VAIO PCG-K115B: Extreme Customisation with Linux

[jammold]

Hey everyone.

Wanted to share my experiences with you on ditching my copy of Windows XP on the VAIO Recovery DVD (you don't get one of those anymore).

I got quite frustrated with Microsoft Windows in general on my PC, performance always lacked, spyware was a problem for me - and I have a lot of experience with Windows as well. Generally I was getting more and more fed up with my experience.

I have heard a lot about Ubuntu Linux, so I tested it out by ordering my free CD.

The nice thing about the live CD system with Linux is you're free to run Linux then on your system safe in the knowledge that your installation of Windows will not be touched. It was handy for me because it enabled me to see what components of my laptop didn't work as expected.

Fortunately everything, video card, MemoryStick Pro, DVD-ROM+CD-RW Drive, hard disk, Synaptics TouchPad Mouse, USB controller, PCMCIA cards, Ethernet, ALSA compatible sound card, keyboard, LCD panel - all supported.

Colour me impressed! So with this working at the time I installed it to a small 10GB partition to live next to Windows XP on my original hard disk. The install proceeded in just 15 minutes flat - now thats impressive! I was then able to pick which operating system I wanted from the boot menu, install new software and enjoy the Linux environment.

10GB is enough for a base system installed for general day to day work - which is more favourable than Windows Vista and 15GB before you even install anything. OpenOffice 2.0 was included as was Firefox, GAIM and some useful audio playback tools. If you need more its just a case of opening the Synaptic Package Manager, picking something and letting it continue. If your software needs any dependencies Synaptic will download those as well. What I like as well is the installation and removal of software is completely clean.

Better still, the Ubuntu Updates will upgrade your entire operating system so when a new version of Amarok or The Gimp becomes available it gets installed.

So far I'm 7 months into my new operating system and its still as fast as the day I installed it. I was impressed that the laptop works so well with Ubuntu.

If anyone is interested in installation instructions for Ubuntu, or needs help with Linux in general I am on hand to provide assistance

If anyone would like a few eye-candy screenshots of Ubuntu Linux in action just say and I'll attach a few.

[kee-lo_]

Always good to see you James, you must have heard my shout out in the 35,000 post thread!

Yeah it's a good OS, plus it's very customisable and it's free.

Glad to hear it all went well and lets hope more people move over to Ubuntu.