UNIX and XP

[Corticus]

Hi all,

I am very interested in switching my home PC to a UNIX OS. The only UNIX product I've been able to find, however, says it can not partition WindowsXP, which is what I have.

Can anybody suggest a UNIX OS that would allow me to keep my XP as it is?

Thanks!

[Mark O'Brien]

Couldn't you partition and format the drive yourself for the UNIX OS or does it have to be on the primary partition of the the primary hard drive?

Some version of Linux would be a nice compromise I'm sure.

EDIT:: I meant to say: Use something like Partition Magic to partition and format your HD. I wouldn't worry about messing with FDISK and all that nonsense.

[Corticus]

Thanks for the reply, Mark,

Let me start by saying I don't know much about OSs so please excuse my ignorance...

I'm not sure if I should go with UNIX or Linux. The UNIX OS I saw would partition the primary drive (my only drive), and set aside part for my XP OS and files.

My main objective is to try to reduce my dependance on Windows, and to take advantage of the security features of UNIX, plus just to get a general understanding of it, while still being able to use the files I have.

Maybe I'm in over my head, I just read the box at Best Buy, and was really impressed with the features. It just said I coudn't partition for XP, only <=2000.

Thanks again!

[Mark O'Brien]

Hey, I'm right with you on the OS's. I don't know too much myself. Although, I'm setting myself up for a similar dilemma in a few weeks. I'll be installing WinXP and Linux on my home machine. Should be interesting.

[XL-Dennis]

Hi Guys,

From my own experience use a Linux-distribution like SuSe, Mandrake or Red Hat. They are simpel enough to be handle for newbies and does not require to muck knowledge from the user.

The best solution is to have it on a separate drive, i e a physical unit BUT it´s not necessary to get it working.

In general I find much more nicer to work in Linux then in a Windows-enviroment BUT I don't put any "political" aspects on it - just what I enjoy to do :)

Kind regards,
Dennis

[Corticus]

Thanks for the response XLDennis,

I talked to a friend of mine taking a class on OSs, and he said Unix was more for big businesses, with multi-user envirements, and large databases. He also said Unix is not very user-friendly. He suggested Linux, as mentioned above, because it is very user-friendly, and is designed more for the personal user.

I saw RedHat this weekend, any comments?

I suppose I will need another hard drive. I wish I didn't have to run Windows at all. Do you need Windows to run MSOffice, or can you run it directly in Linux (or any other OS for that matter)?

Thanks!

[Mark O'Brien]

I am going to be getting SuSe Linux at the soonest convenient moment. We can muddle through it together. SuSe is participating in United Linux which seems to be geared towards making Linux a nicer option for the average home user.

http://www.unitedlinux.com/

XL-Dennis switched me on to that as well. I was thinking of going Mandrake, but SuSe is the way I'll probably go.

There is a Windows emulator in Linux called WinE. It's apparently very good and can run a good number of Windows software, including Office, I believe. You might want to do a search for it and read a bit more about it.

[Corticus]

Now we're talking,

I had heard that Linux was free, but hadn't found a downloadable copy that actually made any sense. Thanks for the link. That's great that I can run Office (hopefully), that's just what I was hoping for. There's a few other programs I'll have to try out. I think I'll try the evaluation one first, and I'll let you guys know what happens.

Thanks for the replies, its nice to see this forum getting some posts, its a very underdiscussed topic IMHO.

[Corticus]

Geez...

645+ mb download...glad I have a T-1! :D
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addendum:
4 days 20 hours on a T1...

I don't know if I can handle that :(

-Corticus