Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

["David R. Matusiak" <matusiak AT speakeasy.net>]

Tom --

absolutely stick with XP. windows is a strange world, but one thing is for 
sure, 
each step forward is an improvement. there were two glaring security holes in 
XP 
out of the box, but to my knowledge they have been taken care of. your new 
laptop should already be patched, but if not, it will be taken care of by the 
website upgrade thingy.

besides these and a few other minor problems, do you know what most geeks 
/main/ 
complaint with XP has been? "that horrible play-skool GUI." well, one thing 
they 
all fail to mention is that desktop is but one "theme" out of many in the 
stable. you should see if XP has sea legs before you jump ship. 

oh, you might wanna turn off any default web serving and/or file sharing and 
go 
do the service pack tango. make sure you have decent anti-virus software, try 
to 
use a non-ms mail client (mozilla?), maybe even experiment with the built-in 
xp 
firewall*. this box should rock! congrats on getting dell to represent.

i think it is cool that you want to spare a few partitions for linux. i think 
my current favorite remains suse linux. i haven't seen mandrake yet, but 
Josep 
loves it! and debian for the purists, which i think fits you -- might be time 
to jump in. plus, you would get the benefit of apt-get. however, consult with 
experts** before doing the dual boot thing. 
best of luck with *this* one,
dave ;)

* bow head in shame for putting xp next to firewall; apologies security gods!
** www.trilug.org installfest plug
___  _ _____ . ....
m a h t o o z e e a c k  a t  s p e e k e e z e e  d o t  n e t
------ / / .........     . . .

On Tue, 30 Apr 2002, Thomas Beckett wrote:

>       Because of a protracted service issue with my old Dell laptop, I have 
> just 
> been bestowed with a new/refurbished Dell laptop with WindowsXP on 
> it.  Dell gave me a lot more than I expected, actually.
> 
>       But anyhow, I had just upgraded to Win2000, and was planning to 
> install it 
> on the replacement laptop.  But before I go to all that trouble, I was 
> wondering if there are any good reasons to leave XP as it is.  Do the pros 
> outweigh the contras?  I'm looking for a technical appraisal; I know there 
> are some expert opinions available on this list.
> 
>       Note:  this is not a revival of the Win/Linux debate.  In either case 
> I am 
> repartitioning the drive and plan to attend the Geek'n'Eat Installfest on 
> May 11.  Mandrake is in my future.
> 
>       W2000 vs. XP.  Which is better for the laptop?  Thanks in avance.
> 
> TaB