Please Recommend an OS for T41

[ParatoOptimal]

Which OS or multiple OSes would you recommend for a single boot or multi-boot OS on a T41 and why?
If you recommend Linux, please stipulate a disto.

I have a COA for XP-Pro but no recovery discs.
I was thinking of XP-Pro only or XP/Puppy Linux or W7/Puppy Linux.

[sojourner]

Which OS or multiple OSes would you recommend for a single boot or multi-boot OS on a T41 and why?
If you recommend Linux, please stipulate a disto.

I have a COA for XP-Pro but no recovery discs.
I was thinking of XP-Pro only or XP/Puppy Linux or W7/Puppy Linux.

You can look at my sig and see a multi-boot system with a number of OS's. Each has their own strengths IMO.

The T41 will accept the largest PATA (IDE) drive available (320GB WD) and with that much space you'll likely have enough room for any multitude of OS's! So why not install all the OS's you have interest in. XP disks can be had here in the Marketplace cheap, and once you install the OS to your HDD, re-sell them!

My personal favorite, XP. For most of what I do (web browsing, email, some MM production etc) it works great. Besides, it's familiar, functional, fast and supported like none other!

[billp117]

I am happy with W7.

[sktn77a]

Stay away from Vista - slow as molasses on the T4x!

[Tasurinchi]

I think you will be on the safe side with XP, Win7 (Aero won't work, but it's no big deal) and any of the newest Linux distros (Ubuntu, Fedora, Mint, etc.). I personally would recommend you to try Linux Mint oder Ubuntu. They're stable, easy to use and won't cost you a penny.

I would also recommend maxing out the RAM to 2GB, indepentetly of the OS you will choose.

My 0,02 cents...

[ParatoOptimal]

W7 and Ubuntu install.
W7 created a 100MB partition. Should I delete that and merge it into another partition/
I tried to install XP AFTER W7 to delete and reformat and then install XP then W7 and then any and all Linux distros.
XP Pro bombs where it loads the PCI driver? Is that because W7 is on there

I've used Ubuntu before. I'd like to try Puppy and Mint ... maybe multi-boot them all and then decide which to delete.
A friend tells me what makes Puppy good also makes it not as good as Ubuntu <confused>.

[Tasurinchi]

W7 created a 100MB partition

Win7 makes a small partition for internal purposes. I wouldn't delete that, who cares about 100MB anyway?

Why use XP when having Win7? The latest is more stable and will be probably longer supported. I don't know how much RAM you have and which hard drive, but with 2GB RAM and a fairly new drive Win7 should work fine...

[ParatoOptimal]

I just got my T41. It came with 512MB under the keyboard.
I'm looking to get 2x1GB to max it out.
It has a 30GB HDD installed. I have 250GB HDD to replace it.
I wanted to install XP for familiarity and it's maturity/stability/proven abilities while I get more acquainted with W7.

[thinkpad1]

If you want to try a Linux distro on your T41, I recommend you try Debian and Mint (XFCE or LXDE). I have Debian LXDE and Lubuntu Lucid 10.04 on my T41 currently. Debian I'm somewhat familiar with and I only say 'somewhat' because I still have a lot to learn in Linux. I installed 'Squeeze' so it's relatively up to date. Lubuntu, I cannot recommend because it's another *buntu offshoot or 'community edition' based on another DE. It's buggy, though and I don't think the support is very good. I'm a bit biased, though, as I say Ubuntu mostly covers the official 'Gnome Ubuntu' and doesn't seem to have any kind of priority to include sufficient support for the other 'DE-specific' *buntus. When Mint can cover all the other DEs very well, you know Ubuntu/Canonical is doing something different in its approach.

I think XFCE or LXDE can make the T41 seem very fast. Especially LXDE. Then install your favourite apps even if they require a few GTK or QT-based packages. It'll still run fine.

I didn't know Windows 7 is perceived to run fairly well on these older T4x laptops . I need an OS for my desktop build so I'll probably use 7 for it and keep XP Pro for the laptops (current T41 ...not 100% functional and a newly acquired R51).

[RealBlackStuff]

When you install different Windows versions, always install the OLDEST first: W95-W98-W98SE-W2K-ME-XP-Vista-W7

[ParatoOptimal]

The 30GB HDD it came with had the HPA on it. So, I fired it up. After installation it encountered a problem, crashed and ran checkdisk. I left the room for a minute and came back to find XP-Pro running fine. I'll have to test the HDD to see if it has problems. If it does, I'll need a way to put the HPA on a replacement HDD. When it restored to factory defaults, it formatted the HDD to FAT32. Is there a way to have it format to NTFS durring a restore?

Well, my final install may or may not include a partition for XP-Pro. It'll definitly have W7 and a Linux variant.
A friend of mine tells me Ubuntu is the best distro ... user friendly, good user forums, complete and powerful, etc..
I'd like to try Puppy and Mint but I'm told though they may be fast, they are lacking in many other ways.
Maybe Fedora would be a good choice. What is XFCE and LXDE? I'll probably try Puppy and Mint on a couple of partitions to help me decide. How come no one has mentioned Fedora? I'm told it's because it doesn't update often enough.

[Tasurinchi]

Instead of installing all those Linux Distros in the HDD, you may want to try to make a bootable CD or USB-Drive and test them before deciding which one to install. Take a look at this page: http://www.portablelinux.com

[ParatoOptimal]

That domain expired. There's nothing there.

