Ubuntu is a very viable alternative for many aging systems. I have it on a 64gb flash drive and it runs fine,and you can run it on a lot less,. I use 64gb just for all the extra storage for applications and files ,I just boot to the flash drive and do my thing. The only problem I have with Ubuntu is there are no applications that provide the high end vid/music processing I use, unless I want to resort to a few less than satisfactory on line programs. That being said there are lot of programs to cover general computing uses and surfing ,email etc. The newer Chromebooks all use a customized version of Ubuntu and are very cost affective. Acer has a Chromebook that runs around 270$ with a Intel Haswell cpu that is very good, even with multi tasking. Yes there is a learning curve, but for most it is not insurmountable and for the most part you will only need to learn how to install applications and user interface to be up and running..There are how to guides all over the place. In some respect I am surprized more people don't use Ubuntu, especially so seeing how there are several version with easy to follow icon driven GUI's = ( the graphic user interface you are used to in windows). The plus side is the OS and a bunch of apps can all be free( all mine are) and even if you afraid to install the OS yourself a computer shop should be able to install it for just labor charges. Cheers George & the Sixpack -----Original Message----- From: Bruce Kemp Sent: Saturday, March 08, 2014 1:07 AM To: gen-newbie@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [GN] Moving from XP On 03/07/2014 05:57 PM, Beth Bowling wrote: > Thanks Bruce....I have heard of Linux but know nothing about it. Any > hints > about how it might operate? > Thanks again, > I use Linux all the time, in fact I have 3 computers that are running Xubuntu Linux. There are many different versions of Linux with many different Graphical User Interfaces ( what you would call the desktop). Most distributions are free, you just have to create either a CD or DVD of the version you want to try. There are even some versions that can be tried without installing. Bruce -- I am nofic at all times. ******************** Gen-Newbie's website: http://www.rootsweb.com/~newbie/ ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to GEN-NEWBIE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message