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This is my post on the Ubuntu forum about my failed attempt to install Ubuntu alongside WindowsXP.
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2230169

IdeasVacuum wrote:This is my post on the Ubuntu forum about my failed attempt to install Ubuntu alongside WindowsXP.

Been there, done that.

Dumped Windows about seven years ago in favour of Ubuntu, but dumped Ubuntu two years ago in favour of Mint.

My wife, who believes that all programmers are the spawn of the devil and have no understanding of real life, actually likes working with Mint. However, her views on Windows and Ubuntu are best not repeated in polite company.

Read through your ubuntu forum posts.

I have a computer with nVidia chipset/graphic and ManjaroBox runs perfectly.
(no dual boot as there is no Windows running in this household...)

Granted not everyone likes to use OpenBox as their desktop, but I do
If you want a different desktop Manjaro has many different ones available.

I've ran through many distros (big and small) but IMHO it's all about a
decent, ALWAYS WORKING and RELIABLE package manager.
There's nothing better than pacman

Nuf' said.

dumped Ubuntu two years ago in favour of Mint

Hi BorisTheOld. Mint is built on Ubuntu, so what are the advantages it has over Ubuntu?
I did actually get the Ubuntu install to work, with some jiggery-pokery on the Windows side first. Can't get it to boot though!

IdeasVacuum wrote:Hi BorisTheOld. Mint is built on Ubuntu, so what are the advantages it has over Ubuntu?
I did actually get the Ubuntu install to work, with some jiggery-pokery on the Windows side first. Can't get it to boot though!

I'm no Linux guru, and I like to create application code rather than fiddle with the system. For a long time Ubuntu worked well for us, but one day Canonical decided they were going to save us from ourselves. Suddenly Ubuntu was deciding what was best for us and we were spending more and more time fighting the system. At the same time, Mr Torvalds himself seems to have been having the same sort of problems with Ubuntu.

After looking around, and testing various distros, I decided to use Mint (Cinnamon). I know it's based on Ubuntu, but the user interface is far more user friendly. The default packages are all useful, as are the default settings --- for novice and expert alike. I use exactly the same configuration on my wife's home computer as I do on our office systems. As a computer-phobe she makes a perfect Beta site. She says that Mint works just like her old XP system, but she has a very different opinion of the new improved Ubuntu.

As it happens, we've just finished installing Mint 17 LTS on all our systems. On one of those systems we have XP running in VirtualBox that we use for compiling and testing Windows versions of our PB code. And my wife has a dual boot system with XP and Mint. She needs XP to run her Rosetta Stone language software and uses Mint for all her other work.

Everything installed without a problem --- no jiggery-pokery needed.

Boris, you just convinced me to put Mint 17 LTS on my 'to download' list.

I'll use it on my dual boot Vista laptop to replace UBUNTU 12.10 x64.

heartbone wrote:Boris, you just convinced me to put Mint 17 LTS on my 'to download' list.
I'll use it on my dual boot Vista laptop to replace UBUNTU 12.10 x64.

I've found the best approach to setting up a dual-boot system is to have a functioning Windows partition set up before Linux is installed. Linux will recognize Windows and will set up the appropriate boot track and boot screen. You'll run into problems if you put Linux on first.

At the beginning of the install, don't let Linux decide where to install itself. Select the option for manually configuring the partitions. That way you have the flexibility of putting things where you want, and for deciding on the partition sizes. I use a 16-20GB partition for "/", about 4GB for a swap partition, and the rest of the drive for "/home". That way, my own data is kept separate from the Linux system files.

Mint will pre-install a good selection of popular packages, but I've found the following are worth adding via Software Manager. By the way, when you first use it, go into preferences and turn off the "Search while typing" feature.

Geany --- I use this IDE for maintaining my old PowerBasic code and invoking the PowerBasic compiler

gFTP --- great for updating my wife's website, and other uses

gHex --- handy for looking at binary data in files

Ubuntu-Restricted-Extras --- support for MS fonts and various video and audio formats

Wine --- allows Windows software to run seamlessly on Linux

VirtualBox(Oracle version) --- For Windows XP: I use it for running old DOS programs and for compiling PB Windows code

xCHM --- for displaying Windows chm files

gnome-search-tool --- handy for locating files that contain specific text strings

CUPS-PDF --- sets up a PDF printer that converts printed output into a PDF file


Once everything is installed I use the settings program to configure the entire sytem to my liking.

I love Mint but for some reason theres always jiggery-pokery required for wifi setup. I still havent successfully made a Linux server laptop running wifi.

@Boris, I just upgraded from DSL to cable modem for web access.
At http://linuxmint.com/ I am given a selection of Linux Mints.
[Linux Mint 17 Cinnamon] Mint 17 Cinnamon
[Linux Mint 17 MATE] Mint 17 MATE
[Linux Mint 17 KDE] Mint 17 KDE
[Linux Mint 17 Xfce] Mint 17 Xfce

After a year I am used to UBUNTU Linux,
but I do want to see what I may be missing out on in the Mint distribution.
So in your expert opinion which version should I select, the KDE version or another?
What are the pros & cons, and why the different versions?

