Tell me about Linux

I like the sound of that MSI Wind but I'm just not sure if I want to go with a 10" screen. I have a Dell Inspiron 6000 right now with a 16" screen so going down to 10" might be tough. I'm just tired of lugging this thing around though. It's just not practical for traveling and forget about trying to use this thing on a plane.
That is why I was originally looking at the Dell Mini 12 - screen resolution. But, I decided that the Wind was more suited for what I was looking for. My work laptop, as well as my wife's laptop are both 14 inch screens, so the jump down won't be so drastic.

And that's what I'm looking for as well, portability and knowing that if I need to do any programming or heavy computing, I still have my work and home desktops, as well as my work laptop. Plus it's always fun to have a new toy!

That is why I was originally looking at the Dell Mini 12 - screen resolution. But, I decided that the Wind was more suited for what I was looking for. My work laptop, as well as my wife's laptop are both 14 inch screens, so the jump down won't be so drastic.

And that's what I'm looking for as well, portability and knowing that if I need to do any programming or heavy computing, I still have my work and home desktops, as well as my work laptop. Plus it's always fun to have a new toy!

Yeah I always have my desktop for the heavy lifting too, I just use my laptop for really basic stuff so it makes no sense to be lugging this thing around. And yeah, I'm always looking for my next toy too! LOL

I would go the dual boot route, just to give yourself the option to boot in to Windows if you find some program that doesn't run in Wine(runs Window programs in Linux).

I'm trying to figure out what to do with my old laptop if I go through with buying a new one. Anyone ever use one of those cash for laptops type of sites out there?

craigslist.

Put a fresh install on it, then set it up as a home file/print server, or hook it up to your TV...

My wife, parents and sister surprised me with a MSI Wind for my birthday yesterday. It's pretty awesome. Hard to imagine something this small being that powerful. Draft-N wireless, bluetooth, 6 cell battery, and with the 1.0A bios, I can overclock and take it up to 2 GB of memory. It comes installed with XP Home, which I've patched and is up to speed. The screen is pretty remarkable, and clearer than the 2 LCDs I use here at work.

If you are looking for something to surf, check email and do some light stuff, I highly recommend a netbook, whether it's MSI, Asus, Dell, etc. You won't be sorry.

Nice surprise there BD!

I have a Dell mini 12 on the way, should have it by the middle of this week.

So I'm thinking about getting a new laptop, something simple mostly for internet access and maybe some occassional word processing. I'm looking at a Dell Inspiron Mini 12 (http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/laptop-inspiron-12?c=us&cs=19&l=en&ref=lthp&s=dhs) and you can get it with Ubuntu Linux as the OS instead of Windows. Should I go with Linux over Windows? What would you recommend?

Ubuntu is the most "dumbed down" Linux variety, which means that it's a much more natural transition for people coming from OS's like the Windows and Mac flavors.

The ones that they're putting on these laptops are luckily geared for the hardware so unless buggy, you should have very little to no issues, which can exist with graphics drivers, etc when installing on a desktop not designed for it. You probably won't have to be editing .conf files daily and manually updating your kernel or anything. I haven't used them on all of these netbooks and minibooks lately, but I've read a bit, seem to be pretty fine and stable.

Any specific questions/issues you have about the OS itself?

I compare Linux to Mac. A lot of the advantages will disappear as their market share grows and they are faced with real market pressure and growing security issues. As everyone has said, for a net machine it is fine. If you want it as a productivity machine then you'd be dopey to not go with a PC or Mac. As an aside I am hearing good stuff about Windows 2007. I think Microsoft may actually put out a good one with 2007. It should be out sooner rather than latter considering the negative public reaction and slow corporate adoption of Vista.

Define productivity :laughing-