Ubuntu or other?

[4Eyes]

I am running it on a fairly powerful (albeit 2 year old+) workstation with plenty of memory..but....

I also had it running on a low grade old pentium that I reclaimed when the main office were sending it to the skip.

On the older machine I can't easily run Virtualbox, as it hasn't enough memory to share between two O/S running at once, but apart from that it runs better and faster than the Windows XP that was previously on that PC.

[Brad]

Codeweavers makes WINE available for the masses:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/01/29/codeweavers_impersonator/?

Haven't tried it.  Note there is a Mac OS X version available in addition to Linux.

[4Eyes]

A further update.

Still loving it - there will be no going back now I think.

Windows is running fine in Virtual Box - but I am finding less and less reason to use it. It helps that much of what I do is now done "up on t'cloud" including a Windows VPS running some of the more processor and connection hogging spam promotion tools (you can guess which). I have a few key tools (like Domain Punch Pro) running under Wine, and the rest is in the VirtualBox Windows setup.

I thought Windows7 was pretty good - no real problems with it all - but by comparison Linux really flies on my PC now, and, IMO Mint has an even more intuitive interface than Windows. Sure, I knew a little bit about linux before I switched - but not that much really - just enough to poke about and screw things up pretty well.

Worth every penny I paid for it 

If you are thinking of jumping in, it is worth installing Mint in a Windows Virtualbox and having a play with the interface etc.

[littleman]

After using Linux for a whole you don't really need windows for much.  I keep a windows box for running the the PPC desktop applications, I am sure there are a few Windows only SEO tools out there, but for the bulk of the day-to-day operations a typical computer does there really isn't a need to switch.

[4Eyes]

In case you are still poised for action, check out Zorin (http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=zorin)

It is based on Ubuntu, has a load of extras already installed, and is tailored to look and behave like Windows - even lets you chose which flavour of Windows.

Not tried it yet - might have a go with the live CD on one of my laptops over weekend.

[littleman]

I've run Adobe Air in Linux for various applications, including the now defunct Yahoo PPC desktop application.  It seems to work fine, though a bit slow.

[Drastic]

How is multi monitor support in linux?

[littleman]

I've never actually set it up, but last I looked it was a bit of a chore.

[4Eyes]

How is multi monitor support in linux?

Its a doddle in 'Mint' - so perhaps also in Ubuntu - it was at least as easy as Windows for my setup.

[4Eyes]

Prior to converting my wife's work PC to linux, I spent the weekend downloading various different flavours of linux, and installing them on an old Toshiba U110 Laptop (512m memory) - just wanted to check what was out there in case I was missing something.

Most interesting one I found was 'Bodhilinux' (http://bodhilinux.com) - based on Ubuntu and 'Enlightenment' DE.
32 bit only though, and a little 'new', but very nice. I may end up installing it on my own laptop - but using Enlightenment would be to much of a re-adjustment for someone new to linux I think.

Overall though, most were quite disappointing - they all worked, and worked fast enough, but all still had some usability issues for someone coming straight from windows and expecting it be similar.

Zorin was closest to 'OK' but looked 'tacky' - default icons and graphics poor. It didn't inspire enough confidence to persuade me to dig any deeper.

So, I will be installing Linux Mint again - which, IMO,  is FAR better for ex-Windows users than any of the others I tested.

[Drastic]

So I loaded Mint yesterday, pretty slick. First real install of linux outside of boot disks and the ps3. Out of the box 2 of my 5 monitors worked. If I can get all five working (about to try my hand at the xorg file) then I may use it a bit.

[4Eyes]

Fingers crossed it works - if it does, you won't look back.

I have my wife using Mint now on the work PC - she is perfectly happy with it - and she is not exactly PC savvy

[Drastic]

Yeah, getting it set up is the royal PITA. With the work required to get this working I can see why Linux won't become mainstream any time soon.

Ah well, construction going on at the house today anyway so good time to goof around with something like this.

[Drastic]

Wow Linux is definitely a different world.

Finally got the monitors working, but it's buggy with all 5. If I drop down to 4 it seems to work fine. (Main problem with 5 is I can't cross all borders between monitors with the cursor.)

It's a bit different from windows in that each monitor has its own bar and you can't drag windows from one monitor to the other. You have to launch whatever you want from the bar on the monitor where you want to see it. Not a big deal really, but will take some getting used to.

Now it's time for some virtual box. Hoping I can image my current vista install and run it there. That would be too easy, so I doubt it.

Man does this machine fly on this OS.

[4Eyes]

It's a bit different from windows in that each monitor has its own bar and you can't drag windows from one monitor to the other.

I can do that just fine Ken.

Not sure why you can't - I am only using two monitors, but I have a setup not much different from my old Windows setup.

I seem to recall that the default setting makes a window 'resist' if you just move it across, and that you have to move it down and across (kind of a 'slot' mid screen that lets you move it across). I assume this is a 'feature' of sorts, and that I somehow disabled it.