Ubuntu

I want to have a "play" with a linux based OS. I've been told that Ubuntu is a good option and is free from their download site.

A couple of quickies...

Can I run dual OS's alongside XP Professional on the same machine, both on the same hard drive ? Is it likely to cause me problems ?

Can anybody suggest a mail client and web browser for the same ?

Is their a "Wysiwig" based web page design application for it ?

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[SoulKiss]

Originally Posted by Jelster

I want to have a "play" with a linux based OS. I've been told that Ubuntu is a good option and is free from their download site.

A couple of quickies...

Can I run dual OS's alongside XP Professional on the same machine, both on the same hard drive ? Is it likely to cause me problems ?

Can anybody suggest a mail client and web browser for the same ?

Is their a "Wysiwig" based web page design application for it ?

.

Dual boot - possible but dont ask me how - never done it

Mozilla Thunderbird and Firefox - the same as the ones you (should be) use now

Loads - but you should really use VI :P

Not sure about Q2 and Q3, but I'm sure you can run XP and linux in parallel on the same drive. Just requires you to select a partition at startup (oh yeah, I think you need to partition the drive first from memory). If you want to be really posh, you can run both at the same time and switch between the two. The guy that does our web stuff at work runs three OS's simultaneously and just flips between them to test pages on different browsers - clever stuff (but entirely pointless for the likes of me).

Originally Posted by Jelster

I've been told that Ubuntu is a good option

I thought it was a bad option in that joke about the cannibals and the pineapple, but maybe that was something else...

1. Yes, you might need to resize a partition to get some free space on disk so defrag & backup before you install. Mind you don't actually need to install ubuntu, it can run off the live CD so you can have a feel of it before you start installing.

2. It comes with firefox installed by default. It has an e-mail client installed called Evolution, I personally used thunderbird.

3. Hmm, unfamiliar territory for me this question. There are several web editors for linux, Nvu seems to be the easiest to use but it's buggy. If you can program in HTML there are things like Quanta plus & bluefish.

Two ways or running two OSs on one computer, dual boot and virtualisation. Dual Boot means that you can run OS at a time, and it gives you the option of which one to boot into. Virtualisation means that you can run both at the same time, which is nice, but you need a modern processor to do it. Both methods require you to partition your hard drive. I recommend:
1 - Windows
2 - Linux boot
3 - Linux root
4 - Linux swap
Easier to do the partitoning with the linux tool, because the windows one is horribly lacking in features.

Then install windows.

Then install Linux, if you want to try virtualisation, then make sure that you install the Xen kernel. Then run the virtualisation config tool. It's only then will you find out whether your CPU will support it. AFAIK all the Intel Core 2 Duos will, I don't know of anything else.

This is the limit of my knowledge about virtualisation, my machine is dual boot, since my dual P3 laughs when I even think about virtualisation.

I was actually figuring on running Ubuntu on a 2nd HDD, so not having to play around with the partitions.

I use Firefox for XP already, and to some extent use Thunderbird (for non web use of Gmail).

I'll give it a bit of thought over the weekend.

Thanks for the replies...

1) as already said by the other posters this is no problem. It is easier to do it on a 2nd hd but the installer even has an option to let ubuntu autoresize the windows partition and install itself on the new partition created from the free space.

2) choice galore here, webbrowsers: firefox, konqueror, opera, ...
mail clients: evolution, thunderbird, Kmail/Kontact, mutt, pine, ...

3) The only true wysiwyg is NVU but indeed a bit unstable. Bluefish and Quanta are not really wysiwyg, but have loads of options for code generation, code completion, previews, etc. You can also use VI or Emacs with their respective html-plugins. Wysiwyg usually leads to ugly code with a bad distinction between contact and markup anyway.

btw you can also try Kubuntu, which is Ubuntu with the KDE desktop as default. It is a little more windowslike and might ease the transition a bit. Be carefull though, the desktop wars are a big thing in the linuxworld

[timwilky]

I have to agree with those who say use an editor and write pure html.

It is cleaner and if you end up writing servlets, jsp etc. you really need to know html

I cannot comment on ubuntu as I have never used it. I tend to use Fedora myself. So a Gnome man. rather than KDE.

Originally Posted by timwilky

I have to agree with those who say use an editor and write pure html.

It is cleaner and if you end up writing servlets, jsp etc. you really need to know html

I cannot comment on ubuntu as I have never used it. I tend to use Fedora myself. So a Gnome man. rather than KDE.

Yeah, but I haven't written HTML code for about 8 or 9 years.... Too much use of FrontPage (I know, I know, I hold my head in shame.. )