I might be a complete and total idiot, sure.
I tried Ubuntu for the very last time a few weeks ago. Installed it on a pretty reset, but low end Compaq laptop.
Everything went great with the install, as it usually does.
But also as usually, the problems started when I actually started using it.
Previously I've had driver problems with Nvidia chipset. This time I was dealing with an AMD computer with integrated ATI HD something.
I was planning on using the computer as a media center machine in my living room, connected to my TV, for movies, music and pictures.
Took about 1 week before the computer started locking up, totally unresponsive. I am no Linux guru, and I don't want to spend hours of my weekend searching for problems. I want an OS that just runs, works and does what I tell it. So I restored it with the restore CD's. Now it just works, no problems, and does what I tell it.

I have tried pretty much all the linux distros that are most used, probably around 50 of them. But the same thing happens. Or something similar. If I tried to update graphics drivers, the computer crash or won't boot again after reboot.

Well, that's my opinion on Linux in general. Looks good, sound good, but because there are so many different coders for one system, nothing is ever top notch.

heartbone wrote:@Boris, I just upgraded from DSL to cable modem for web access.
At http://linuxmint.com/ I am given a selection of Linux Mints.
[Linux Mint 17 Cinnamon] Mint 17 Cinnamon
[Linux Mint 17 MATE] Mint 17 MATE
[Linux Mint 17 KDE] Mint 17 KDE
[Linux Mint 17 Xfce] Mint 17 Xfce

After a year I am used to UBUNTU Linux,
but I do want to see what I may be missing out on in the Mint distribution.
So in your expert opinion which version should I select, the KDE version or another?
What are the pros & cons, and why the different versions?

As I've mentioned before, I'm not a Linux guru. However, the following thread from the Mint forums might answer some of your questions:

http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=90&t=153717

I prefer the Cinnamon distro for my own systems. It's easy to set up and use, and is a nice compromise between traditional and modern desktops. It also runs well on old and new hardware without being a resource hog.

BorisTheOld wrote:

heartbone wrote:@Boris, I just upgraded from DSL to cable modem for web access.
At http://linuxmint.com/ I am given a selection of Linux Mints.
[Linux Mint 17 Cinnamon] Mint 17 Cinnamon
[Linux Mint 17 MATE] Mint 17 MATE
[Linux Mint 17 KDE] Mint 17 KDE
[Linux Mint 17 Xfce] Mint 17 Xfce

After a year I am used to UBUNTU Linux,
but I do want to see what I may be missing out on in the Mint distribution.
So in your expert opinion which version should I select, the KDE version or another?
What are the pros & cons, and why the different versions?

As I've mentioned before, I'm not a Linux guru. However, the following thread from the Mint forums might answer some of your questions:

http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=90&t=153717

I prefer the Cinnamon distro for my own systems. It's easy to set up and use, and is a nice compromise between traditional and modern desktops. It also runs well on old and new hardware without being a resource hog.

Thanks for the reply and recommendation.
I can still get Cinnamon, however earlier this morning (eager to try out my new cable connection) I downloaded MATE.
When reading the docs I encountered this nugget on page 6 of the Offcial User Guide.

If you don’t know which edition to use, you should choose the MATE Edition.

After reading that linked forum page, I did not see any definite overall favorite recommendation.
So many choices, both a blessing and a curse.

heartbone wrote:When reading the docs I encountered this nugget on page 6 of the Offcial User Guide.

If you don’t know which edition to use, you should choose the MATE Edition.

After reading that linked forum page, I did not see any definite overall favorite recommendation.

Xfce and KDE seem to be used mostly by Linux techies. Whereas MATE and Cinnamon are probably more suited to those of us who just want to use our systems for doing real work.

Mint is so easy to install and use, that you could try both MATE and Cinnamon to see which one you like best. You have to remember, though, that themes and system settings can make a big difference to the look and feel of your desktop, so you'll need to do a bit of experimenting. Because of my autism I have major problems with cluttered desktops having a dark or brightly coloured theme. So for me, the Mint-X theme works best.

BorisTheOld wrote:Xfce and KDE seem to be used mostly by Linux techies. Whereas MATE and Cinnamon are probably more suited to those of us who just want to use our systems for doing real work.

Wise observation, as usual Boris.

Linux Mint 17.1 “Rebecca” Cinnamon it is.
She has a serious and refined default look.
In general she seems a wee bit slower to respond than the snappy Zorin or colorful UBUNTU,
but I can live with her.

I just used Linux Mint 17.1 Cinnamon to rebuild a crashed WinXP system. Only ran Mint from the CD and it worked incredibly well. Nice touch that it uses the Windows labels for the partitions, when I used Ubuntu things like that were lacking.