T60 OS

[mario24601]

Hi All,

What OS do you guys recommend for T60 with 3gb ram and ssd, everything else stock?

I will mostly use for surfing and some typing.

Thanks

[Thinkpad4by3]

Windows 7 should so nicely. Windows XP is a bit outdated but perfectly useable.

A Linux distro like Ubuntu or Mint will also suit well. Depends on your preference. Try them all out and find one you like best.

[mario24601]

I'll give 7 a try on it. Haven't used Linux before, but I'll try to figure out how to install it.

[Cigarguy]

Linux or Windows 7. Have both on different T60. For Linux I have Linux Mint and I like it better than Windows 7. Regardless of OS, a SSD is a must.

[Neil]

I run Slackware on a similarly equipped T60. I think you will find Linux much easier to install than Windows. Lots of folks have difficulty with Linux because they have to install it themselves, whereas Windows came pre-installed on their hardware. But, if you've ever tried installing Windows, then seeking out drivers for all your hardware, then looking for applications to do your work, etc., then you will appreciate how easy Linux is after all.

[mario24601]

Thanks all. Going to give Linux a try.

[Neil]

That's great! Don't feel as though you must install the first Linux that comes along. Download several ISOs of various distros and desktop environments, and try out the live versions. Kind of a test drive if you will. That way you can get a feel for what you like and don't like before making the choice of what to install.

Check out www.distrowatch.com to get a feel for what's available.

[mario24601]

Been reading a lot and seems like Mint is the way to go on T60. Is there an official institutions and download I can follow to dual boot?

Thank you

[Cigarguy]

Been reading a lot and seems like Mint is the way to go on T60. Is there an official institutions and download I can follow to dual boot?

Thank you

Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of instructions on how to do this. Almost every Linux distro's page have instructions on this. Linux Mint's forum have some great write ups on this. There is no "Bible" or "Koran" on this so no there's nothing "official". What is "official" anyways? All the instructions are very similar because they all use the similar tools and techniques. Googling "how to dual boot linux mint" and very quickly scanning the result I would recommend the first and 6th link.

[mario24601]

Been reading a lot and seems like Mint is the way to go on T60. Is there an official institutions and download I can follow to dual boot?

Thank you

Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of instructions on how to do this. Almost every Linux distro's page have instructions on this. Linux Mint's forum have some great write ups on this. There is no "Bible" or "Koran" on this so no there's nothing "official". What is "official" anyways? All the instructions are very similar because they all use the similar tools and techniques. Googling "how to dual boot linux mint" and very quickly scanning the result I would recommend the first and 6th link.

Thanks. This will be my first attempt at using Linux!

[Cigarguy]

If you have one of those old 80-120 GB HDD that came with the older Thinkpads/laptops, use those to test and play on. It will be slow slow slow compared to a SSD but as a testing tool it works great. What I do is swap out my SSD (which have a fully functional OS and software loaded on it), put in a test HDD. Test and abuse. If I don't like it I swap back in the SSD. If I do like the new I'll erase the SSD and install the new OS on it. I do this to test out new version of Windows and many Linux Distros. I also seem to accumulate those old HDD like rabbits.

[mario24601]

Good suggestion, thanks!

[jaspen-meyer]

You can test distros using Virtualbox. Also, once you have linux installed, you can test with
"grub-imageboot - boot iso, harddisk and floppy images with grub2 and syslinux memdisk"

Having said that, Mint is a popular choice. It is a modified version of Debian. I run Debian on my T60.