I was just given an Acer laptop that had a virus screw up the hard drive to the point where at first glance it looked like the HD had failed. I managed to fix it, and got Windows Vista to boot.
The laptop only has 1gb of RAM, and Vista performs poorly. It was also so full of viruses, spyware, and other malware that I feel it's best to wipe the hard drive and start over. I don't have any recovery media for the machine, and I don't want Vista anyways due to a lack of RAM. XP would be a better choice, but I don't have any extra copies of XP for it (at least no extra product keys), and XP isn't for sale anymore. I'm looking at Linux as an alternative. I'd like a suggestion on what flavor to use. I've heard good things about Ubuntu, from several Linux enthusiasts. However, that may not be the best choice.
I'm taking some night school courses, and the school wants the students to be proficient in both Linux and Windows. They use Fedora 12 (maybe it's up to 13, my information is from last summer) for the Linux classes.

As for my own experience, I did learn some of the basics of using Linux a long time ago. I learned with Yellow Dog Linux 2.1 on an ancient PowerMac 6500/300 around 10 years ago. Yellow Dog was based on Red Hat before it was renamed to Fedora.

Now, I'm gonging to state the intended purpose of the laptop, and hopefully the experts here can suggest what I'll have an easier time using.

1. I'm planning on using the built-in 802.11G wi-fi card to connect to the school's network and browse the internet with Firefox. As I understand it, plugins are written in Java or some kind of platform-independent scripting language, so I hope I won't have any problems with my favorite plugins. I know Adblock Plus works under Linux, so that along with NoSquint, YesScript, RightToClick, and QUickJava are the biggies. Everything else is just gravy.
2. I'm counting on being able to take this laptop to other hotspots such as the local library from time to time, rather than just be married to one private SID. It need to be able to handle both the school's private network that is encrypted, and an unencrypted public connection. This shouldn't be that big a demand these days.
3. I'm planning on downloading the Linux version of VMware player, whatever will allow me to use virtual machines created on the Windows version of VMware. I may not have enough RAM for this, as I only have 1gb. Fortunately the school-provided virtual machines are usually only set up to use 256mb of RAM.
4. I'm hoping to be able to log in to a Windows domain in order to access the Windows print server so I can print stuff from the classroom without taking the time to transfer a file to a flash drive or e-mail account, then log in on a lab computer and retrieve it. This happens more often than you'd think with in-class writing, and I've been looking with envy at the other students with laptops as my typing is far superior to my handwriting in speed, ease, and legibility. I don't know if this is possible with all versions of Linux. I'm not 100% certain I need to log in to the domain, I just know that when using a (school provided) virtual machine copy of XP that is configured for workgroups in the labs that when I try to access the print server, it asks me to log in to the domain. I know others can print from their laptops. I don't know the details yet as I haven't had a laptop of my own.
5. I need to be able to use SanDisk Cruzer USB flash drives. Shouldn't be a problem, since even Windows 98FE can use them with the right driers.
6. I need to be able to connect a 320gb Verbatium portable USB hard drive.
7. I just realized I should mention that I need to be able to plug into the Ethernet network I have at home, and access a Windows 98SE file share from
8. I'm hoping I can install an old game or two to play with WINE or whatever is used these days when I have to kill time. The laptop isn't too powerful, so I'll try to stick with some older titles like Baldur's Gate. This last is unimportant, as I'm sure there are tons of freeware Linux games out there, just as long as they are single player games that don't need internet access to play.

So, which should I go for? Use the Fedora 12 DVD I've got from the school or go with Ubuntu? If I use Fedora I can probably get help from the teachers, and I've never used Ubuntu, and consider my skills with Linux to be comparable of what you'd expect from the average Windows USER in spite of the fact that I managed to (barely, if I'd missed 1 more question I'd have failed) pass a proficiency test for the required Linux course for students seeking a degree in Computer Networking and Information Systems Security. I'm more of a Windows tech and still consider myself a newibe at Linux, even though I've known how to use it at some level for 10 years now. Longer if you count some VERY limited exposure to Unix (I was given a login and taught about a dozen commands like LS, RM, MV, CD, exit, pico (now nano), talk, who, finger, pine and a couple others that I can't recall exactly what they were as it blurs together with what I learned later).

