IMMEDIATELY.
Ha! You'll be able to surf online while it's installing! (With Linux Mint or a Ubuntu variant.)
fiddlstix, I had to swipe your graphic. ;-)
Jesus Christ: You can’t impeach Him and He ain’t gonna resign.
How would I acquire Unix or Linux for my W-7 machines? Do I have to unload Windows first? What are my odds of getting thru it with my puter still operating?
One possibility is to run it on a virtual machine to get an idea of what it's like. Since I don't have any form of Windows on my systems (Linux and Solaris), I have no experience with dual booting or adding/replacing Windows with Linux. That's why I pinged those listed above who are more savvy on that matter than I am.
You don't have to get rid of Windows and just dual boot them. Many of the linux ISO's have that option during installation. When the computer starts it gives a Grub menu and you have a choice of operating systems you can go in to. If not picked after so many seconds it will default to the linux operating system.
Also, the ISO's are usually live CD's/DVD's so you can run your computer from the ISO to test and see if you like that flavor of linux without installing it first.
I dual boot on several computers now and rarely do I use the Windows side of things for much since there is many apps in linux that does as good of job as anything in Windows.
CGato
IMMEDIATELY.
Ha! You'll be able to surf online while it's installing! (With Linux Mint or a Ubuntu variant.)
fiddlstix, I had to swipe your graphic. ;-)
Jesus Christ: You can’t impeach Him and He ain’t gonna resign.
If you do an install of Linux Mint, and IIRC Ubuntu on windows 7 you have an option to create a dual boot or wipe out windows. I installed both over Windows 7 in Dual Boots without any issues. After the installation, when you boot up you will need to choose which OS you want to start.
FWIW I would make a Lili like mentioned in the article and boot from a USB drive first just to see what you’re getting yourself into.