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Hi, I have just recently purchased a new laptop, and feel like i've just been slapped in the face by the afront to my intelligence that is vista, Therefore no matter how hard it is/any problems associated with it, i'm determined to find an alternative. I am planning on firstly converting my older laptop to a version of linux,(with a mind to eventually putting it on my new purchase) probably Ubuntu, as it's seems to be a good release. I'm an older user with perhaps bad microsoft habits, a total linux noob however, so any comments on my using ubuntu would be appreciated, (good or bad). Also, i read that Wine, is a good emulating programme, if i should feel the need to use PC stuff. Is this so? Finally, i use cubase on my older laptop, and read that (i think its called) ardour, is a viable Linux alternative, therefore any comments or advise would be appreciated! Thank you so much in advance!!

Ubuntu is very good and supports most current hardware without hassle. Wine is good for some Windows things, but not so for others. In cases where Wine doesn't work to run a Windows application, you can easily install a virtual machine manager and run Windows itself along with whatever applications you need at the same time you are running Linux applications. Try something like VirtualBox. I have found it to be very reliable. Is the cubase you mention music production software? From what I find with a google search, they are similar, but different, music production and sequencing software systems. I looked at the cubase web site and it seems to be a commercial product by Steinberg Media Technologies. It is available for Windows and Apple OSX. Ardour is an open source music production system that runs on Windows, OSX, and Linux. I haven't tried either of them, but I might try ardour on my system - I am an active amateur musician and play mandolin in a bluegrass band. Caveat Emptor - you will probably have to build Ardour from source code. Are you going to use VST plugins?

Sometimes real fast is almost as good as real time. Remember, Google is your friend!

I too am an "old age pensioner" so to speak. I can testify that a switch to Linux, which I made approximately two years ago, is quite viable. Several suggestions: If you must run windows-specific software and Wine will not support it either a virtual machine setup or a dual-boot might allow you to run the windows software you must run. Over two years I have found substitutes for virtually everything I did in Windows, but it took a while. Do look at a particular variant of Ubuntu known as "Ubuntu Studio," which may be optimized for your interests. You can find it at http://ubuntustudio.org. I run Ubuntu with the Gnome desktop and it runs very well. Do download the Mint variant and look at it. It's menuing system may be appealing to you and it loads various multi-media codecs as it installs, which may make things easier for you. Best Wishes