Operating Systems > Linux and UNIX

girl needs advice [just one more question]

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Rosie:
ok, thanks to everyone who helped in my other thread

I have a laptop, it is old and crappy. it runs win 95 and is slow.
what would be a good version of linux to install, something that would make it better [not hard] and also help me to learn about the OS in general
as long as it comes with a text editor and the ability to play old dos style games then i will be happy
um, i am not a computer wiz.  my brother could probably help with the install though.  
please don't make me blow up the computer or anything like that though   :eek:

Calum:
what are the specs on it? do you know what make/model of chip it is? (i mean is it a 486, or a pentium 2 or a k450 or what?) and how much RAM does it have? also what's the maximum resolution on its screen? is it colour?

i reckon red hat 7.3 or maybe 6.2 might be best but it all depends on what the specs are and how fast it is, what the bus speed is and so on.

Actually, most versions of linux will run on a 1995 laptop i think, it would just make a difference if you wanted maximum performance speed. Mandrake 9.0 (the current one, less than one month old) will install and run on a Pentium or higher, and i think red hat 7.* will install and run on a 486 or higher.

Rosie:
I bought it as a pentium 1, but for the life of me, I can't find out if this is true.  I've looked all through the hardware profile.  I'm sure our old 486 was at about the same level.

I'll be safe, and say its a 486.
A version of Redhat would be best [an older versions is ok], because when I get my own real computer I want to install Redhat.

Calum:
well, it probably is a pentium then. as i say, i think red hat 7.* supports 486s, and definitely mandrake 8.2 and mandrake 9.0 both work on a pentium, and to be honest, functionally there's little difference between mandrake and red hat. If i were you i'd put mandrake on the older one and red hat on your newer one when you get it.

Be prepared to put a bit of elbow work in though as some laptops are full up of weird buggy hardware (believe me i know!) and some older versions of linux don't support the hardware. As i say though, if you have a pentium, you shouldn't have a problem running even the spankingest newest versions of linux on it, although it might be a bit slow.

by the way, why do you prefix your posts with 'girl needs advice'? (excluding the obvious!)

Calum:
also, when you switch the machine on, you should get a thing on your screen where your computer BIOS prints the details of your CPU, and counts up your RAM and so on, and if you can get into your BIOS (by pushing F1 or F10 or Del or whatever it is on your BIOS at a critical moment during startup) you will be able to see all your hardware stuff.

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