Most Linux installs will see your Windows drive and install either Lilo or Grub dual boot menu...

When you see how easy it is you will wonder why you waited so long.

Lots of helpful people are...

It is hard to get Mepis since all the sites seem to busy.

But... It really rocks...

Take the time to find it and download it...

3.3 will make you a believer...

The support on freenode is...

The early Partition Magic did have some issues but I have adjusted and created partitions on hundreds of systems without a single problem with the newer version 8.

I agree using High level tools...

If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, swims like a duck...

I love this thread...
The choices you have ... Everything on one large drive or multiple drives...
Either works just fine. I have both situations here on different machines.

I too have two...

You can read NTFS with Linux, just do not WRITE to an NTFS drive with Linux.

I switched everything to Fat32 and have no problem sharing files and folders

Another side note:
There is no need to go cold turkey...

This is not a situation of one or the other.

It is quite simple to dual boot and most distros will set that up for you.

You can have...

Good post by DMR...

Modems are a problem and here is a solution... Get an external hardware modem...

I personally perfer the debian based distros like Mepis and Knoppix.

They are easy to add...

Yep, everything is working so well it is amazing...
That whole apt-get feature, or synaptic get or kpackage get just is soooo. cool
For those that dont know...
There is a master software list, you...

I switched to Linux two months ago. It had been years since I had tried it and years ago it was just not user friendly and I didn't have the time to make the transition.

Well that has changed,...

I have to laugh.
You ask any linux user about their favorite distro and you get three answers...

Mepis, Knoppix and RedHat are my three.

I agree with everyone here that it will do everything...

I have to vote for Mepis...

And I would suggest you spend the $15 at distrowatch and have them send you a stack of LIVE versions for you to test drive before you install to your hard drive..

My...

Linux is great fun, check out distrowatch to see which are popular and why...

I am hooked on Mepis which is about #3 on the list of 100+
But then I also really like Knoppix which is way down the...

For One.. It is FREE... It dosent Report back to Microsoft and check serial numbers... Report what all is installed... Dosent shut down if you havent paid the EXTORTION money Microsoft demands

For...

I would not suggest linux from scratch as a way to learn linux.
Yes it is where he wants to be NEXT year...

My approach is to try the live cd...
Push all the buttons, turn all the knobs and...

I am learning this also...
Some great suggestions from KC... even for an Apple guy....:)
Seriously... I have Redhat 9 ...4 discs if you include the docs...
But I would also suggest you download...

I have been busy this past week or two looking at all of the different distributions. I must say I am very impressed. The most amazing is the Live CD. For those that do not know it is an entire OS...

Thanks for the tip...
I had never heard of it..
Reminds me of the old Zmodem BBS days

TKS,
I got the copy of Mepis you linked for me...
The primary and secondary configs failed but the failsafe worked
I only got as far as playing frozen bubbles befroe my wife took away the keyboard...

I understand the concept of fees for distribution but I have two problems...

One is bandwidth on my dialup...

I actually go begging CD in hand to neighbors with Cable....

The other is... I...

I went to your link and their Free version was 14.95 for 30 days of free downloading...

It was 9.95 to have them send you a disc...

I found Knoppix installed without a problem on my Dell and I...

To answer your question with a question...
Why didn't they even offer a Linux installation...

Sounds like another backroom deal with Bill...

At least Dell is now looking to supply non-intel...

Thank you for your response and my apologies for not getting back sooner...

A friend crashed his PC, I reinstalled his os then he screwed it up again when he forced a driver to install for a...

Any suggestions on which type of PCMCIA modem to buy?

I did find an old 28.8 modem that was identified and installed and worked...

Next question is how can I run the live CD version from the...

I got the Knoppix ISO burned it and it works great.

My first question would be how do I check and setup a modem to access the internet...

I suppose I need to install a PCMCIA modem other than...

In looking for a distro I need to define this..
I would think this is AMD vs Intel but could not find that info...

I have a P3-M 1ghz laptop I want to use to learn about Linux...

But I also...

Thanks for the info.
In my previous searching I found one of the same reports your laptop link took me to.

I found 4 people with my hardware. 2 running Debian (sp) 1 Redhat 7.2 and one Suse. ...

Since I had a copy of Red_Hat 6 I tried that with no luck...

Websites for all of my desktop hardware had a variety of Linux support...
Dell website had NONE... just M$

I found a guy that has a...

I have come to the conclusion that Dell Notebooks are NOT Linux friendly.
They do not have ANY linux drivers on the dell site for either of my notebooks C610 or D600...

If anyone has one of...