Which version of Linux to install?

[cmangle]

I'm looking to re-install Linux on my desktop and laptop.

Which version would you-all(where I live in the states is below the Mason-Dixon line) recommend ?

I'm leaning toward ubuntu or mint!

What are/is the latest version?

I want to install Linux on a Lenovo Thinkpad R500 and a Toshiba Satellite L875D

thanks chris

[loanrangiel]

Havent tried mint but ubuntu worked well on everything i loaded it on , even a 10yo laptop running xp.

[tristen]

I believe that Mint is built on Ubuntu.

Ubuntu information and downloads from the Ubuntu website at

Ubuntu community forums for support and additional information at

Mint information and downloads from the Mint website at

Mint forums for additional information and support at

Both versions work well.

[cmangle]

thanks guys/mates!

[Skepticist]

+1 for Mint 17
Simple and powerful with an impressive range of software available for download

[cmangle]

years ago 15 +, i installed Linux mandrake, but there weren't enough Linux flavors of the software programs i was using . .

I really liked it though, booted up REAL quick and even though using it was different it seemed smarted more intuitive and was easily adaptive!

[Uncle Fester]

I use Xubuntu on small notebooks, really fast.
Kubuntu on desktops.

Not a fan of Gnome or Mint desktops.
Always been a KDE fan that had been a frontrunner for years with features other operating systems 'picked up' or stole.

By the way I have gone away from multiboot systems. It is Linux/OSX all the way and virtual machines for Windows except for one very old Laptop with WinXP purely as an electronics lab because it needs real serial and parallel ports.

[Skepticist]

I tried several flavors of Linux of the years but none really got me enthusiastic until I installed a light Ubuntu release (Lubuntu 12.04) on this old laptop. Very small footprint, fast and there's nothing it can't do - got me using it every day for everyday stuff like email, browsing etc (using it right now). Got me installing Mint 17 Quiana on my upgraded desktop box for the heavier jobs and it's all good

[spook]

Mint +2, it depends on what you want to do and what your hardware is capable of. I use mint 17.2, mate on a laptop and cinnamon on a PC, mate because it doesn't use as much resources and cinnamon because it's different. Now I've customised them so they are basically the same in looks and feel. Got a really old laptop with 256k ram and a massive 10G drive, it runs puppy Linux really well.

Mint 17.3 "Rosa" has just been released and is LTS, they've introduced a method of updating your system without a full re-install. Used it to update from 17-17.2 and it worked flawlessly.



Know a bloke with Ubuntu on everything, including his phone and tablet, as Ubuntu and Debian have an ARM version. Next year Mint may do the same, it's based on ubuntu. I'll wait until it's just a download and install, would be so cool to have all the one system on everything that works.

Used KDE flavours, especially suse and love the concept, found to many problems for my setup and can't remember the last problem I had with mint, if any. A friend runs open SUSE and another KDE, they look great, but he has really good graphics, I've got an onboard one which doesn't do KDE justice.

[cmangle]

Ok I burned both Ubuntu and Mint to DVD's!

For some reason Mint wanted a user name and password? Is that from the Windows 8 install?

Does the newest version of Linux(Ubuntu or Mint) still install the dual/multi boot option?

Also the Ubuntu 14.04 install does not see the windows 8 OS on this computer?

How can i utilize dual boot if Windows 8 does not appear to the install program under Ubuntu?

I had to disable UEFI and Secure boot in bios to boot Linux Mint/Ubuntu from the DVD drive.

That being said Linux dosesn't see the UEFI boot disk and/or the Win8 OS?

Is there a UEFI compatible Linux? How do I make the LINUX DVD install boot disk UEFI?

OK, thanks this becoming a project?

[spook]

Yes they both come with multi install options. Do you mean you can't see windows in the boot options, or you're using the live ISO and yet to install Ubuntu.

[Skepticist]

With an existing windows UEFI installation it gets a bit tricky when installing Linux for dual booting (Grub has problems recognising the windows partition, locked EFI partition etc) - lots of info about this and ways around it online. I spent an inordinate amount of time getting it to work and ended up using a rather messy approach and installed Mint on a separate drive so I can control which OS to start from the BIOS boot menu.

Important tip: do a full backup of your windows drive with Acronis or similar before embarking on this adventure and you may need to have the windows install disk on hand in case things go really wrong so you can restore the boot partition

Another tip: try the audio playing an mp3 or whatever - it may be messed up and it's a common hardware problem with Intel HD onboard audio controllers in Linux. It can be fixed by adding the following line to /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf :
eg. in terminal as root:
sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf

add this line to the end of the file
options snd-hda-intel vid=8086 pid=8ca0 snoop=0

and save then reboot - problem should be fixed

[Uncle Fester]

Does the newest version of Linux(Ubuntu or Mint) still install the dual/multi boot option?

Also the Ubuntu 14.04 install does not see the windows 8 OS on this computer?