Then go for fedora


Kind regards

If they use Fedora in your school it would be best to go for Fedora. It should fit all your needs, but I don't know much about logging into Windows domains. But go for a newer version, Fedora 12 is unsupported and gets no updates.
to make it short:
1. Should be no problem, but be aware that sometimes one have to fiddle a little bit to get wireless working.
2. Should also be no problem, just keep the RAM usage low (no 20 tabs in Firefox) when running a VM.
3. Sorry, don't know much about that.
4. Should be know problems if you use older games, some of them even have native Linux versions (i.E. Neverwinter Nights).

Wouldn't I have to buy a new version of Neverwinter Nights to use the Linux version? I have the Windows version, and to my knowledge they don't have Linux installers as I don't see anything on the CD or box about Linux. Could I just "torrent/pirate" the Linux version and use my existing CD key, or are the Linux and Windows CD keys different?

I should probably post that at the Bioware forum, but it seems a no-brainer. I learned that long ago when somebody gave me the Commodore version of a game for Christmas and when I tried to exchange it they didn't have the Apple II version in stock. I proposed asking around at my grade school and they told me that it was illegal to just copy the Apple II version from somebody else.

This is a dumb question about that "gets no updates" comment. I haven't deliberately booted Fedora since August (I did choose the wrong OS at one point, and promptly rebooted from the login screen)

If I were to take the Fedora 12 DVD, install it, and configure it to be able to access the school printers, could I then rely on whatever the GNO/MEish equivalent to Windows Automatic Updates to update me to the latest Fedora, or is is more like going from Windows 2000 to Windows XP, or Mac OS 10.4 to 10.5 (or whatever the latest update is these days)?

You can download the Linux installer from Bioware for free.

About the updates: I don't know much about Fedora, but AFAIK you would have to update to 13 first, and then to 14. I think it would be simpler to install 14.

@slickrcbd, Then go for fedora.

I am using Fedora from Fedora 9, I found it is stable then ubuntu and yes, If you download Fedora DVD then you dont have to much depend on internet some of the required packages you'll find in DVD itself.

I was given a Fedora 12 DVD last spring to set up things like apache and DNS in the school labs. Hence my seeming fixation on Fedora 12.

1. The crucial question here is what kind of wireless chip does the box have. Some of them can be problematical.

2. Use wicd for your wireless connections. It is far superior to Gnome network manager.

5 and 6. No problem. I have a SanDisk Cruzer Mini USB drive that works just fine with every Linux I've tried it on. An external USB hard drive should also work just fine; I've used several, although never a Verbatim, without issues.

7. I have never worked with a Linux distro that had any issues with a wired connection. Linux does wired great.

There's the official procedure to change versions. It will not be done by the GUI package manager automatically, and there's a lot to be said for doing a clean install and avoiding potential package breaking.

Samba will need to be cleared in your firewall to interface with Windows networks/devices and it's pretty straightforward with XP. Newer Microsoft Operating Systems have more security layers that complicate things in my limited experience.

Given you're RAM limited with only 1GB you don't want to go overboard, and might be better off with eventually switching to Slackware which has a reputation for having a low memory footprint with a full desktop when properly configured but requires a little more homework. For a less intimidating, if not really _that_ difficult distro, you might want to try Mandriva which will automatically identify hardware and not install what you don't have, which should help.

3) Under Fedora with Gnome you'll find "Virtual Machine Manager" under Applications->System Tools. It's really more for having virtual instances on a hypervisor server style then what you probably want it for though.

8) I can verify Baldur's Gate Tutu runs under WinE well enough under Fedora 14 without any real tinkering, well enough. You do need to understand the Unix file system well enough to point it in the right place, which the Slackbook can help with.

Fedora.

But beware the wireless -- wireless drivers can cause serious headaches.