first time system setup -ubuntu ? kubuntu ? fedora ? linux

[popin]

Summary
new laptop would ideally like to partition the hd and install a unix based system and xp that came with the laptop, no media backup came with laptop, looking for advice on what to go with and what to do thank you even if you just took time to read this

hi all

Okay so i bought a new (refurbished) laptop

specsIntel Core 2 Duo Mobile Low Voltage 1.5Ghz processor (L7400, 4MB L2 cache, 667Mhz FSB)
2048MB SDRAM DDR2 memory
100GB SATA hard drive
12.1" TFT screen (1024x768 resolution)
Intel Media Accelerator 950 graphics
Soundblaster compatible sound & input/ouput ports

Surprisingly enough despite being a bit of a geek for 7 or 8 years now, having a degree in computer sciences and being experienced in linux (not massively just as a user), I realized a couple of things; this is the first computer i have bought and I have never done anything from scratch OS wise.

So with my apparently rudimentary knowledge of OS and computer architecture I would ideally like to have a duel OS xp and some unix, would like unix to be able to handle bulk of work (writing, documents, work related web browsing, coding (sp?)) and xp should be handling leisure which would mainly be media (you tube, manga anime-videos etc)

any and all advice and links are greatly appreciated thank you

sorry no idea what the tag to hide quote boxes is here

[Xlphos]

Hello,

It should be quite easy to dual boot XP and linux. Currently I dual boot Ubuntu and Win 7 and I can do more or less do everything I want to on ubuntu. I have installed Ubuntu, Fedora and Opensuse and have never had any issues.

What you should do is burn the distro you want to disc and then there's usually an install icon on the desktop, click on this follow the steps and when presented with the option of were to install linux you should shrink the XP partition and create partitions for swap and the linux installation.

- Let us know how it goes.

[Master Rattley]

When i was 7 i had a PHD in Awesomness, beat that genious!

[popin]

Master Rattley > errrrr thanks for that insightful post

Xlphos > thanks for the reply do u mind telling me how much space unbuntu takes up with the standard-ish programs (ones moreor less everyone will use)?

so last night i let the windows native utilities backup the entire system for a restore disk (it's like 9gig in size with everything on eppp and i realized the 'free' disk drive is ROM, not that that'd fit on a disk) so am more or less ready to install a linux ?distro? (all the abbreviation and jargon always confused me) tonight will installing all 3 potential systems be okay? (till i figure out what im doing with them)

[Xlphos]

Hello,

You can choose how much space you want for your ubuntu installation. Have a look at this system requirements to find out more.

Depending on how much free space and what you will use it for will determine the size you should choose, I split my disk in halve with a 2GB swap partition.

Considering your disk I would suggest 60GB for Windows, 2GB swap partition and the rest for Ubuntu.

When installing your operating systems install Windows first and then Ubuntu.

By the way "distro" means distribution, I was refering to which Linux operating system you wanted to use.

You mention installing three potential systems which is the third?

-Let us know how it goes.

[AnujMore]

^I would suggest a 20GB for Fedora, and the rest for Windows.

If the dude uses Windows for videos, its going to take up a lot of space. Plus, you can mount a FAT32/NTFS drive on a GNU+Linux system and save your files there if you run out of space.

That way, the 20GB partition would only have the essential components on the disk and the rest would be on the Windows partition. So, for quick reference, the dude can even open files in Windows and quick edit them.

Another option would be running GNU+Linux on a virtual machine. Like VirtualBox.

[popin]

thanks for the advice (id wrote a reply the other day but it was on the new laptop and i haven't moved my passwords yet >.< then i had to go to work) i'm not sure what I'm doing with fedora tbh I got onto usb and can run it from there but the install to hd i proving tricky (if im honest im just nervous as i have ubuntu and its back up kubuntu and its back up and xp and a thinkpad specific back up recovery thing.)

anyway it doesn't aho me what Im doing in relation to whats already on the hd so i haven't installed yet (think i'l just install it after i take ubuntu and kubuntu off then make my decision. Anyone know ho to uninstall systems?