I have a Dell Opitplex 760 with an e8600. What are my chances of successfully installing some version of Linux?
Most likely pretty good.
Would Ubuntu be a good choice?
Most would say yes. I suggest downloading the Live CD and booting from it and testing it out first. There is a lot to consider before diving into any version of Linux.
What about upgrading Vista to Windows XP or Windows 7? What is it, exactly, that you hate so much about Vista? What's not satisfying you?
Thanks -- being totally unfamiliar with this idea, I didn't know about the Live CD part. That seems a sensible thing to do.
As for what I dislike about Vista -- I'm old school. I did most of my programming in Unixland. The flowery Windows interface in general seems to get in the way frequently and Vista seems to always want to anticipate what I want to do and often times it anticipates in such a way as to cause me more work than if it had been less "helpful" Other than that, I could write a book...
The main thing I'm hoping to get is just a faster, simpler machine.
The main thing I'm concerned about is replacing the tool set I've gathered for Windows with similar tools for Linux.
