Hi, I admit it, I'm a Dummy! I'm in Egypt, but I'm English. I use a Dell Inspiron 1545 which is supposedly running on Windows 7. A while ago, I had some problems with it and sent it to a computer repairer here in Luxor. It came back with a "new" Windows (a copy, actually) and writing in Arabic, of course, from the right. The cost of this was about 2.5GBP, so I suppose that I couldn't complain. At least it was working again. Eventually, with advice from friends, I got it to write in English and from the left, which I managed with until I got home to England and popped in the original Windows disc which came with the machine. The computer was originally my son's, and it came to me when he got another new one. It had the Kaspersky virus thingy on, which naturally disappeared when the repair was carried out in Egypt. Although he saved all my pictures and stuff to his laptop before the Windows disc was put back in, and reloaded them onto it afterwards, he didn't re-install the Kaspersky and now I have picked up this "helpbar" spyware or whatever it is! There doesn't seem to be any particular problems arising from this, but (as I've seen the Linux logo appear on my Blog visitors page and noticed several references to it and its advantages elsewhere) I thought that I might have a go at installing and using Linux in the future. But I don't know where to start, and I don't understand the "jargon"! Can someone help me.......please? I've looked at the FAQ's, but don't understand the terminology, like I said, I'm a Dummy!
Googeling "Linux for Windows users" recommends http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/ultimate-linux-guide-for-windows-users.html which looks like a good starting point to get an idea (even deeper than you actually need to have as a regular user, but anyway) of Linux. Some easy to use and user friendly distributions are: - Linux Mint (which is based on Ubuntu) - Ubuntu (which is based on Debian) - Manjaro (which is based on Arch Linux) - Elementary OS (which is based on Ubuntu I think) - also see http://hubpages.com/hub/Top-5-Linux-Distros-for-beginners or other "Windows like Linux distro" search results But you might want to make a choice after you got the basics.
Thanks, MaddinXx. Hi, and thanks for your effort in assisting me. I've spent my working life (and a lot of my childhood, too) with motor vehicles in all of their shapes, forms and sizes, either repairing or driving them. So, I fully understand that having a thorough knowledge of how they work and what their capabilities and limitations are, make it much easier for me to be a better than average driver. Nevertheless, I'm also aware that millions upon millions of drivers manage to get along reasonably safely without any of this technical know-how and/or experience. What I'm alluding to is that, although I read your treatise on Linux and all its ins and outs, I'm really none-the-wiser (or not much, at least) but that I intend to go ahead anyway. I've decided (just about) to try and download the Linux Mint onto a DvD (when I find one to purchase) and start from there, with a great hope that the different aspects will either work of their own accord, or that what I will need to do will become apparent as I go. If this approach is definitely a NO-NO, then I'd appreciate it if someone would tell me so outright, so that I won't waste my time and effort or completely ruin my old lap-top in the process!!!!! Thanks.
