To take the Plunge, or not to take the Linux Plunge

[Alamue]

Hello Everyone,

I have become somewhat miffed over the years with Linux (First Distro was a Warty disk my Comp Sci teacher gave me to try). Now I am really interested in getting back into as it has matured over the ages. I am not an extreme nab to Linux, but I am also no huge expert (Never did get Flash working perfectly, or Java, or any Windows Games under Wine). I just would like to list what I mostly use my current rig for (Which is running Windows Vista HP X64) and see if maybe Ultimate edition might fit for me (Closest I came was with Linux Mint).

Current primary uses of my PC:
1. Gaming more or less, the only game that I must have running decently well would be WoW (This is my fall back game when bored with everything else, or just feel like doing something repetetive)

2. I know this should be a Moot point, but I am an avid Psx player (Via ePSXe for Enhanced graphics, I have a Playstation 1, and a Psx sitting on a shelf beside me, as well as every game I play or have a digital copy of). Anyone have any experience or pointers on ePSXe running with Ultimate Edition?

3. The hardware that I use, I have always had that one piece of hardware or peripheral that just never works properly. I will now make a short list of what I am speaking of:
Blackberry Curve 8330 (Transfering Music)
Logitech G13
Logitech G5 (Will the speed control still function?)
Wired Xbox360 controller (For ePSXe, I will be asking on their forums for compatability etc... Hoping someone here might know though)
Hauppage PVR-150 (This does not currently even work under Vista x64 with4 GB+ RAM). having this work would also guarantee me going to Ultimate edition on at least my HTPC.

4. Any nice little easy to follow for nab guides for Wine to pre-read? Is current game support fairly good? *any* Chance Steam will work? (I ask as I have maybe 15-20 purchased games via steam, biggest game played is Warhammer 40K Soulstorm.

Now I have been "okay" working with Windows, but every year or so I get fed up with it (Usually after doing another 3 hour update cycle, which requires a DVD repair of the OS for the umpteenth time) I will look into Ubuntu etc.... I was looking at a distro for my netbook which would allow me to play ePSXe (It seems to dislike running anything Fullscreen with Windows 7) and I stumbled across Ultimate Edition via Wikipedia and thought to myself that this may be the Linux Distro to break my endless cycle. Everytime though I hit that issue with Wine, or something that I need that just will not work, I just say screw it and run back to Windows with my tail between my legs. I do not wish to go through another OS nightmare for 2-3 weeks just to switch back to Windows.

I understand this forum will be semi-biased etc... I am just looking for your honest opinion on what you can see of this post, and my sig rig if Ultimate Edition is right for me. I have never been a huge Software person, always been a hardware tweaker/modder.

So thoughts? Opinions? Suggestions?

[Moebius]

Hi Alamue,
Welcome to the forum.
I'd like to put my 2 cents worth in without actually answering any specific questions.
I started with 'Linux' around about the time 'Warty' was around. I did this more out of curiosity than anything else and thought it would be a weekend experience that I could then file away in the 'been there, done that' category. Thank goodness that didn't happen (yes I'm slightly biased now).
My first experience was not brilliant by any means, but it tweaked me just enough to raise curiosity. I kept going on and off whilst using Windows, getting more and more frustrated because I was out of my comfort zone (I am a computer technician / I.T. Manager working on Windows machines). The concepts were all different and foreign compared to Windows and I was no longer master of my machine. The more i tinkered to my needs, the better my knowledge and final outcomes became. I stumbled upon Ubuntu and then onto Ultimate Edition and have not looked back. Will Ultimate Edition be the 'one' for you? only you can answer that and only after you have tried it. Will you get a biased response / honest appraisal here? Yes to both - but you already knew that
My guidance to you would be, download it (32 or 64 - your choice) and install it side by side with Windows. Now you have the best of both worlds. My installation of Ultimate Edition was not 'perfect' for me right out of the box, but it came pretty damn close. I've put a bit of extra work into my installation where it now works with all my hardware/network and I have installed software that replaces every Windows application I used. I have a sort of pride and satisfaction in that I partially built my own operating system tailored just for my needs and it really wasn't that hard (or I may just have been lucky with my choice of hardware). Will this O/S cover your hardware? couldn't answer that 100% as I don't have your system, but it should. If not right away, then probably with a bit of help from the forum. If Ultimate Edition doesn't work right, don't walk away - work at it and you will get there and hopefully get that same feeling of satisfaction when you do.
At the very least, try it as a Live DVD and get a bit of a feel for it - if you like it, then take the next little step.
Wishing you the best with your decision, and if you need us, we're here.

Cheers.
(Nice first post by the way )

[Alamue]

Thanks Moebius, please do not get to agitated by how my next few threads will be along the lines of "please help" etc...

I will be taking the plunge, but this time I have decided to have a plan ^_^

Right now, I am following the steps located at http://forumubuntusoftware.info/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=2374 I am hoping if a 51 year old man with roughly my same background can do it, my 23 year old youthful eagerness to do it will work. Now I am doing a somewhat dumbed down version of this though. I am testing out Ubuntu 9.10 on my netbook (Standard Atom Z530 multi threaded, 1 GB of RAM, 60 GB HDD)

Now I am taking a few liberties with how I will be installing it to see if it works one way or another. I have made a 10 GB NTFS Partition where I will be running it from and overwriting my current Windows 7 install (It is an RC1 copy afterall)

Depending on how this goes, I am already prepping my main rig for a dual boot (Mess around with Ultimate Edition For a while before removing Windows, and seeing what I can get working, after that I may then deploy out to my HTPC then maybe even my main laptop (Nice little Dell Studio 17 with the bells and whistles, really love the thing).

I can also test some peripheral support via Ubuntu 9.10 (I assume same Kernal as Ultimate Edition 2.5?) and this will also be my trial run before taking the time to get it running on my main rig

Also, since I am unemployed right now, could be a great time to really delve into this, take the time and plunge right into the deep end head first

P.S. best things about netbooks is the bed factor, really is great to lie in bed with a ultra light laptop and plan Linux roll outs

[Alamue]

Hit one big snag that I should have seen coming.

Seems that it will not boot off the same drive on a seperate partition (The installer). After setting the new partition as Primary, I seemed to have totally Fubared it yes, this is a moment. This has to be one of the first times I have Fubared a computer/drive without loosing anything (It was my netbook which contained absolutely nothing that was not backed up somewhere else).

I have 2 options now, wait the nearly 3 hours for Ultimate Edition 2.5 to finish downloading and toss that onto it, OR continue on and setup an actual USB jump drive with Ubuntu 9.10 and install that.

Think Ultimate Edition 2.5 might be a little bit too much for my poor old Dell Mini 12?

P.S. I understand that there is no official 64 bit Gamers edition, I was wondering if it is possible to take the 32 bit source then compile it within a 64 bit enviroment and see if that might work? (I know *some* programs can be compiled in 32, or 64 bit). Alternatively; what would it take for me to take 2.5 64 bit, then add in all of the Gamers features?

[JohnTN]

I see one immediate problem to a UE2.5 install to ur 10G partition. Since it installs so much software it takes about 11G on my machine, but then that is what makes it ULTIMATE

John