Which distro of linux has features that differ from windows 7?

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Theo Matthews

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Apr 15, 2014
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i am thinking about dual booting linux, but im not sure which version to choose. i was wondering which version/distro of linux has features that windows do not have, just little things which would make dual booting linux worth it, as at the moment i can only see linux to be for someone who doesnt like the windows os or does not want to pay for an os. So, which distro has features that would make me or you want linux dual booted?
 
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mc962

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Jul 18, 2013
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You may want to start off with something like Mint or Ubuntu as it isnt as big of a switch from Windows as others might be. But, as said before, it's an entirely different OS so it's obviously going to have its differences. I'd recommend reading up on the differences between Linux types of OS and Windows to get yourself familiar
 
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Saga Lout

Saga Lout

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One tip if you choose Mint - the option to "Install Mint alongside Windows 7" does not mean it will dual-boot. Choose the "Something else" option and create the Partitions manually then you get to see an option to choose from Mint or W7 at boottime. Alternatively, because Mint only needs a minimum of 5.2Gb of disk space, you could use an old disk to install in the PC as a second drive. That way you let BIOS ask you from which disk to boot every time.
 
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stillblue

stillblue

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That's exactly what it means, alongside windows7 will create the needed partitions and put both mint and windows on grub2, the bootloader so you can choose which system to open at boot. I'm not sure what you are thinking, but for a new person that is the easiest way to install a dual boot.

If OP should install a second drive then the something else is a good option but it will still give the dual boot option at boot time and there is no need to switch in the BIOS.

 
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Saga Lout

Saga Lout

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What I'm actually saying is that "Install alongside" doesn't result the dual-boot that the wording implies. There's a considerable amount of tweaking that the average new Linux user would find quite difficult. You can't just edit menu.llst as you used to. I tripped up on this one the first time in spite of several years messing around with various distros so I merely point these things out to warn the unwary.

You're quite right to sat that the "Something else" option does result in he dual-boot menu (tiny font at the top of the screen, though) but I mmaintain the alongside option does not.

BTW, my comments are based on a download of Mint Maya 13.
 
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