I think I'm ready to make the switch, but to what distro!?

There are lots of great distros. to choose from, and I'm sure that other will be suggested here. But I think that Ubuntu will keep you happy, and once you've used it, you could always try other distros. http://www.ubuntu.com/

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My personal favourite for laptops is Kubuntu 7.10, and it sounds like you have the hardware to run it. You can download it here http://www.kubuntu.org/download.php Download a live CD, and try it out!

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I have the same laptop as you do, and I would definitely recommend Ubuntu 7.10. If you're new to linux, try the i386 version instead of the 86_64 - you've got a 64-bit processor, but to new users, trying to get flash and java and such working correctly on a 64-bit platform right now is a huge headache. You'll need to pass a few boot options to get the install to work correctly - the installer doesn't like the dv9000's, but once it's installed it works fine. I think the options I usually use are noapic irqpoll noirqdebug, so when you've got your disc in the drive and it gives you the "Start up or install ubuntu"... etc messages, hit F6, then type "noapic irqpoll noirqdebug" and hit enter, then you should be all set. Ubuntu also has compiz fusion enabled by default, and it works very well on a 1GB dv9000 - Vista hardly ran on mine, too. :P Edit: It's plenty media-friendly, too - just open the Synaptic package manager, enable the extra software repositories, then install ubuntu-restricted-extras, I think, is the name, and you'll be pretty much set to play almost anything. :) [Modified by: Horizon on April 09, 2008 10:16 AM]

Well, I would sujest debian. i use it, i would give it a ten out of ten. Ive used vista, just about drove me crazy, but anyway, you can download it here http://www.debian.org/CD/

I like ubuntu and am actually leaning on wanting to use one of it's derivatives. but I would suggest you go here (http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/), or head on over to distrowatch.com (like I did) and read up on the distros out there. based my decision on each sites hit count (and ubuntu is at number 1 right now) and the more people who use the distro, the more you people you can ask for help :) there's a certain linux distro that mimics winXP's interface, maybe something for you to start on? and on what flavour of ubuntu, Ubuntu (gnome-based) is should be handled by your computer easily, Kubuntu (KDE) and Xubuntu (XFCE) have a tad less... eye-candy appeal, though you can certainly pimp them out manually. the new KDE4 looks good nonetheless. [Modified by: Ante on May 02, 2008 05:10 PM]

i haven't tested much, but kiwi and gnewsense does that as well, though I'd still vote for mint just because it looks and feels very different from ubuntu while the formers still had a very ubuntu feel on it. Kiwi states that they purposely did that to be minimalist... and though I haven't tinkered much, just getting the codec from repositories and resmacking them to a livecd is... bleh... dreamlinux seems to do the same. it's debian based, which is the basis of ubuntu as well.

[quote=Ante]I like ubuntu and am actually leaning on wanting to use one of it's derivatives. but I would suggest you go here (http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/), or head on over to distrowatch.com (like I did) and read up on the distros out there. based my decision on each sites hit count (and ubuntu is at number 1 right now) and the more people who use the distro, the more you people you can ask for help :) there's a certain linux distro that mimics winXP's interface, maybe something for you to start on? and on what flavour of ubuntu, Ubuntu (gnome-based) is should be handled by your computer easily, Kubuntu (KDE) and Xubuntu (XFCE) have a tad less... eye-candy appeal, though you can certainly pimp them out manually. the new KDE4 looks good nonetheless. [Modified by: Ante on May 02, 2008 05:10 PM] [/quote] run with Ubuntu!! very nice !

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