First time dual boot?

[birddog_61]

Ok so Jdeb has convinced me to give linux a shot, I have been curios about it for awhile now and just needed a little push to pull the trigger. Here is my question, I have decided I want to dual boot windows 7 (already installed) and Mint 11, I have a freshly formatted HDD of 300gb in my computer. I am assuming I should dl the 64bit dvd ISO, I know the 64bit part is correct, but do I need the dvd iso or some other version? Also can I then stick this on a flash drive and install from it or do I need to actually burn it as a dvd. Is there a good step by step instruction on this somewhere? I have read that I have to partition the HDD I will be installing this on to 4 partitions and each one needs to be different sizes for the minimums, is this the case? I have also read I will need to install GRUB on the linux hdd because windows likes to overwrite part of it, however I have heard that when this is done I will need to edit the windows 7 boot manager to include the mint installation?

Sorry for all the questions, I just want to get this right the first time where I don't have a bad taste in my mouth for linux.

[David M]

Does this help?

Dual-boot Linux Mint 11 and Windows 7

[jdeb]

Nice link

[birddog_61]

Originally Posted by David M Does this help? Dual-boot Linux Mint 11 and Windows 7

Thats what I have been reading in order to ask the questions I asked. LOL

I think I am making this more complicated then it has to be. Since I am intalling mint on its own dedicated HDD I should be able to just let it install like its the only os right? Does that mean I can use the option erase and use entire disk? If so that would be much easier. Then all I would have to do is edit the windows bootloader with easy BCD and call it good.

[birddog_61]

Ok so I got it installed last night and the only thing I can say is what took me so long to do this? Mint is awesome, I love the update center that updates everything at once, I like having the option to encrypt the home folder as default. The gui is smooth and extremely customizable, the os in general is fast and very user friendly after you stop looking for things where they would be in windows. I have not gotten into terminal commands much yet, but I look forward to learning how to use it also.

I do have one question for the guys who have played with lots of versions, is ubuntu more powerful than mint, or can mint to pretty much everything that ubuntu can?

[kilgoretrout]

I do have one question for the guys who have played with lots of versions, is ubuntu more powerful than mint, or can mint to pretty much everything that ubuntu can?

Mint is based on Ubuntu 11.04 and uses the Gnome 2.32 desktop/GUI. Mint is every bit as powerful as Ubuntu as it uses the same code base. I generally recommend Mint over Ubuntu to linux newcomers because it includes multimedia codecs and flash along with a beautiful theme.

Also, you should be aware of some controversy that currently exists in the linux community regarding Ubuntu's latest releases. Starting with 11.04, Ubuntu decided to ditch Gnome as its default desktop/GUI in favor of its own in-house created GUI ironically called "Unity" which is roughly based on Gnome3. Both Gnome3 and Unity are radical departures from traditional desktops like Gnome2.x and, in my opinion, neither Unity nor Gnome3 are particularly stable or feature complete and probably won't be for at least another year or more. Both Gnome3 and Unity were met with a great deal of criticism, if not outrage, by ubuntu users. In response, Mint made a conscious decision to stick with Gnome 2.32 in its current release, resulting in a large influx of disaffected ubuntu users going to Mint.

I personally don't care much for Unity or Gnome3 and the direction those projects seem to be taking. Both have been criticized as being more appropriate for smartphone/tablet touchscreens rather than the typical keyboard and mouse setup and both greatly restrict the user's configuration options. I think the standard Gnome 2.32 graphical interface is just a lot easier for newcomers to deal with on a standard PC desktop with keyboard and mouse which is another reason I recommend Mint over Ubuntu.