Instead of installing all those Linux Distros in the HDD, you may want to try to make a bootable CD or USD-Drive and test them before deciding which one to install. Take a look at this page: http://www.portablelinux.com

[Tasurinchi]

Sorry, my bad... this is the right one: http://www.pendrivelinux.com/

There's a program where you can install several ISO files on the same stick.

[l.butler]

A friend of mine tells me Ubuntu is the best distro ... user friendly, good user forums, complete and powerful, etc..
I'd like to try Puppy and Mint but I'm told though they may be fast, they are lacking in many other ways.

There are a few things to understand about Linux: there are only a handful of 'original' distributions (Debian, Fedora, Gentoo, Slackware, I've probably missed a couple). Most distributions are built from either Debian or Fedora, and there is a huge amount of cross-fertilization in all cases. Ubuntu, for instance, is a Debian-based distribution and Puppy & Mint are Ubuntu-based. What distinguishes each is the particular set of customisations and extra features. Puppy is designed to be run off a USB stick and it loads into RAM on boot, so it's small and fast (you can also install it onto a partition). Mint has a wonderful user interface and very good hardware support -- I installed it recently on an old t22 and was impressed when I discovered I could connect to my Nokia phone and browse its filesystem via a bluetooth dongle without any configuration. All of these distros run nicely on old Thinkpads with 2GB RAM (I believe you said you had installed that much).

What is XFCE and LXDE?

In Linux-land, choice is king . Everything can be done with at least 2 similar tools and usually there are 20+. It's bewildering for a newcomer.

In this case, Linux users can choose which desktop manager they run (Windows users have 1 choice). There are big, feature-rich desktop managers that include Gnome and KDE. There are somewhat lighter variants like XFCE and LXDE. And there are spartan window managers like Fluxbox, IceWM, and my favourite, Rat Poison.

A new user coming from Windows ought to use one of the more feature-rich desktop managers. It's best to use the default for your chosen distribution until you become proficient.

How come no one has mentioned Fedora? I'm told it's because it doesn't update often enough.

I think that you want to steer clear of Fedora and Debian. These distros will leave a newcomer with a bad taste. If Linux proves to be to your taste, then experiment with them when you get more experience.

Here are some further bits:
distrowatch provides a survey of Linux distros
linux format is a friendly, informative magazine
Almost all larger centres have a Linux User Group that meets monthly and holds informative talks and installation fests (experienced users help newcomers install and/or troubleshoot Linux)--a search engine will help you here.

[ParatoOptimal]

My T41 came with 512MB. I'm looking to max it out which I believe is 2GB.
I just ordered 1GB of of ebay last night. I paid more than I wanted to pay.

Have you seen that magazine at Barnes and Noble?
Does that magazine publish group gatherings in the back?
Otherwise, how could I find such a group other than checking classifieds and kiosks?
I've used Ubuntu a bit. I really want to try Puppy on a USB drive. Is 2GB enough? Rat Poison, what a great name.

[l.butler]

Have you seen that magazine at Barnes and Noble?

Yes, I think I've seen it at B&N both in California and the Midwest. It's a British publication, so it's pricey for Americans, but I find it worth it.

Does that magazine publish group gatherings in the back?

It runs a monthly feature, mainly on British LUGs, but I've seen a few on foreign ones.

Otherwise, how could I find such a group other than checking classifieds and kiosks?

Plug "Linux User Group" and your city/state/region/country into your favourite search engine.

I've used Ubuntu a bit. I really want to try Puppy on a USB drive. Is 2GB enough? Rat Poison, what a great name.

Puppy is cute. I run it, CrunchBang (another Ubuntu remaster with a lighter desktop) and Debian Lenny on my T23 with 3/4 GB memory. That's comfortable except for long sessions in CrunchBang with Firefox 3.6 open (I mean several days/weeks without a reboot). I run Debian Squeeze with IceWM as a window-manager on an EEE 904 with 2GB memory and I can go weeks without rebooting and memory is never tight. I've never used Rat Poison, but I agree that it's a great name. IIRC, the entire window manager can be run by keyboard.

[Nick Y]

Not wishing to start system war, but a few days ago I came across a link to a book called 'OSx86 - Creating a Hackintosh' -got me thinking...

[Tasurinchi]

I've used Ubuntu a bit. I really want to try Puppy on a USB drive. Is 2GB enough? Rat Poison, what a great name

I wouldn't pick anything below 4GB, you need also some space for the persistant data and with today's prices a big capacity stick should not be expensive.

Have you seen in the page I've linked above that there's a tool to install multiple ISOs in a single stick and choose from which one you want to boot? Using this you could try different distros and choose the one you like. Alltought not every distro is supported yet, the most popular should...

Cheers

[l.butler]

I should add that if you are going to install a distribution to your hdd, make sure that you set up a separate /home partition. You can share that across all distributions you install to hdd, with the obvious benefits.

I misunderstood your question about Puppy: I've run it off an old 250MB usb stick without problems. The iso is about 120MB iirc, so that leaves some space for customisation.

[ParatoOptimal]

I have an 8GB and 2, 2GB thumb drives. I'm going to load a couple of linux variants with the multiboot tool you listed.