HELP! VISTA OS upgrade advice...

Hammers

I have an Acer Aspire laptop running VISTA and, after 3/4yrs, it's becoming buggy and slow.

I'd like to upgrade the RAM and also the OS at the same time and part of me would like to go to a free offering, such as Ubuntu over Windows 7.

Something keeps stopping me, however, and I'm concerned that I'll lose functionality (can I still use Office??) but don't know enough to make the decision, one way or the other.

I have an external HDD that I've imaged the internal HDD onto and would like to wipe the whole thing, upgrade the RAM, and reload a new OS - this will force me to spring clean at the same time!

Are there any considerations, or thoughts out there, that might help me to prepare and implement these changes?

bat999

Hi
No you can't run Microsoft Office with Linux usually.
But there are alternative programs such as OpenOffice.

If you're thinking of going the Linux route then make yourself a LiveCD first. You can get an idea whether your laptop will run OK with Linux, also whether it's user-friendly enough for you.

gonzo127

i use Ubuntu and windows (vista) however i spend 95% of my time in Ubuntu and only boot into windows to play some games.

you will find 99.9% of the time although you might not be able to use exactly the same program on Ubuntu as you do in windows you WILL have a alternative which is usually free - such as open office (which is included in the operating system) instead of Microsoft office, however you can get some of the programs for windows working in Ubuntu using WINE which is baiscally a windows emulator

i would suggest trying it before you leap and fully get rid of windows (you might not even need a ram upgrade if you like Ubuntu) and you do have a few options to try to see if it is suitable for you - please try to remember that it is a entirely different operating system and will take some time to get used to just as you would need when you change your mobile phone for a new one

you can use the LiveCD mode which runs the entire operating system from the CD and your RAM or you can use a USB stick which is quite a bit quicker, the fastest way though would be a duel boot system however this is the most risky since you would be making lasting changes to your hard drive

tronator

gonzo127 wrote: »

... using WINE which is baiscally a windows emulator

Wine Is Not an Emulator

I would give Ubuntu a try. You'll find almost for everything a Linux equivalent which can be easily found and installed with the package manager. The package manager will also keep everything up-to-date, not only the OS.

If you still have a Windows program you need to keep you can try to get it to work through Wine or install Virtualbox and install Windows inside it. VirtualBox has also a "seamless mode" which integrates it seamlessly into your desktop.

simon.griggs

Dear Hammers,

Sorry to hear that you are having some trials and tribulations with Vista. Here is my two pence worth. If you are considering Windows 7, then it is a much better OS in my opinion for laptops than Vista, and tends not to be as hungry on resources in my opinion. It will run comfortably with 2GB of RAM so is one option for you. Get it running right and it should cause you no major issues. If you are going to go for Windows 7, don't forget to look out for OEM copies of the software, which are significantly cheaper than you would pay on the high street. There are a couple of good online suppliers who will be able to supply you with that. You can generally save 30% on the high street price by going that route.

Linux is a good OS, with as one contributor said, plenty of free apps available. I have used this in the past to build servers with remote VPN access, and it performs well, using minimal hardware. It is however, a totally different beast altogether, and one where you really need to know what you are doing. I am not sticking up for Microsoft here, but you would be amazed at how simple and straightforward they have made some things. If you are going to try Linux though, one distro worth a look is Centos 5. This is a GPL, (read free!) version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. It is available for download in 32 and 64 bit versions and has been rock solid in my experience.

I hope this helps.

Simon

tronator

simon.griggs wrote: »

If you are going to try Linux though, one distro worth a look is Centos 5. This is a GPL, (read free!) version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. It is available for download in 32 and 64 bit versions and has been rock solid in my experience.

i agree with you on CentOS if it comes to servers. I always go for CentOS when installing somebody a server (apart maybe from MythTV). For a desktop however I would always go for Ubuntu, especially for a beginner. But I have to admit I haven't tried CentOS with X-Window for a while...

closed

reinstall from factory restore partition, takes 10 minutes, and it will run like new.