How I brought my laptop back to life (with Linux, of course!)

So I had this Laptop - an Asus Vivobook 202E which originally had Windows 8 installed. After 2 years of usage, it got infected by a virus so I decided to make it my "Linux Lab". I was able to Distro-hop for several months before the hard drive totally gave in (Windows was already detecting problems with the HDD before I switched to Linux). And now, its journey back to the land of the living begins...

THE SUBJECT

CPU:  3rd Generation Intel i3 ULV

RAM:  4Gb

GRAPHICS:  Intel HD4000

HDD:  500 Gb (broken)

SCREEN:  11.6" Touchscreen

RESOLVE HARDWARE ISSUES

Obviously, the first step to revive a dead PC is to fix any problem with its hardware. Be it bad memory, power supply or in my case, a bad hard drive. And so, I bought a 120 Gb SSD from a nearby tech store. I'm all good with just 120 Gb as I store my multimedia and important files in my desktop. Having a Solid State Hard Drive installed in the laptop would also mean a boost in performance.

MANAGE DISK PARTITIONS

Now I format and manage the newly installed disk with GPARTED (GNU Partition Editor), a powerful open source tool for managing disk partitions. I'll cover GPARTED basics in the future ;)

CHOOSE AND INSTALL A LINUX DISTRIBUTION

You can check out my previous post if you need an overview of what a Linux Distribution is. With my laptop's hardware configuration, choosing a distribution with the Gnome desktop environment seems to be a good option (if not the best). I can make use of the laptop's touchscreen with Gnome's touch gestures and its application launcher. I then install a distribution with one of the best Gnome implementation - Fedora.

AESTHETICS

I was planning on getting a custom laptop skin but it was a bit expensive so I had a printing stall print a couple custom stickers for me. Now I'll be promoting linux every time I bring my laptop with me.

 Now my laptop is happier than when it had Windows installed :p
 Snappier, Virus free and most of all - fun to use. Here's a short video of how the desktop looks like.

Choosing your first Linux Distribution

What is a Linux Distribution?

A Linux Distribution (usually called distro for short), is a complete operating system consisting of the Linux kernel, GNU libraries/utilities, a package manager and the said distro’s choice of default software packages, window system and desktop environment.

Ubuntu, for most people not that familiar with the OS has become synonymous to Linux. In truth, Ubuntu is just one of the hundreds of Linux Distributions out there.

You can check out the major and most popular Linux distributions in Distrowatch  

Fedora, one of my favorite Linux Distros and my main OS (this is my actual desktop)

What is a Linux Desktop Environment?

Like the name suggests, Desktop Environments (DE) in Linux affect how the GUI side of the OS is actually shown.  Each Linux Distribution has its choice of default DE. Each DE in turn has a Window Manager giving it its own style when it comes to menus, windows, toolbars, icons, widgets and more.

Unlike Windows and Mac OS, Linux users have the choice of changing a Linux Distribution’s default Desktop Environment.

Below are the main (there are more) Desktop environments and their brief description

KDE

Has a modern desktop interface. Though resource heavy compared to the other DE’s, it is considered to be the most customizable desktop.

GNOME  

A bit minimalist compared to KDE. It now features a launcher similar to Mac’s launchpad. A good choice for touch enabled laptops / AIO’s.

XFCE  

A desktop environment that is light on resources with looks similar to Windows 7

LXDE 

Has low system and resource requirements which makes it a very good choice for older systems

Suggested Linux Distros for newbies:

So here are a few of my recommended Distributions if you are just starting out in Linux. I was able to test each of them (except most of the 'Buntus) during my first year in Linux (that my friends is called distro-hopping). They are easy to install, learn and don't require you to use the terminal often. Click on the Distribution's name and it will redirect you to their respective homepage.

Zorin OS - Features a Look Changer program to easily switch the desktop interface and make it look like Windows or Mac. The Core version uses KDE while their Lite version (for old computers) uses LXDE

Elementary OS - Their home-brewed desktop (Pantheon) closely resembles OS/X, making Elementary a very good choice for users that are coming from Mac OS/X

Linux Mint - Their flagship desktop environments - Cinnamon and Mate, are really easy to use (I can say easier than Ubuntu). Linux Mint is a very good replacement for Windows 7. Just make sure you download either the Mate or the Cinnamon version of their installer. 

LXLE and Peppermint OS - Both use the LXDE desktop environment which has low system requirements. A very good choice for old PC’s and netbooks or if you just want a blazing fast system. Perfect replacement for Windows XP.

The Ubuntu Family - Ubuntu's flagship edition uses the Unity desktop environment but they have the other main DE’s covered as well. They have Ubuntu GNOME, Kubuntu (KDE), Xubuntu (XFCE) and Lubuntu (LXDE). Though I am not a big fan of Ubuntu (I prefer Mint), The OS should pretty much work out of the box and it makes installing proprietary video drivers (Nvidia/ATI-AMD) a breeze.

So there you have it! There are many more beginner-friendly Distros out there but I haven’t tried them personally (Deepin looks so cool!). This is where our dear friend Mr. G comes in, if ever you want to know more about Linux Distributions :p

Just remember that in the Linux world, there is no single Distribution that pleases everybody. It’s all about choice!