Mark, I agree with Alex re VPC. It is a good tool for evaluating a variety of operating systems. It can help avoid hardware issues, since it emulates generic hardware in many areas, including the network adapters. It will not perform as well as a native install, but with a decent processor, I've found the performance acceptable.
I did find installing Linux on the same physical drive as Windows Vista or 7 (RC) a bit of a challenge. Windows seems to see the Linux bootloader as a potential threat and will overwrite it if it is installed after Linux. The Vista SP also would not install while the Linux bootloader was active in the primary MBR. I discovered I could back up the MBR several times, once with the Windows-only version and once with the MBR after the Linux install(s) and all partition creation was complete. I then put copies of the MBR as files on all of the Windows and Linux partitions. Then, I used Linux tools to switch the MBR to the Windows-only MBR for activities like installing the Service Pack and switched back to the Linux MBR for daily use with multiboot. I strongly recommend backing up all your data before trying this. You can make it considerably less risky by using the primary drive for Windows and Linux OS and paging only and putting all your user data on other physical drives. A less hair raising approach is to install Linux on its own physical drive. You can create a bootloader CD to start up Linux. This gives you native Linux performance with no complaints from Windows. The CD bootloader can also work with an install on the primary drive, but it's a bit trickier to manage. Cheers -- David Mitchell Alex Rufon wrote: > Hi Mark, > > First off, I agree with Oleg, had I the money to burn (I just bought a new > motorcycle last July and crashed it 3 days later and fractured my right foot > ... ehem good thing I took a comprehensive insurance) I would invest on a > Mac. I actually bought a PowerBook before but my Mom wanted it and she asked > nicely (won't take no for an answer ... hehehe) and she loves it. > > If you haven't partitioned your computer and your machine has lots of RAM, I > would suggest installing it on a virtual machine first. You can either use > Microsoft Virtual PC and Sun's VirtualBox, both of these software's are FREE. > Although I would suggest VirtualBox over the Virtual PC for a bunch of > reasons. You see, most of my friends who tried out Linux end up destroying > their windows partition or not being able to boot back into windows. > Particularly if you have more that 1 internal hard drives and not familiar > with Linux device naming convention. Also, depending on how powerful your PC, > trying it out first in a Virtual Machine would let you use your computer on > other tasks while installing, patching, or just plain mucking around with > linux. Afterwards, when your really comfortable with the new OS, then that's > the time you go the plunge and install it on physical partition. BTW, I've > met a lot of people who doesn't like the Gnome desktop. You do have an > alternative like KD > E and XFE but I'm suggesting that you give Gnome a chance first ... there's > a lot of customisation that you can do with it. Actually, my desktop right > now looks pretty much like Aqua/Mac. > > Since your using Ubunutu, I would assume that you got the 64bit version (you > have to select it at the option box in the Ubuntu download website otherwise > you'll get the 32 bit version). Also, I would suggest that you visit this > site and at least read up on some of its suggestions: > http://ubuntuguide.org > > Good luck! > > r/Alex > > ________________________________________ > From: [email protected] [[email protected]] On Behalf Of > Mark Deardorff [[email protected]] > Sent: Friday, October 02, 2009 9:10 PM > To: Chat forum > Subject: Re: [Jchat] [Jgeneral] J64 on OpenSUSE 11.1 64bit OS (WAS: RE: > [Jbeta] 602 ebeta available for linux32 and linux64) > > Thanks everyone. Sorry Oleg, I have already invested in PC hardware and > cannot afford the Mac iron. I have the Ubuntu disk and will boot from it to > do some partition work before I install it. > > Mark > > On Fri, Oct 2, 2009 at 3:36 AM, David Mitchell <[email protected]>wrote: > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
