I also did not want to mess too much with my windows so when I boot my machine I immediately hit the Esc key which takes me to the boot order screen and there I select the one I want to boot too, if I don't do that it will default to windows and boot right up to windows. So I only have to access that menu if I am booting into the linux drive. May be weird to some but it works fine for me just one little extra step to take in the bootup for linux. When I select the drive with linux then it begins that boot process, says loading grub and then up comes my Mepis. My linux guru was here visiting last year and that is when we tackled installing the new hard drive, I was glad he was here! I am not very good at that kind of stuff so he handled most of the process. for those considering linux you might check your area to see if there are any Linux user groups or LUGs around that is an excellent way to meet linux users and get hands on help. You can look them up online using google. Mint is a good choice for new users, not sure if openSUSE would be. if you go to distro watch they list all the flavors and you can click on each and get some info on them. I also love the coding studio site, you can click on each distro and see it in pictures, they have changed the site and it is not as good as it used to be but still ok. The Coding Studio OS Screenshots Here is a link that might be useful: distrowatch

I just got a new hard drive installed in my main box to load the new Mepis8 distro on, I have been running Mepis Linux for years now and love it, one of the great things about Mepis is how well it will run things right out of the box. I have a dual boot box with an older ubuntu+kde and Mepis7 also along with boxes running xp pro, xp home, and windows 7. I think learning to use Mepis was easier than learning the new windows 7. I do not think there is an age limit or knowledge limit for using linux I know many seniors that have gone to linux so they do not have to worry about all those infection problems and looking for programs to protect them. In linux you can get darn near anything you need right in the package manager, if it did not come pre loaded on the live cd. the new linux distros are made for GUI use, use of command line is not as essential as it was. Some people want to learn command line and go on and on about using it, I have found that when I have a problem I can generally find a way to fix it with out command line. Plus the linux community forums are fabulous and helpful. I prefer using it because it is faster, has everything I need built right in, and it is safer. Is it right for everyone maybe not but same goes for new versions of windows or switching to Mac it all takes a new learning curve. I however do not preach linux, I think it is a personal choice but picking up a free live cd of a distro and putting into the cd drawer and running it on a pc is an excellent and safe way to see what linux is all about without touching their windows and with no install, just like playing a cd, and everyone should have a live cd in their possession for when they have a crash and need to access their info from the drive. We have many linux users here at GW, some decided to give it a try after seeing it mentioned here. I enjoy occasional conversations with others that made the jump.

"Learning Linux - best to be middle aged - like 16." Well my friend, that may be true. Even though I may never "learn" Linux, it really doesn't matter (I never was an "expert" at Windows either) since I can now run it just like Windows and have the satisfaction that that the operating system now belongs to me. It is also nice to not be required to have a super computer to keep up with the Joneses (check out requirements for Vista) to be able to do the tasks that need to be done. I'll be satisfied just to learn some basic commands and leave the heavy stuff to the teenagers. Here is an interesting quote from Open-source Guru Eric Raymond who recently joined the Freespire team: http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS2603651519.html "...if the Linux desktop is ever to grab a large share of the desktop market it must do it soon or it will never happen." "Desktop Linux must advance now," said Raymond. "If desktop Linux is to advance to a broader audience, it must work with iPods and other MP3 players, play DVD movies, view Windows Media and Quick Time content on the web, and so on. I wish users didn't require these proprietary formats, but it's naive and unrealistic to expect the masses to forgo these requirements in the near future. Linux must make some compromises to attract mainstream users." Raymond believes desktop Linux is entering into a critical period, noting that historically, users have shifted operating systems during periods of fundamental changes in hardware platforms. He believes the PC vendors' embrace of 64-bit computing will provide desktop Linux a unique window of opportunity, which if missed, may not come along again for many years.

I made a partition image to recover back to a stable-state, but too squeamish to try newest FF (got burned too many times). Richard, I asked this on the Mint forum, but no response yet. So I'll ask you. Suddenly Mint 17 Qiana is automounting all my partitions at startup where it didn't before??? Not urgent, but rather it NOT do this. Here's /etc/fstab: # <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass> # / was on /dev/sda6 during installation UUID=048e0813-3eb0-4016-9b37-cb9d3ec43738 / ext4 relatime,errors=remount-ro 0 1 /mintswap.swp none swap sw 0 0 And /etc/mtab showing the last three partitions automounting: /dev/sda2 /media/bee/Windows\0407 fuseblk rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,default_permissions,blksize=4096 0 0 /dev/sda5 /media/bee/Share fuseblk rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,default_permissions,blksize=512 0 0 /dev/sda3 /media/bee/Linux1 ext4 rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks2 0 0 Any idea?