Just testing. I met my Blogging friend Rick at Tim Horton's in Mill Bay this morning and he gave me a copy of the new Linux Mint DVD he just downloaded and burned. I will install it on Norma's old desktop after I set her new one up.
Anyway, I stuck the DVD in my laptop just to see what the OS looked like and it is very much like Windows (except for the cost and memory hogging).
I think I am going to like it very much.
Snail Races
12 hours ago
Congrats, Croft. You sure are quick, wow!
ReplyDeleteI got a tip from Rod that the web browser Chromium is used by a lot Linux users. It's available for download by using the Software Manager app in Linux Mint. It's pretty much the same as Chrome but probably stripped down to run even faster.
Sounds wonderful, too bad did not do that with our old laptop.
ReplyDeleteThey say it brings old computers back to life. Can't wait to see what happens and hear about the results.
ReplyDeleteI don't know as Mint is going to bring an old computer back to life. I've been a Linux guy for many years and I like it a lot but Mint is the Cadillac of Linux versions. It is a great version for someone who is used to Windows as it includes all the CODECs you would normally get with Windows while many other Linux versions don't.
ReplyDeleteThe only drawback is it's got all the bells and whistles so it wants a little more horsepower than some other versions but I think the machine you got should run it just fine.
Chromium is the same as Chrome. You won't notice any difference. Firefox comes installed so if you do want to install Chrome (Chromium) you'll want to use the Software Manager. You use that to install most software instead of the way you do under Windows.
Once you become a super geek (guilty :)) you can install using other methods.
For web browsing, email, and normal computer stuff Linux is great. And it's free.
I think what Chris means is that an older computer with limited memory and a smaller HD that cannot run W7 or 8 will handle Linux just fine.
DeleteThis is probably the case with Norma's older IBM desktop. It is a Pentium 4, 2.4 GHz with 512 MB of RAM and a 30 GB hard drive. The OS is XP Home. It works with this configuration but is slow and clunky. I could probably get a few more months out of it before being forced into doing something but the Dell came up at Tiger Direct so I thought "what the heck, it is only $160 and is all she needs".
Yes I know that's what he meant. But Mint requires more resources than any other Linux version (actually the correct term is distribution).
DeleteIf you want to try Linux on an older box it would be best to try a distro(http://distrowatch.com/) that doesn't need quite as much horsepower.
So do you think my Pentium 4, 2.4 GHz with 512 MB of RAM and a 30 GB hard drive will handle Mint? I guess I could put in a little more RAM if I had to.
DeleteIt will handle it but it might do some things a little slower than you might like.
DeleteOne great thing about Linux is it will almost always run on lesser hardware but it will just run slower. Windows 7 just plain won't work on some older stuff.