[birddog_61]

Originally Posted by kilgoretrout Mint is based on Ubuntu 11.04 and uses the Gnome 2.32 desktop/GUI. Mint is every bit as powerful as Ubuntu as it uses the same code base. I generally recommend Mint over Ubuntu to linux newcomers because it includes multimedia codecs and flash along with a beautiful theme. Also, you should be aware of some controversy that currently exists in the linux community regarding Ubuntu's latest releases. Starting with 11.04, Ubuntu decided to ditch Gnome as its default desktop/GUI in favor of its own in-house created GUI ironically called "Unity" which is roughly based on Gnome3. Both Gnome3 and Unity are radical departures from traditional desktops like Gnome2.x and, in my opinion, neither Unity nor Gnome3 are particularly stable or feature complete and probably won't be for at least another year or more. Both Gnome3 and Unity were met with a great deal of criticism, if not outrage, by ubuntu users. In response, Mint made a conscious decision to stick with Gnome 2.32 in its current release, resulting in a large influx of disaffected ubuntu users going to Mint. I personally don't care much for Unity or Gnome3 and the direction those projects seem to be taking. Both have been criticized as being more appropriate for smartphone/tablet touchscreens rather than the typical keyboard and mouse setup and both greatly restrict the user's configuration options. I think the standard Gnome 2.32 graphical interface is just a lot easier for newcomers to deal with on a standard PC desktop with keyboard and mouse which is another reason I recommend Mint over Ubuntu.

Thank you, I have been reading everything I can find today about mint and ubuntu and have basically come to the same conclusion as what you just stated. I think I will stay where I am at for the time being, for the first time in awhile I am actually excited to learn about the software side of the computer. I feel like I am 15 again and learning all the tricks in windows to make it work the way I want, except this time its free and much much more to learn.

[glc]

I guess the desktop environment is personal preference, but an option that isn't mentioned much is Kubuntu. It's Ubuntu with the KDE desktop instead of Gnome or Unity.

[strollin]

If you would like to try different Linux distros, the best way I have found is to install virtual software such as Virtualbox. It will allow you to install and try many different distros and if you decide you don't like a distro, you can simply delete the VM. I personally haven't messed with dual-booting for years.

[jdeb]

I totally agree with kilgoretrout. I personally have no problem with KDE but I just do not like it but many people do. The only other version you should try (live CD) is openSuse Gnome version and/or KDE to see what you think. Overall, I believe Mint is the best distribution for the reasons Kilgoretrout mentioned. I only prefer openSuse when building business class desktops.

I personally use Slackware / Vista 64 Business (Desktop Workstation) because I like my builds small and efficient and I prefer the command line half the time. Slack is a little more difficult to install but you can literally install a 2 GB OS. I have Mint XFCE on my Lenovo X60 laptop (workhorse) and openSuse on my Lenovo Thinkpad W520 Workstation laptop (rarely use). I also just installed Slackware on an old IBM Thinkpad I brought back from the dead and it runs great, I use it on technical calls and has been a Godsend.

I am currently trying to get Slack installed on a vintage IBM 5140 (Intel 8088) bought at a garage sales in the middle of nowhere for 100.00 but ran into some snags, gonna have to dig out the old RedHat Distro more than likely. I have it all working with DOS 3.31 and will probably leave it that way and auction it off in my retirement years or how long I can stand the wife's nagging.

[birddog_61]

I am still amazed by mint 11 and how much can be done with it. I have been running it almost exclusively since installing it and have yet to find something in it that I don't like that cant be changed to something I do.

[strollin]

Originally Posted by jdeb ... I am currently trying to get Slack installed on a vintage IBM 5140 (Intel 8088) bought at a garage sales in the middle of nowhere for 100.00 but ran into some snags, gonna have to dig out the old RedHat Distro more than likely. I have it all working with DOS 3.31 and will probably leave it that way and auction it off in my retirement years or how long I can stand the wife's nagging.

Good luck with that. The IBM 5140 Convertible actually uses an 80c88 CPU (should be comparable to an 8088 though) and was never designed to run anything but DOS. I would be surprised if Slackware supported it's mono CGA video and it's 720K disk drives. I'm not aware of a way to expand the memory of the 5140 beyond 640K, will Slack run with only 640K of RAM? Let me know if you get that working.

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by strollin Good luck with that. The IBM 5140 Convertible actually uses an 80c88 CPU (should be comparable to an 8088 though) and was never designed to run anything but DOS. I would be surprised if Slackware supported it's mono CGA video and it's 720K disk drives. I'm not aware of a way to expand the memory of the 5140 beyond 640K, will Slack run with only 640K of RAM. Let me know if you get that working.

right. I have version 1.0 but I am over it. I did not try real hard, may come back to it later. I have too many repairs staring at me right now.