Thinkpads Forum

I have zero experience with Linux but would like to learn. I have a T42p type 2373-N49 that is sitting as a back up to my wife's T42p. It is a direct duplicate but only needed in case ? I have a spare 100 G hard drive that I could swap and then examine Linux without changing the HD that is the duplicate.
I'd like to not have any dual boot system - just start with a blank drive and some Linux OS.
Is there a Linux OS that works well with the T42p?
I know Linux comes in what are called DISTROS, but that about covers my knowledge base.
I guess my prime requisite is simplicity - not necessarily lots of whistles and bells.
Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Get Ubuntu. Everything will work easily.

I can recommend Ubuntu or Kubuntu. The difference of those is more or less the user interface. But anyway go to http://www.ubuntu.com/ and check them.

Both Mint 6.0 (which is Ubuntu-based) and Mandriva 2009 will work very well on any T4x.

+1 for Mint. From my experience, more beginners friendly than Ubuntu. Haven't tried it on T4x, but it should work at least as good as Ubuntu which was a base for Mint.

Thanks, I'll look at both.
What would I ever do without this list?

I'm running Ubuntu 8.04 on several of my ThinkPads. In each case it's the only distro of several that I've used, that works correctly upon installation with no extra work required. Great for a beginner and fun for the more experienced, as with any Linux distro it's very customizable.
.
Cheers...
Posted vias BlackBerry