WM5 & 6 and Mandriva

[Guest nuttyphilt]

Has anyone tried the latest version of Mandriva? (Mandriva 2008 Spring). Apparently it's got WM synching in it, see here: http://wiki.mandriva.com/en/2008.1_Synchronization

I've just about had it with Vista but the only thing holding me back from Linux was the lack of synching with my Touch Dual. If Mandriva works well then it could be bye bye Microsoft from me...

[Guest awarner (MVP)]

What issues are you having with Vista that makes you want to change the OS?

[Guest nuttyphilt]

I bought a new laptop about 3 months ago, pretty good spec (Dell XPS M1330, 2.2Ghz Core2Duo, 2GB RAM) with Vista Home Premium. I had issues straight away with sleep/waking problems although to be fair that seems fixed now with SP1 (and a bluetooth hotfix). I find it just runs slowly. I like the look and feel of it but it just seems a bit laggy. It takes ages to boot, ages to go to sleep, then ages to wake up again. Vista always seem to be doing something, i.e. the processor/hard drive never seem to be completely idle. Recently I switched on my old laptop with XP and was surprised at how snappy it felt. I tried Ubuntu on the old laptop previously and liked it a lot but the lack of Windows Mobile syncing was the deciding factor unfortunately.

Maybe I'll try dual booting for a while or stick Mandriva on the old laptop to see how it performs.

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

Why not put XP on your M1330 then?

P

[Guest nuttyphilt]

Why not put XP on your M1330 then?

P

I've only got the restore disc for my old laptop, I'm assuming it won't work on my new Dell? I've got a 'cough cough' dodgy copy of XP Professional but I'm trying to go straight your honour. :D

But to be honest I quite like the open source thing and the amount of software available. And OK I like tinkering too! My experience with Ubuntu as a first time Linux user was quite positive and I was surprised at how polished it felt and how smooth the install went.

Maybe I'll give it a go and document my experience here. Unfortunately I'm away on business in Sydney for a month from Friday (hard life I know!) but I'll give it a shot when I get back to London.

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

Good plan... :D

P