Calling all computer geeks!

[aparker82]

Ubuntu is probably the best jump-in point for Linux due to support and ease of use. I would steer clear of the Unity version, but that may be fine for others. It seems to be a widespread gripe with the direction Ubuntu is taking though.

I'm currently using the main fork of Mint, and now that I think about it that may be easier to get into. I haven't used Ubuntu since the first Unity release though. KDE distros are nice as well.

I concur, Mint is an amazing fork of ubuntu, unity is alright but I still prefer cinnamon like you

 

[megafiddle]

You're also liable to get a virus at the drop of a hat with IE6. That browser is 12 years old. If it were a child, it would have hit puberty. It's been around nearly half of my life. It's time to move to something else - if your computer will support IE6, then it can support something else!

XP was a fine system in its day but it has been surpassed countless times now by other OSs. It was released in October 2001 - that's a long time ago. It is set up to run you as Administrator by default and every program that runs has access to your Administrator privileges - in other words, it's a great virus attractor because it's so easy to infect.

As for Linux, if you're new to it I would advise Mint (based on Ubuntu) or Ubuntu. My personal favourite has always been Fedora but Debian-based distributions are the de-facto standards. The beauty of running a Linux distribution is that you can get full-features relative to the age of hardware. If you want to resurrect an old project box from fifteen years ago, there's a distribution that'll do it!

Yes I know. It's not my main computer. I keep it around for testing my own software
and evaluating free software. Plus it works just fine here, and on the couple other
forums I use. (I use Windows 7 for my important stuff)

Just pointing out that high security settings can improve things, until an upgrade can
be made. In fact, higher security settings can improve speed even with the most
modern browsers.

In fact, I have an even older computer running 2000. It's not connected to the interwebs,
though. But with that old machine I can:

create and print mechanical, electrical, and technical drawings,
create spreadsheets,
write reports,
record industrial process data from the machinery where I work,

Websites are a whole 'nother thing. Especially those that are very popular.

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