Please Help me to say Byebye to Ms XP

[laptops4u]

Hi ,
If I am using only browser (for Internet access ), Outllok for mail and Ipmsg (for chatting within Lan ) and ACDC ,Word ,XLS and nothing else than which Linux Distributor should it use .

It should be very Light ,Fast and stable.

I am using Windows XP right now , I don’t want to use XP any more , is this possible ?

Please Help me .. Say Byebye to Microsoft

[FilledVoid]

I believe that everyone could help you out a bit better if everyone knew your hardware which you will be using. This will allow the person to suggests distro which will be light and stable to your hardware.

[legolas]

Well, to start with, if you are entirely unfamiliar or relatively uncomfortable with linux, you should start with ubuntu linux.
almost all the programs you mentioned is available, a browser, even similar to outlook for mail, word (openoffice), (i only know the ACDC band :D ). Certainly worth a try, but also see other replies...

[ray|raven]

Like FilledVoid said, unless you specify the hardware you will be running on,
we cannot suggest a distribution for you.

But , regardless of distro,you can use,

Firefox/Opera - Browser.
Abiword/OpenOffice.org - Word.
Gnumeric/OperOffice.org - Excel.
Evolution/Thunderbird/Spicebird - Outlook.

I have no idea what ACDC is.

[praka123]

I remember acdsee :D isnt that a photo manager? F-Spot in GNU/Linux (http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm)offers the same :)
yes,Ubuntu (http://ubuntu.com) will be ideal for new users.

[T159]

yeah ubuntu is the easiest linux

[laptops4u]

Thanks 4 the reply
The desktop config is
Intel 915 G MotherBoard
P4 2.66 Ghz
512 MB Ram
80 GB HDD

[T159]

ubuntu is perfect for this config, u need net connection to get latest in the repositories, and some restricted modules (gxstreamer etc)

[praka123]

dont expect to run compiz-fusion with full bells and whistles(will drag?)

[NucleusKore]

I remember acdsee :D isnt that a photo manager?

For a moment there I thought ACDC ! (that's what he's typed !) XMMS would do :D

Now on topic, you can use Ubuntu.

[T159]

@NucleusKore
offtopic: I want to know ur personal opinion on Fedora 8 vs Mandriva 2008 vs OpenSUSE 10.3

[NucleusKore]

@T159 I'll be very honest with you, my experience with Fedora and Mandriva is zero. The last distro of Fedora I used was FC4, and Mandriva, well Mandrake 8.2. I can't say about Mandriva, but Fedora does not match the ease of use of OpenSuSE.

One strong point I find in OpenSuSE is YaST, one place where you can find EVERYTHING and configure stuff easily. It's like a big control panel. In case you did not know, YaST even works in CLI mode. Try pressing CTRL+Alt+F1 and login, and type yast at prompt and press Enter. So even if your display fails for any reason you can repair it in CLI mode using YaST. If you however want to fiddle around with config files and do things the hard way you can try other distros, even Slackware :)

To the best of my knowledge, you have to subscribe for software updates in Mandriva, they are not free, which i why I would not recommend it.

Bottom line, do you want to learn linux, technical? You have to look beyond OpenSuSE. If you just want to enjoy your linux look no further.

[T159]

yep i want to learn abt the RPM based distros (am quite familiar with deb based distros), but not from scratch (i would like to hav it easy way).

K i have got one spare 8 gb partition, tonight i will install mandriva 2008 (Fedora 8 is ruled out), currently OpenSUSE 10.3 is installed and Ubuntu 7.10 on another 13 GB partition.

[praka123]

RPM distros the best is fedora IMO.suse is slow with its yast(although kde suse is almost windowi$h).the best 3rd party repos also comes for fedora.

[hullap]

So on the topic.
UBUNTU IS THE BEST DISTRO FOR YOU ( for me too :D)

[Hitboxx]

I would say start with Linux Mint, which is essentially Ubuntu with codecs and plugins installed and then a little more. Try the live cd to check about hardware compatibility.

Stick with Mint for a few months and then you will essentially want to try other distros and we can discuss then.

[FilledVoid]

Thanks 4 the reply
The desktop config is
Intel 915 G MotherBoard
P4 2.66 Ghz
512 MB Ram
80 GB HDD

The configuration is good enough to run any Distro :). You might have a small problem configuring your display settings. In advance may I give you access to a thread which may help you if you choose Ubuntu.
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=272104

Furthermore do you have a good internet connection. Cause if you don't then go for Mint cause its Out of Box Experience is much more viable than that of Ubuntu. Other beginner friendly distros I guess would be Mandrake and from what I here from some people is fedora is ok too? Hitboxx can confirm if it is since he is/was a Fedora user

[gary4gar]

I would say start with Linux Mint, which is essentially Ubuntu with codecs and plugins installed and then a little more. Try the live cd to check about hardware compatibility.

Stick with Mint for a few months and then you will essentially want to try other distros and we can discuss then.
Yeah go with mint
it has what Ubuntu can offer + some extra stuff

[laptops4u]

see i am a System administrator and i think i will remove some XP systems and add linux box .. coz some systems need very less aplications so need not install log list of aplications, limited aplications and more H/W resorces.

If some one using only Browser , and one or two other software for that why install bunch on software's from any OS if it is (XP or Linux)

Just install minimum software less time to load , works fast and limited access to users.
Just wana know if any stable OS is there which i easy to add softwares

[mehulved]

Debian.

[praka123]

of course Debian :) but that means some more skill than ubuntu :)