System Type : x64 based PC - Unbuntu 12.10 32bit || 64 bit?

[Lesshardtofind]

If my laptop comes with a 64 bit OS and I want to download a unix system on my laptop should the unix system also be 64 bit?

The Ubuntu download says 32bit (recommended). Where is it getting the idea to recommend that to me?

Windows displays under Windows 7 - System Information - System Type - x64-based PC.

Thanks

[Neo1]

Windows says your CPU is 64-bit, so there really isn't any reason not to get 64-bit Ubuntu.

Probably, the reason that 32-bit is recommended is that if you're not sure if your CPU is 64-bit, you can always be sure that 32-bit will work. Most likely this is a consequence of Ubuntu trying to cater to a larger crowd than just the usual Linux geeks.

[Lesshardtofind]

Thanks that was my suspicion, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't being presumptuous.

[Salem]

Whats My User Agent?
Does your browser user agent string have x64 anywhere in it?

If not, the Ubuntu download heuristic may just fall back to guessing it's a 32-bit system.

[Lesshardtofind]

Your User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)

[brewbuck]

The 32-bit version is perceived as being more stable. Recommend 32-bit version --> more users use 32-bit version --> 32-bit version gets tested better --> 32-bit version is more stable --> recommend 32-bit version. A nice bit of circularity, but there you have it.

[skyliner]

Ubuntu still recommends the 32bit version regardless of what your browser headers report.

If I'm not to late I'd recommend you to get Kubuntu 12.10 instead. You get all the benefits of the *buntu family, such as the huge software repository, the convenience and support of being the most used distro. Plus you'll get the "improvements" the new Kubuntu maintainers are implementing (they aren't related to Canonical). On top of that you get to use KDE by default, instead of Unity, which to me is the biggest advantage.
Oh and do get the 64 bit if you have more than 3GB of RAM, or plan on getting more in the future.

[Lesshardtofind]

If I'm not to late I'd recommend you to get Kubuntu 12.10 instead

Too late in the sense that I've already installed Ubuntu 12.1, but not in the sense that I will never try another new OS again.

My second day in and I'm starting to finally get used to this terminal idea. Very foreign from the microsoft just click on everything style, but I do like the environment. Especially the workspaces when dealing with multiple projects at the same. Or just different parts of a project in different workspaces.

It is very limiting to not know the basics of a computer again though. Such as how to view a root directory (I just looked it up) by typing it into a web browser bar, or the thousands of commands via the - system. I need to buy a book methinks.

I had recently been reading about Unity and how it seems divided amonst unix users about if they like it or not. Since this is my first experience with a unix system I really don't know the difference between the two. I will have to try a download of it sooner or later. Is there a way to share your data between mulitple unix systems on the same PC?

- Note: sorry about mispelling the subject. Unbuntu lol

[Fordy]

Ubuntu still recommends the 32bit version regardless of what your browser headers report.

If I'm not to late I'd recommend you to get Kubuntu 12.10 instead. You get all the benefits of the *buntu family, such as the huge software repository, the convenience and support of being the most used distro. Plus you'll get the "improvements" the new Kubuntu maintainers are implementing (they aren't related to Canonical). On top of that you get to use KDE by default, instead of Unity, which to me is the biggest advantage.
Oh and do get the 64 bit if you have more than 3GB of RAM, or plan on getting more in the future.

Xubuntu 12.10 (using xfce) is also looking good. I've had the 64 bit version on my laptop for a while and its working very well. Has the feel of the old Gnome desktop I used to love. It also has some nice updates to previous versions that some things work better - such as I can now install dropbox without having to install a load of new packages and have 2 separate file managers - something which was a pain in earlier versions

[AndiPersti]

Is there a way to share your data between mulitple unix systems on the same PC?

That's pretty simple. Just create a separate data partition and mount it on each installed distro.

For example, look at Multi-boot Linux | Ian's Website for a short How To.

Bye, Andreas

[spaghetticode]

@Lesshardtofind & AndiPersti - there is no need really for having a multiboot linux system or even trying out Kubuntu and/or Xubuntu additionally. We're really just talking about the desktop environment here. You can easily install and try any additional DE you want from any of these installations. They only differ in what's default.

@skyliner - all of your arguments hold true for Debian too, except that 'most widely used distribution' thing, which in fact I doubt anyway. It's the most heard-of distribution due to Canonicals marketing budget, and *buntu might very well have the most installations. But subtract those who are just curious because their friends talk about *buntu and their favourite magazine ships it on their latest DVD addition, but who delete *buntu again after three days of frustration because, 'nothing works with linux' - you will be down to no more or less users than most other popular distributions.

[cfanatic]

The Ubuntu download says 32bit (recommended)

That has been the default description for a while, even though it is no longer relevant. 64 bit is fine, and I've read that the "recommended" will be applied to 64 bit version for the next release.I've used 64-bit and it is fine, although if you have less than 4gb of RAM, there is no benefit to using 64-bit.

[cyberfish]

There's also Mint Linux that's basically Ubuntu with their own fork of GNOME 3 to look and feel like GNOME 2. Pretty awesome.

[Lesshardtofind]

I honestly am really really enjoying the unix system that I first chose. I may decide to move to another version later, but at the moment I am not seeing a reason to. I still have so much to learn about the current system before I just go throwing it away and chosing another all willy nilly. I do plan on buying a book soon to help me with some of the more basic features of the OS as I am kind of annoyed at not knowing how to do simple things anymore, does anyone have any suggestions before I go spend $100.00 on some over priced book that doesn't achieve the depth that I would expect for the price I paid? (if I had a dollar for every book I purchased that fit this criteria I'd still be behind based on how much those books cost).

[Salem]

Do you have a newish machine with plenty of RAM and disk space?
https://www.virtualbox.org/

Trying a new OS is as simple as just pointing at an install ISO for whatever OS you want to try out, then "booting" a virtual machine.
Run both your host OS and a guest OS at the same time, allows you to share information between them (and all sorts of other goodies).