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You can run Linux without uninstalling Windows or
making any changes to your PC.
I tried the Knoppix CD on a Windows 2000
machine with a 200 MHz pentium II and 128 RAM, a very low power machine by
today's standards. Linux provides you with step-by-step status information, and
I ignored several error messages as Knoppx was booting. It took a while for
Linux to boot from the 52X CD-ROM drive, but then Windows 2000 also takes
forever to boot on this machine.
To my amazement, Knoppix booted successfully,
with the proper screen resolution and access to all the drives. To my further
amazement, the CD-ROM contained OpenOffice.org 1.0. I used OpenOffice to create
a file. I couldn't save the file to the hard disk, probably because of access
rights (NTFS or Linux), but I could save it to a floppy disk. Later, I opened
the floppy disk file on a different Windows 2000 machine with the Windows
version of OpenOffice.
In his book, Marcel Gagne gives you several
tips to make knoppix start faster and work faster. For example, he provides a
command that creates a Linux swap file on your Windows partition, and a command
that saves Knoppix configuration to a floppy disk.
Note: If you have a broadband Internet
connection, you can download Knoppix from www.knoppix.net (700 MB). You also
need to know how to burn raw data to CD-R. The book gives you all kinds of
information about the different Linux distributions, appications, and how to use
Linux, plus the included Knoppix CD is all set to run, so I think the book is
worth the extra cost.
If want you to explore and learn about Linux
without uninstalling Windows or making any changes to your PC, Knoppix is the
way to go. Maybe someday everyone will carry a Knoppix CD and a CD-RW to use on
any computer they find. That day will truly be the death of Windows.
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