Security updates for Windows XP end today

[64Guitars]

would I have to erase my whole hard drive of win 8 and all my programs to install the OS? I realize I can partition) can it be installed with all your installed programs intact or would I have to reinstall them like I would if I wiped windows clean off the hard drive and reinstalled??

I've never installed KXStudio as a separate distribution. Instead, I installed the KXStudio repositories into my existing Ubuntu OS. Since KXStudio is based on Ubuntu, I assume that the installation will be the same or very similar. There are excellent instructions for installing Ubuntu here:

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/install-desktop-long-term-support

In step 4 on that page, you choose from 3 different types of installation:

• Install Ubuntu alongside your existing operating system
• Delete your existing operating system and replace it with Ubuntu
• Manage partitions manually (for advanced users only)

Obviously, you'll want the first option if you intend to keep Windows 8. After you select that option, the next screen should look something like this:



This is a basic partition editor that lets you adjust how much space from your hard drive should be given to Windows and how much should be given to Ubuntu. Ubuntu only needs about 4.5 GB for the operating system. However, all those music applications that come with KXStudio take up space too. You'll also need space for your documents and other files. I would recommend a Ubuntu partition of at least 40 GB. Windows needs some free space too for your data, future program installations, updates, etc. Before you start the KXStudio installation, check how much free space is available on your computer and how much is currently used. In step 5 of the installation, give the Windows partition at least 10 GB to 20 GB more than what you're currently using and give the rest to the Ubuntu partition. Of course, if your hard drive doesn't currently have at least 50 GB of free space, then you probably shouldn't install Ubuntu on it alongside Windows because your hard drive isn't big enough to accommodate both operating systems comfortably.

Just to be clear, you can only use one operating system at a time. When you boot your computer, you'll get a small menu called GRUB which lets you choose which operating system you want to use. If you later want to switch to the other operating system, you have to reboot and select it from the menu. Ubuntu can access files on the Windows partition but it's unaware of your previously-installed Windows programs. If you want to use some Windows programs in Ubuntu, then you have to install them separately in Ubuntu under Wine. In most cases, it's much better to use a native Linux program that serves the same purpose than to install a Windows program under Wine. For example, if you occasionally use Microsoft Word and Excel in Windows, you should use the word processor and spreadsheet in LibreOffice rather than installing Word and Excel in Ubuntu.

One important warning: When you install Linux alongside an existing operating system such as Windows, the installer has to resize the Windows partition to make a new partition for Linux. Any time you adjust partitions, you risk destroying data on the previous partition. Therefore, it's important to backup everything before you start the installation. The installer works well and it will normally adjust your partitions without affecting Windows or any data on the Windows partition. But the stakes are high. If something goes wrong and the Windows partition gets damaged or truncated, you could lose everything. So play it safe and backup everything before installing Linux.

also in reading what you said it almost comes across like Linux cannot get viruses or maleware. could you elaborate on this?

Any operating system, including Linux, can be compromised by malware. However, the malware has to be written for the target operating system. Since the writers of malware want to infect as many computers as possible and Windows is by far the most common operating system, nearly all malware is targeted at Windows. If a Windows virus or other malware is inadvertently installed on a Linux system or a Mac, it won't run so there's no danger. The only way that Windows malware could work on a Linux system is if it was run under Wine. But even then, the risk is very small. Whenever programs are installed in Linux, you get an authorization prompt where you have to type in your password. Because of this, malware can't install itself unless you authorize it. And even if you accidentally authorized it, Wine isn't Windows, so the malware probably wouldn't run exactly as intended and might not run at all. Also, Linux is based on the UNIX operating system which was developed from the start as a secure multi-user, multitasking operating system. As such, it has always had excellent security built in. But Windows was originally built on top of DOS which was a single-user, single-task operating system. Security was never a concern in DOS because it was only meant to be used by one person at a time. There was no internet and it wasn't even designed to work on a local area network. So all of Windows' network security has been patched in over time while making compromises to maintain compatibility with previous versions and DOS. This makes Windows more vulnerable to malware than Linux or other UNIX-based operating systems such as OS X.

There are anti-virus programs available for Linux. But most Linux users don't bother with them because the risk is so low. The main purpose of these anti-virus programs is not to detect Linux viruses. It's to detect Windows viruses so that you won't inadvertently spread them to others. For example, if someone sends you an email with a Windows virus attached, you don't want to forward that email to all your friends who probably use Windows. So the anti-virus program will detect the virus and warn you. The Windows virus won't hurt your Linux system, but it will infect any Windows computers that you send it to.

Very little malware has been written for Linux. However, if Linux ever becomes popular enough to make it a worthwhile target for malware writers, then we may have to start using anti-virus programs to protect our Linux computers. I'm sure that the Linux community will develop some excellent anti-virus programs when the need arises. But right now, there's little need for anti-virus programs in Linux except to prevent the spread of Windows malware.

would most every program I have be able to run with linux as the OS? I would hate to have to give some up if that is the case.

No. Linux doesn't run Windows programs. That's why Windows malware isn't a threat. But Wine, when installed under Linux, creates an environment under which many (but by no means all) Windows programs can run adequately. For example, the BR Rhythm Editor and BR Wave Converter programs from Roland run just fine under Wine. But for most of your programs, it's better to find a good Linux program to replace it. There are Linux programs available for just about any purpose you can think of, so you shouldn't have to run very many Windows programs under Wine. There's a database on the Wine website where users report their experience using various Windows programs. You can check that to get an idea whether a particular Windows program will work in Wine or not.

http://appdb.winehq.org/

Which Windows programs are you most concerned about? I may be able to advise you which Linux programs to try instead.

[cuthbert]

my old laptop specs are "Intel(R)Pentium(R)M processor, 1.60GHZ 590MHz 504MB ram. with a 74.5GB hard drive. so will i have top go for a lite version of linux?

Hey James - the Intel Pentium M processor is a 32-bit processor, so you'd want to download the KXStudio 12.04.3 Live-DVD:32bit version

http://sourceforge.net/projects/kxstudio/files/Live/KXStudio_12.04.3_32bit.iso/download

[Oldrottenhead]

downloading now, wish me luck cuthbert    . and thank you.

[64Guitars]

I see that several people have questions and comments about Linux. I'll try to reply to them later. But right now, I have to watch the SonicState Live podcast then get something to eat. So I'll return to this topic in a couple of hours.

[Oldrottenhead]

burning the iso to a dvd , so if you hear any screaming in the next few hours, it'll be me.

[Oldrottenhead]

at the final stage of the install ...this is exciting.

[64Guitars]

at the final stage of the install ...this is exciting.

Cool. Did you decide to install it alongside Windows or did you replace Windows?

[Oldrottenhead]

gone the whole hog, at 95% shouldn't be long now.

[Oldrottenhead]

configuring now.... don't know how long that will take.

[Oldrottenhead]

well that was pretty painless, i am no logged on, on my laptop running kxstudio. laptop still as slow as it was under xp. but looks like i have lots to learn. so far so good.