OpenEuphoria

Re: [OFFTOPIC]

• Posted by Irv Mullins <irvm at ellijay.com> Mar 05, 2001
• 408 views

On Mon, 05 Mar 2001, you wrote:
> 
> Howdy y'all!
> 
> Yesterday evening I had the opportunity to go to the Microsoft website and 
> view a video of Bill Gates and his cronies introduction this new-fangled 
> Windows XP.  Quite frankly, ladies and gentlemen, that scared the hell out of 
> me, so badly that Windows ME will more than likely be the **last** version of 
> Windows that I ever own.

Paranoia aside (and yes, Kat is right) I have come to the same conclusion,
but for different reasons.  I have grown tired of paying M$ for upgrades to 
what continues to be an unstable and unreliable os. Windows has more flash
than Linux, but with Linux, I can actually get some work done. And all the 
tools I need to do that work come free with the Linux distro.
 
> Now then, this leaves me with the alternative of switching over to Linux once 
> Windows ME takes on the rusty air of Win95.  So, I am now *very seriously* 
> considering installing a version of Linux on my system.  But, in Travis' 
> eternal battle to have his cake and eat it too, I do not want to get rid of 
> Windows ME for fear that most of what I have in the way of code, (other than 
> Euphoria of course) cannot be ported over.  So, I suppose this means a "dual 
> partition."  That is something that I've never done before, and it naturally 
> makes me quite nervous.

This is fairly simple - most versions of Linux such as Mandrake have
repartitioning  software included. However, you may prefer to do this the
old-fashioned way and safe way;  fdisk, format, and re-install everything.

Whichever you choose, BACK UP anything important first!. Then, reload Windows
first, and afterwards
Linux. Windows setup will wipe out anything it finds on the disk, while Linux
politely recognizes the Windows partitions (and gives you access to them).

If you want zero risk, why not purchase a new disk drive - big drives are
pretty  cheap right now - and load Win / Linux on it? A useful Linux setup will 
take 750meg -1 gig.  Your old drive can remain untouched.

A Linux distribution such as Mandrake (hey, even WalMart sells these!)
will recognize most standard video and sound cards, but support for USB
devices is minimal. If you have a Winmodem, you probably won't get it to 
work. A real modem works better, anyway, even in Windows. 
Almost all network cards are usable. 

Regards,
Irv