@kona,

I'm sure you've likely seen this thread of mine from over a year ago:

https://forums.stardock.com/439592/page/1/#3327263

You'll notice I installed Win 8 on a 2005 notebook that had shipped with XP, been formatted to Vista Business, then Windows 7 and now finally Win 8.   It never ran better/smoother than now.  Just my own personal experience.

Oh and I'm sure your processor is more powerful than the lowly/slowly CENTRINO 1.6 single-core proc in my notebook! 

Zorin is cool. I have it on a VM.

No real need for a whole extra rig for Linux. A virtual machine works just fine. Especially if you have good hardware.

My main rig runs Windows 7 64 bit. And Windows 8.1 in a virtual machine. The VM Windows 8.1 can utilize all 6 of my monitors and run at the same time as 7. I just minimize 8 when I want 7. Maximize 8 to use it.

My secondary rig runs Windows 8.1 with 7 in a VM.

No more dual booting.

I thank Phoon for alerting me to the wonders of VMWare. And I'm sure he uses it much more fluently than I do.

But with VMWare, I see no need to dual boot anymore.  And, with VMWare, and multiple monitors, along with a good amount of ram, and a good CPU, I can (and do) run XP, Vista, 7, 8 and Linux all simultaneously. That is 5 OSes, 6 monitors. So I have a monitor left over. All on the same tower.

Apart the point appearence i can understand it. Linux is themeable. And the theme files are as easy as the ones from window blinds. You just have to learn how to theme without having a nice gui frontend, with .png bmp/tga  input.

Then Try Vista ! Xp is to insecure.

Then add  slitaz to your testing list. really small, sometimes outdated, but fast and not umaintained. Good for seeing what linux is and learning without downloading much or the need to install it for testing purposes. VMS are slow on some pcs i do agree....

I think the idea for me is to play around with the various Linux flavours to see how they perform on the assigned hardware. It gives me an excuse to use a [almost] spare machine without going to great an expense OS-wise.  At a later date, when I've decided on which distros I prefer, like best, I may in fact run them in Win 8.1 using VMware.  By then Win 9 could be out, and I'll likely have a spare Win 8.1 to run on the Linux box as the host.  For the time being, though, it's more of a bit of fun to keep me off the streets... er, occupied. 

Having so much less to do with a smaller house and yard than before, I'm finding that I have alot more time on my hands and need something of interest to do/occupy my mind, and what better than messing with puters!!!

Quoting Jafo,

reply 37

Every time I've dabbled with Linux....or BeOS....or just about anything...I still end up back with Windows.....probably because I need to do 'stuff' ....

That's right, Windows has the greater software compatibility, but there are Linux distros which run Windows proggies, so the gap is gradually closing. Anyway, I will still keep Windows as my primary OS while I 'dabble' with Linux... and if one or two of the distros happen to suit my non-Windows needs then I shall see whether I run them in VMware within Win 8 or 9, or just keep them on the designated Linux rig when it's complete. 

Seems I can pick up a mobo to go with the AMD x6 1100T for about 90 bucks.  It wouldn't be top of the range stuff at that price, but it would be sufficient.  I just need to put a few pennies away for a few weeks and save for it.

I found it easy and that's saying a lot. If I can do it, any one can.

I used EASEUS Partition Manager to re-size my Windows Partition.

I absolutely backed up everything and anything I did not want to lose onto an external hard-drive.

The only thing that could complicate it is if you are trying to install it on a secondary hard-drive and do a dual boot that way. Windows 7 , for whatever reason, will no longer see that second hard drive. THere is a program called EASYBCD that is supposed to help with that but I had no luck with it.

I chose to resize my Windows Partition. 

Here is a link that is for installing Zorin8 that I used. http://www.everydaylinuxuser.com/2014/02/zorin-os-8-more-like-windows-7-than.html

I cannot find the link to the page that explained how to resize my Windows Partition, but I recall it was very easy and the program does it for you taking out the guess work. It told you the maximum space you needed to for the Windows PArtition, than I went ahaead and made my Zorin partition leaving anough space for a storage partition. http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2004816/shrink-windows-partition-losing-data.html  A lot really depends on how much stuff you have on your PC to begin with.

I have 320GB HD. I kept 120GB for Windows 7, 37GB of which is still free. Then my partitions are as follows

11.7GB (My Windows recovery partition)

83.8 GB (Zorin 9) which is MORE than plenty. YOu only need 5GB for the OS, the rest is gravy. You WILL BE ABLE to mount your Windows partition as a drive and access everything on it from Zorin. (Music, videos, etc.)

44.9GB for whatever.

I will look and see if I can find the stuff I followed. I am usually a bookmark-aholoic, but for some reason either forgot to save it or can't remember where I saved it.

The scariest part for me was condensing the Windows PArtition and reading threads like the one you found. That one is almost 3 years old and the installation has become easier and less complicated since then. I'll get back in a day or two or sooner when I find the info. If you look at the that first link, it's easy. There are also quite a few videos on youtube as well.

THAT'S the one I tried. I really liked it but a bitch of a time finding a a wireless usb or card that worked with it. I am stuck with a Belkin N150 Wireless USB adapter because of that. It's is a great OS for linux beginners but I could only use it if I used the ethernet on my laptop.

Glad you're amusing yourself.  I'm sure they didn't 'have to' use the EASEUS program it's just that EASEUS makes such good software why not use it?  

Also, now that you've received quite a lot of info in this thread regarding your OP have you made any decision(s) regarding your situation?  Are you staying with Vista for now until you can upgrade?  Or since you do have a copy of Win 8 (and I have suggested how awesomely it works with hardware even older than yours) have you once again given that a shot?

Just FYI, that old 2005 Centrino Proc (M processor) notebook referenced in my thread (REPLY #26) has been running Win 8 now since Jan 2013, is still just as lean/fast as it was when I initially set it up and still gets used on a daily basis (email, browsing, etc. etc.)......in fact I'm using it to type up this response right now.

I wanted/chose to make the partitions 'before' I did the install, as well as condense my Windows Partition.

btw- MiniTool PArtition Wizard is another good one.

For someone like myself, who is a hell of a lot more familiar with Windows and even then have called out for help on here quite a few times, installing ANY version of Linux can be stressful and scary when you are doing a dual boot. I looked at a LOT of tutorials and forums and videos to find one that was at a level I could deal with and didn't make me feel like all I had to do was sneeze sideways and I would screw everything up. Almost all of the ones I came across (and most of them were on linux forums)recommended partitioning your drive before hand with one program or another.

I'm very happy I followed what I found and very happy with the final product/install.

***One small thing to be aware of...on MY laptop...Zorin did change my boot screen. Instead of the normal or expected Windows dual boot screen I am familiar with, I have one that is ALL Zorin based with Zorin as my first choice and Windows 7 as my last with two Zorin options in between the two. It's Zorin themed/colored, etc., so don't be alarmed or freak out when you boot your PC for the first time after installing it alongside Windows and see it. 

I choose to install Vista. This computer came with Vista, so I have a copy and a COA. I tried running Windows 8, and even after every update it still was really, really slow. All drivers were up to date. I thought updating to 8.1 would help, only to find out that 8.1 does not have a driver for my WiFi card. 8 did, but the driver I used in 8 does not work in 8.1. 8.1 was slow as well. I will run 7 eventually. For now, Vista is nice and fast. Few things I don't like about it, but it works.