Ubuntu or XP Pro?

I don't think the latest version of Ubuntu 10.04 will run very effectively on a computer circa 2002, the latest Ubuntu release is targeted at competing with the most current operating system releases. Perhaps a previous release would be a better choice

You might be able to turn some of the Graphical features off and then 10.04 would run fine, posting the CPU / memory/front side bus/ back side bus / motherboard chip-set / video card specifications might garnish responses from people running similar platforms .

my bigger question is .... what made you revert to XP Pro sp3 last time ? Ubuntu may not be headed in a direction that will ever allow you to switch, for example I run 1 Microsoft OS simply because I need to run several programs that are only available on that platform, and there aren't any plans for Open source equivalents.

Others will have to address whether your computer will handle Ubuntu 10.04, but if you enjoy using linux you can also try PuppyLinux or Damn Small Linux, both of which should work. I use ubuntu as my regular system now after having used XP for years. Ubuntu is great, though not without its own issues. Puppy is lightning quick and just fine for surfing the internet, creating word processing documents, and running spreadsheets. Best wishes.

Depends on the CPU

Try Debian stable, should run fine on it. Gnome can run on those 512 (Im doing that right now), but you could go for a lighter Desktop like xfce or lxde

I've got Ubuntu on a dual-core Sony laptop with 1GB RAM, and it's fine. On the other hand, my old Pentium3 laptop wouldn't install the same Ubuntu edition - something about the disk format I think, so I've got it running Linux Mint Fluxbox (Flux is just another desktop manager), and it seems happy. I've also looked at Puppy and Damn Small Linux - very impressive what they squeeze into about 100MB!

cheers, Jon.

Perhaps give the light-weight spin-off "Lubuntu" a go (http://lubuntu.net/). It's based around the relatively new LXDE Desktop Environment. I've not tried it yet, but it's supposed to run well on slightly older hardware, and you'll still be running the latest *buntu release.

Hope that helps.

Graham

I've had Ubuntu installed for over a year now. Although I like it much more than XP, I still needed XP for software\hardware that isn't compatible with Ubuntu. My option was to either dual boot or get a separate machine. I decided to get a separate machine. I have my Ubuntu on my souped up machine and I got a cheaper refurbished machine for my XP (about $230). This was doable as I had a non-oem XP disk. Otherwise, if I didn't I'd had to use the cheaper one as my Ubuntu machine. I also bought a Belkin switch so that I can switch PC's if I have them on at the same time.

I use Ubuntu for 95% of my task including connecting to work from home. The one hardware that I couldn't use Ubuntu for was a Canon Scanner. Most software I can use Wine under Ubuntu such as Adobe photoshop and Quicken 2008. Games I haven't had too much luck with so I needed windows for that.

I'm currently running Ubuntu 9.10 but i've been hearing good word on 10.4. I had originally started on 9.04 and upgrading was a breeze to 9.10.

Making a transition from Windows to Ubuntu is more an issue of what application packages you are using than the OS itself.

My advice to anyone using windows is to make a transition to multi-platform (free is generally better) application software first. Get used to the software you will be using under linux while you are still under windows.

For example switch from using IE to Firefox, outlook to thunderbird, ms office to open office and so on, and use them under windows. Once you are accustomed to them under windows, the transition to ubuntu is pretty transparent.

The first time I used Ubuntu there was a lot more research and tracking things down. Things like 'why won't youtube work' missing codecs for music and video files and so on. This time, I install ubuntu, point the music player at my collection of music files, when it doesnt have a decoder for a file, it asks if you want to install it, when you press yes, it does the rest.

Installing Ubuntu is far easier and smoother now than installing XP. In fact, it's easier to switch from XP to Ubuntu, than from XP on one machine to XP on another.

One could argue that what I'm saying is subjective, so I will quantify a bit. I helped someone buy a computer system for her new business. It took me 2 days to get her system set up and running smoothly, with application software, virus checking, firewall etc. Right after that I set up almost the identical collection of applications with Ubuntu 9.1 on similar hardware.
That took me 1.5 hours. A 10 to 1 ratio in man hours.

Next time someone asks me for help, I will only help if they are open to trying Ubuntu so that i can save a day and a half of of my own time and have happier end user right away. Then an ecstatic end user when she discovers she needs an extra piece of software and finds that synaptic will install it for her at the push of a button, and for free.

If every game had worked flawlessly on Ubuntu, or any other Linux for that matter, i would have chosen Linux as my main OS in a heartbeat. But since i play games quite often, it would be a pain having to switch over to Windows every time i felt like playing.

If you don't have alot of childish tendencies, choose Linux! :)

Ubuntu uses less than 350 MB of RAM, and no Windows can do that ;-)

You should ask yourself what software you need to day-by-day work, fun, etc., and if you are up to experience something that it's NOT a "free windows", it's a whole different system!!, with a lot of pros (freedom, hundreds of open-source and free packages for everything you may want, no spyware, no checking every corner of your system for "un-legitimate" versions of the OS or the office package, etc.) and maybe some cons (you may not find the "very exactly" substitute for some very specific program you were using in windows; maybe some professional software or games you have already purchased won't run as good as in windows inside Linux... even though Wine is quite good!; some sites are optimized for other explorer :-( etc.).

My suggestion based on my experience: go to GNU/Linux! Choose your distribution based on your taste (experience it! there are free boot-CDs for almost every Linux distro and you can download a few, 2 or 3, try them and choose freely and for-free :-D !). Then, for the things you really do not have an optimal choice, or one that make you comfortable, install a (non-pirate!) version of Windows inside a Virtual Machine (using VirtualBox, VMWare, etc.) and use it for the exceptional software you may need. I think for the rest of the day (work AND fun), you can live comfortably in Linux.

I have been using M$Windows since the 80's (Win 3.1) until now (Win7 64 bits), and for the past 5 years I have been playing in the shore of GNU/Linux, using it partially, getting to know it's logic, etc. Now my machine has a full 500 GB HD with only Poseidon Linux 64 bits (based on Ubuntu LTS) and I am perfectly fine. From OpenOffice to Gimp, from Firefox to Amarok and Media Player, I use it all day and are enjoying a SO that uses less RAM, updates everything (not only the SO and the office!) when needed, do not crash and I don't have to pay it.

Good luck!