Re: Which Linux to use on Windows 7 64-bit as dual boot?
 

demolition - For a change from Windows to a Linux Distro I'd suggest Pinguy. It is based on Ubuntu 11.04 and offers all of the Ubuntu software/features as well as more. It comes with Conky pre-installed and set up along with everything being in an easy to find and use layout. Install is a cakewalk as are most features. The people on the Pinguy forum are just as helpful and friendly as they are here. All-in-all an ideal distro for anyone looking for a first attempt at Linux.
For email Thunderbird works just about as well as Windows Live Mail but you have greater control over the layout. KMail and Evolution both require user input for set-up of many email accounts (which smtp, pop3, imap etc. server? Which port? and so on). Thunderbird automatically sets up server/ports for most accounts so a little easier on the new user.

Mageia is an OK option as it can be installed with all of the available desktops (when you sign in you can select which you'd like to use - Gnome, KDE, LXDE, etc.) and a great deal of software but updates are slow in coming. Mageia also is a bit problematic if installed in dual/multi boot. It must be installed first and when you install the second distro Mageia will show it in the GRUB list of boot options but for some reason it won't boot. You have to move the cursor to it and click "e" for edit. Then change the file system to the one you selected when you installed it (it will show ext2 but I installed under ext4, so I change the 2 to a 4) and then the partition to the correct one (for me it shows HD0,0 when it is installed on HD0,1 so I change the 0 to a 1). Then press F10 and it will boot. You will need to make that edit every time you try to boot it.
Fedora works very well but I would avoid the Gnome desktop on Fedora 15. Everything is hidden and getting to anything requires multiple steps with the new Gnome. Fedora works extremely well though and with the KDE desktop and the "Lovelock" appearance settings it's great looking.

All in all I'd say Pinguy is the way to go. As you've seen here most people recommended Ubuntu and Pinguy is Ubuntu based (it's Ubuntu with numerous extras)

As for Debian you don't need all 8 DVD's. They include server settings, extra languages and other un-needed bulk. You'd only need the Live image to install and then select and install the packages you need/want. Debian is not the easiest install but it's not the most difficult either (that would be Gentoo).
The 500GB drive I'm using I bought new just for Linux (I decided to keep my windows hard drive separate and I swap out the physical drive to switch between Linux and Windows) and I've only given 30GB to Fedora, 30GB to Mageia and 40GB to Pinguy and all 3 still have plenty of space for storage. If you don't use Hibernate and you have enough RAM (2GB or more) then you can do without a SWAP partition and use the extra space for an NTFS formatted partition for file storage. If you create the storage partition under EXTx formatting you may have trouble gaining access to the partition across multiple Distros as the one with which you created the partition will claim ownership. None claim ownership of NTFS. You can install one of the Distros on an extended partition and can then have an additional 4 Primary partitions (one as SWAP). I didn't think out my setup before I went forward with it as I was simply trying to test as many as I can as quickly as I can so I could decide which I liked. What I'll have to do is back up all of my partitions to a separate drive on eSATA, reformat the 500GB with all of the partitions I need in the correct size and then re-install from the back up. That will take more time than doing a completely new install but will save me a number of gigs of bandwidth (Comcast limits me to 250GB per month so that is more important in this case) as I won't need to re-install all of the updates and packages I want for each of the distros.
If you are only using one or two distros then 150GB is plenty of space. Of the 500GB my drive provides I've given 130 to the three distros and SWAP and I still have most of the space free on each partition. If you have the time and bandwidth you might try every distro under the sun to find which works best with your hardware, provides the software/packages you want/need and which you like the look/function of. You've nothing to lose except some bandwidth, time and some CDR's/DVDr's.
A great place to see what each distro has to offer is http://distrowatch.com/. They do a good job of describing each, to which other distro each is connected/built from (ie Mageia and Mandriva, Pinguy and Ubuntu) and what level of knowledge needed to install/use.

Re: Which Linux to use on Windows 7 64-bit as dual boot?
 

More than enough.
Most linux Distros can be installed on as little as 4Gb (with distros like TCL on as little as 12Mb!)

Re: Which Linux to use on Windows 7 64-bit as dual boot?
 

i'd like to give lots of thanks but it's disabled so I'll write instead:
Thank you!

Re: Which Linux to use on Windows 7 64-bit as dual boot?
 

ubuntu 10.10 and just boot into the classic option rather than unity. urghh cant stand unity

Re: Which Linux to use on Windows 7 64-bit as dual boot?
 

Tried Ubuntu 11.04 and felt much more slower than my w7 ultimate system. There is a bug with jockey, I can't use my GPU when I am on Ubuntu, that might be the reason that I felt slower. Having many things to be downloaded is also a minus for me, I've been using windows since 98 came out..

Re: Which Linux to use on Windows 7 64-bit as dual boot?
 

then try the update, yesterday, they released a newer ubuntu. i think its 11.10 or something

Re: Which Linux to use on Windows 7 64-bit as dual boot?
 

will download right now :) thx for info.

Re: Which Linux to use on Windows 7 64-bit as dual boot?
 

To me 11.10 is slower than 11.04. In addition to that, running gnome-session on another display shows nothing but the desktop. I liked 11.04 better, thats if I can't troubleshoot gnome-session.

Re: Which Linux to use on Windows 7 64-bit as dual boot?
 

Hey Linux guys - I'm catching up fairly quickly (I've broken things and figured out how to fix them, so I'm catching up) but I'm still having some trouble with interaction between my N900 and all of the Linux Distro's I've tried. I'd like to move the "addressbook.db" files(s) from /home/user/.osso-abook/db/ of my N900 to my Linux Distros (Pinguy 64 is my primary, Saline 64 is my secondary and Salix LXDE 64 is my third distro) with the hope of backing up and using that data with Thunderbird.
Is there an easier way to move the N900 address book info into Thunderbird?

Thanks guys,
David

Re: Which Linux to use on Windows 7 64-bit as dual boot?
 

I'm sure there is a better way, but if you have Ovi Suite on windows you can export your database to a csv file, then use that file in all your distros to import into Thunderbird.