After a HDD failure on a laptop i have been recomended/suggested Ubuntu as an alternative to windows 7. I have downloaded it from the live CD LIST site, made a bootable CD and tried the OS on a Packard Bell Desktop (run from CD not HDD). I have to SAY i was greatly impressed with the OS and am considering instaling it properly on a machine (probably in tandem with win 7 in case of problems. I have since discovered just how many Linux type OSs there are out there and was wondering if Ubuntu was the right one for a 'newbie' fresh from win7 like me?

If i go for Ubuntu, or any other variant, i would like to know how easy it is to install and configure and how compatible it is with widely available software more commonly used with windows. Any tips or tricks that might be usefull?

ThanksFor Windows software compatibility you should check Wine, it's independent of Linux distro.

I'd recommend going with Mint or Ubuntu, though I prefer Mint - it's more user-friendly.

For me, it is easy, however you do have to have knowledge if you want to go into the more advanced areas, in any Linux distro, but judging from your message, I assume that you won't need that. So in short - configuration and installation of Mint would be extremely easy, I bet even someone who's never used a PC before could do it.Good morning richardf77

Like a lot of folks here and around the world have used and do like Linux, my self I have used red hat and Ubuntu versions.

From my experiences I would say any debian based linux vairant like Ubuntu you should start with. I too was very impressed with Ubuntu OS it was very user friendly. Nice packet manager very easy to get started with and learn etc.

But for windows with out a question in my opinion Windows 7 is by far the best OS MS has made to date. Don't get me wrong I still have 2 XP boxes (1 for re-imaging HD's and older diagnostic software) and (1 for reg desktop) and I still do like XP but W7 can do a just about everything that XP could.

In my house I have a Windows 2003 SERVER, 2 windows 7 laptops, 2 Windows 7 desktops (1 media center box and my in-house work box) and like i stated above I have 2 XP boxes now when I have time I will set up another Ubuntu system I am still very impressed with it to this day.

Well this is my 2 cents I hope what little bit in this post will help you, but just remember if you still have a W7 disk / KEY and try Ubuntu and decide you don't like linux you can always format and start over and go back to windows        Hi, I maybe too LATE, but I just want to suggest using zorin os. It is based on ubuntu 12.04 and basically it is designed for windows user that decides they want to try linux. I personnally tried this OS and after a couple of days I decide to use it as my primary OS. You will be surprise on how it works out of the box and how user friendly it is. If you are not a gamer, maybe you won't need your windows program anymore after trying this OS.