DooMMooD
Bluelighter
First and foremost background on my capabilities: I am fairly computer savy. I do not know coding specifics, as I flunked my last coding class (ha) but I was studying Computer Engineering for awhile. I am great on the hardware side of things and fairly strong on the software side, although software is my weakness as I am no coder or CS major, and aside from being able to look at code and understand it to an extent, I have few skills in it, short of debugging, which I probably am only somewhat decent at because its easy to see syntax errors in an already written piece of work; kinda like editing a book: I have no creativity to write one, but give me a book and i'll edit the SHIT out of that grammar
I used to use ubuntu on my eeePC, but I got a new netbook (hp dm1z) last Xmas and am finally putting a linux distro on it, although I am open to ANY FREE OS!
I want to do so for a slew of reasons, including starting to teach myself some python, in addition to going back to school and I would like a OS that is faster and does less for more so to speak. I generally speaking intend to the linux distro on my my netbook productivity items (web browsing, word processing, now SCEs since i hope to teach myself python, etc), although I do do some some light emulator and steam gaming, which aside from compatibility issues, is the #1 reason I intend to keep windows 7 on a separate partition.
I obviously intend to keep Windows 7, but I'm basically looking to once again put a linux OS on that will be better on my batter and e450 fusion. Although I am keeping windows because this netbook can GAME! Its crazy I can run tf2 at the 1366x768 res with all low and get a solid 20-40fps average (drops during intense fights).
As I said: i want another OS to use as my primary productivity one on my netbook, considering I will be doing mostly typing/internet browsing for the semester.
And yes, I know at a point its mostly preference, and to "try them on live cds before you pick" but I want YOUR input. I'm already downloading Kubuntu to try on a live CD because the plasma desktop seems pretty solid for netbooks. But i want YOUR input people!
Linux distros I have tried in the past:
+ubuntu - I believe release 9 was the primary one i used, finally updating to 11 right before my eeepc broke
+knoppix - live cd for computer crashes, solid for that but i have no intentions of using it reuglarly
+openSUSE - first linux distro i tried; very comprehesive but not as simple as ubuntu which is actually something i'm looking for now, considering I want this to be for productivity reasons, however I last used openSUSE YEARS ago, well before the current release. Probably back in 08
***kubuntu*** - making a live cd of this as I type
What I am looking for:
+HARD DRIVE/processor/ram efficiency - ie lower usage, but I do not NEED it to be. This fusion can handle quite a deal more than an atom, and with 4gb ram its solid. However I am lacking a SSD, which means obviously the HDD is my limiting factor in speed. this in turn limits my...
BATTERY EFFICIENCY - self explanatory. I get ~4 hours on my netbook web browsing/typing currently with windows 7 and wifi on. Without wifi, probably closer to 5. This drops significantly if i am gaming or watching movies obviously
+BOOT TIME! - One big reason I want linux (again)! HDD limits my boot time, and win 7 is annoying to deal with its boot
+security - although this is pretty comparable across distros as I know how to work safely on linux, unless the distro you suggest is vastly different in terms of security maintenace, like fedora or slackware or something. Basically I know you have to be a HUGE IDIOT to make a linux install 'unsecure' and that you basically have to give root access to everything vs sudo or lower level privileges
+simplicity - I like simple linux distros because although I have decent experience with it, i am first and foremost a WINDOWS user. So I like things to be easy on my head! Teaching an old windows dog new linux tricks can get annoying, although I am a big computer guy.
Thanks for help anyone! Would like to get a list of distros to try out and their benefits/drawbacks so if you take the time to give some input my kudos go to you!

I used to use ubuntu on my eeePC, but I got a new netbook (hp dm1z) last Xmas and am finally putting a linux distro on it, although I am open to ANY FREE OS!
I want to do so for a slew of reasons, including starting to teach myself some python, in addition to going back to school and I would like a OS that is faster and does less for more so to speak. I generally speaking intend to the linux distro on my my netbook productivity items (web browsing, word processing, now SCEs since i hope to teach myself python, etc), although I do do some some light emulator and steam gaming, which aside from compatibility issues, is the #1 reason I intend to keep windows 7 on a separate partition.
I obviously intend to keep Windows 7, but I'm basically looking to once again put a linux OS on that will be better on my batter and e450 fusion. Although I am keeping windows because this netbook can GAME! Its crazy I can run tf2 at the 1366x768 res with all low and get a solid 20-40fps average (drops during intense fights).
As I said: i want another OS to use as my primary productivity one on my netbook, considering I will be doing mostly typing/internet browsing for the semester.
And yes, I know at a point its mostly preference, and to "try them on live cds before you pick" but I want YOUR input. I'm already downloading Kubuntu to try on a live CD because the plasma desktop seems pretty solid for netbooks. But i want YOUR input people!
Linux distros I have tried in the past:
+ubuntu - I believe release 9 was the primary one i used, finally updating to 11 right before my eeepc broke
+knoppix - live cd for computer crashes, solid for that but i have no intentions of using it reuglarly
+openSUSE - first linux distro i tried; very comprehesive but not as simple as ubuntu which is actually something i'm looking for now, considering I want this to be for productivity reasons, however I last used openSUSE YEARS ago, well before the current release. Probably back in 08
***kubuntu*** - making a live cd of this as I type
What I am looking for:
+HARD DRIVE/processor/ram efficiency - ie lower usage, but I do not NEED it to be. This fusion can handle quite a deal more than an atom, and with 4gb ram its solid. However I am lacking a SSD, which means obviously the HDD is my limiting factor in speed. this in turn limits my...
BATTERY EFFICIENCY - self explanatory. I get ~4 hours on my netbook web browsing/typing currently with windows 7 and wifi on. Without wifi, probably closer to 5. This drops significantly if i am gaming or watching movies obviously
+BOOT TIME! - One big reason I want linux (again)! HDD limits my boot time, and win 7 is annoying to deal with its boot
+security - although this is pretty comparable across distros as I know how to work safely on linux, unless the distro you suggest is vastly different in terms of security maintenace, like fedora or slackware or something. Basically I know you have to be a HUGE IDIOT to make a linux install 'unsecure' and that you basically have to give root access to everything vs sudo or lower level privileges
+simplicity - I like simple linux distros because although I have decent experience with it, i am first and foremost a WINDOWS user. So I like things to be easy on my head! Teaching an old windows dog new linux tricks can get annoying, although I am a big computer guy.
Thanks for help anyone! Would like to get a list of distros to try out and their benefits/drawbacks so if you take the time to give some input my kudos go to you!
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