How can i utilize dual boot if Windows 8 does not appear to the install program under Ubuntu?

If it is a UEFI laptop the install can be a PITA. You are better off doing a search on the Ubuntu forums with your specific hardware.

[cmangle]

This UEFI drive is going PITA to install Linux on isn't it?

If the Hard drive is UEFI will either Linux install see the UEFI HDD?

Can I change/reformat the HDD to a non UEFI drive?

[Guiseppe]

[Skepticist]

This UEFI drive is going PITA to install Linux on isn't it?

If the Hard drive is UEFI will either Linux install see the UEFI HDD?

Can I change/reformat the HDD to a non UEFI drive?

Yes that's the best way round it if you're not concerned about wiping the entire HDD and reinstalling Win from scratch (PITA IMHO).

It's best to boot up with the original win DVD, got to 'repair options' and select command prompt. Run DISKPART, select the disk (make absolutely certain you have the right one - LIST DISKS) and run CLEAN which will remove the protected EFI partition along with everything else leaving an uninitialised disk in its wake.

Then you can start from scratch making certain you don't boot the install DVD in EFI mode - you'll get a normal MBR type partition for windows that way with standard boot menu.

Boot the Linux DVD the same way (not in EFI mode) and install - GRUB should work perfectly now with no problems.

The only potential problem will be that non-EFI (MBR) type installs may have difficulty with HDDs larger than 2TB.

[Skepticist]

What I just tried and seems to have been successful:
I made a full Acronis backup of the windows drive, then cleaned the HDD (using diskpart), reinstalled windows from the DVD in MBR mode and made sure everything was running sweetly
Installed Mint in MBR mode and checked GRUB works and both OS's run as expected from the GRUB menu
Recovered the windows partition only from the backup to the HDD and all apps, settings, drivers etc are just as I left them
Only thing is might need to re-activate the win installation.

Note: do all this offline so you don't get held up with automatic updates etc - if the original windows image was already updated there'll be nothing to do.

[spook]

Amazing the hassle people go through to keep a useless peace of junk called windows and how much trouble Microsoft is going to to try to keep out linux systems. You used to be able to just put in a live linux cd and bingo dual boot, but bloatware is so last century, to try to keep their dying market, they are trying to restrict their systems to only be able to use specific windows software and system.

Can't understand how anyone wants to use windows when there are so many much better alternatives for free. Especially when you read every forum revolving round windows is overflowing sit disgruntled users, huge system breaking downloads and incompatible essential software and hardware.

[Uncle Fester]

Until Microsoft offers "Office for Ubuntu" (Linux) the majority of computer users have no choice.

Openoffice and spinnoffs have great features but are unfortunately not accepted in business and education.

Then we have the gamers and some professional applications that would be uneconomical to port to Linux.

Other than that I have been using Unix-likes since 2005 and believe to have reduced the risk of getting a heart attack by at least 50%.
Problems with Linux are a solvable challenge.

However when I have Problems with the randomness of Windows I have the urge to do this:

[spook]

There are many businesses and corporations using Linux exclusively and libre office is very well accepted in the business and professional world, as are all the other programs that can work with it to give you excellent business presentations. Unlike office, you can export from LO in just about any format you need and in my business before retiring and now that I've decided to un-retire, never had a problem. A number of businesses I deal with use Linux, especially the overseas ones. They need reliability and security, not unfulfilled promises, unreliability, downtime and in the end, expensive insecurity. The opposite of Linux and gamers are a different breed, a couple I know have Linux boxes and windows gaming boxes. Only 7% of windows users have switched to win10, less than 1% of business users have switched and over 60% still use xp. That's why they are shutting down support for everything before 10 and making everything incompatible so everyone has to go out and buy new gear, new software and still have crap security and reliability. The reason why BOM got attacked successfully, is because it runs a windows system just like all our governments and that's an open book. It's the opposite with Linux.

Don't think people realise how popular Linux is in business, there are many using it for POS and everyday business, especially media, industry and science. A successful business can't afford to have buggy systems, especially if you're a front of house business and most of the business I do overseas, don't use windows or apple. The ones that do, are very restricted in formats and capabilities because unlike in an open source system, you can't just download, alter or write a script to cater for a customers specific request. But with linux you can do that easily ad get all the help you need for free, or a donation.

Redmond is going all out to try to stop any form of compatibility, or use of anything but Microsoft and are blatantly standing over resellers and manufacturers. Which is why Europe and Asia are attacking Microsoft because of it's dedicated restraint of trade operations and practices, on Aus our government encourages them. The only reason manufacturers aren't including Linux compatibility, is because of threats from Microsoft and that's been documented for years. It's a bit like the belief in god, not true, just the opposite of what is preached, suppressive, abusive, elitist and dictatorial. But that fits the USA per say, so nothing new. Every windows 10 forum is overflowing with never ending problems, huge downloads, more bugs and lose of software and hardware usability. Linux forums are mostly newbies, those seeking technical or how to do answers.