS partition (on your main PC) and install it :). Wine, I've never actually used it to play a game, only applications. From what I hear though, most games can run just fine through it.

[Floor66]

I'm on an Ubuntu LiveCD right now. It comes with a lot of stuff pre-installed... Not sure if I like that. I'd rather just slowly build up applications tbh.

[noidea]

I wouldnt suggest xubuntu as a first attempt at linux. I find the DE it employs difficult to maneuver and generally less intuitive than the modified gnome that ubuntu uses. If you really want a like *buntu, then try lubuntu. I tried it in it's early stages, so I dont know how well it works now, but lxde is an extremely light DE that still manages to hold it's own ;)

[Boreas]

http://linuxmint.com/

Try LinuxMint 10 first.

They also have other desktop environments you can check out. You might also be interested in the fairly recent LMDE, which is a rolling release, meaning it's continually updated rather than version 1, 2, 3 etc.