ASR

That's what I did. I have a manufactur's BIOS password I can't shake so I used WUBI instead. The biggest downside is that it takes about an hour on high speed cable internet. Aside from that, you can choose from Ubuntu, Kubuntu, or Edubuntu. It boots and asks if I want Ubuntu or Windoze XP

try getting the latest version. I've got Ubuntu on a dual boot with my Win XP and I totally love it. I'm not as tech savy as some but I quickly learned how to network, install new programs (using the add/remove feature only) and how to run Beryl (WOOT!) I have the Gnome version b/c it's the easiest to switch to coming from windoze I found.So yea.

to try linux, I'd suggest Wubi. You download it on your Windoze system, and it'll install. When you reboot the computer, it'll aske Windows or Linux? you pick. If you don't like it, simply uninstall from Windoze. and no particioning required.

other wise try WUBI in your Win XP. It'll install the Kubuntu and if it does mess up, just delete it from the Win XP. That's the only way I could install Ubuntu (I have a manufacture BIOS password I can't seem to shake) Just google Wubi and it'll download and install. One thing though, it'll take around an hr depending on your internet speed to download the install file.

Vista to compete with MAC? Oy... It's definitely a pain to network if you've never used the system. (I did High speed cable tech support) It's also a bit of a pain to direct people around because they move almost everything. I've played on Vista in total about an hour so I can't bash it that much but I know that with the one High speed cable provider it can be quite the pain.

And to quote House,"Well that porn isn't going to download itself."

I had a similar original issue but I let it go 'cause I didn't have the time to get the repairs done and it kept getting worse(to the point where the right hinge broke along with the top closure clasp). I have an Acer Travelmate 4150LCi and so now I'm trying to get it fixed. But here's the biggest pain. Every time I call into Acer support, they want the serial #. Well that'd be fine and dandy IF the sticker THEY put it on wasn't paper and hadn't rubbed into illegibility. So they tell me it's in the BIOS. But when I got the laptop (brand new and in the case, still sealed directly from Taiwan) it had a BIOS password. So I called in again. This guy tells me it's either six zeros (which it's not, I tried.) or I can get my tech to flash the BIOS to get rid of it. So I flash it and it upgraded my 1.8 version to the new 2.30 version, great, but not what I needed; the password's still there. So I call in, convince them I had a technician do it and this rep says that flashing it won't remove a BIOS password. So she tells me to send it in. I tell her I don't have the serial # and she then tells me to take it to the tech again to get the CMOS battery taken off the motherboard. So I take it in after the shop tells me they won't charge b/c Acer placed the password on. They call me over a week later telling me my computer doesn't have a CMOS battery. Turns out I've bought a computer in one of the series where they decided (for the pure fun of it no doubt) to place all the BIOS info on an EEPOM chip instead which they can't fix for some reason. So I take my laptop home and decide that since I can't get the serial #, I'll get my brother to TIG weld the hinge and we'll place on some Velcro to keep it closed. But when I try to turn it on, it's whines and has a blank screen, it won't even post. So I take it back in to the shop. Apparently the CPU is overheating. They take it apart and say that the heat sync spacers got broken off when I "Dropped it." (which I never have) So they throw the hard drive into an external enclosure and give my laptop back. So I'm like well that sucks, I'll fix it my self. So my two brother's and I take it apart and it's apparent that the heat sync was originally designed to be screwed in with screws twice if not three times the length then the ones they pulled out. Not only that, but I found the Serial # under the battery (D'oh!) Yea it's a Work in progress but I'll let y'all know how it's going.