(See the BUT at the end)
1 Backup anything you need 2 Be sure your backup worked and everything you need is available 3 Choose a distro 4 Install
This depends on if this is a dual-boot machine with windows on it, or you're devoting the whole disk to Linux, and, the existing partition structure.
Simplest - let the installer wipe the whole disk and create partitions how it wants to Dual Boot and/or home partition with data in it: Carefully tell the installer which partitions to format and which partitions to leave unformatted etc, and where the home partition is if you have one.
5 Restore the data
As to which distro - I get the impression that OpenSuse is relatively friendly, although it's KDE based, and won't be what you're familiar with. I gather that Mint is quite popular. It has a variety of flavours. There's one derived form debian, and one derived from Ubuntu (which I'd choose if I were you, as you're an Ubuntu user). Then there's desktops - Cinnamon (a Gnome 3 desktop, tweaked to make it nicer), or Mate (a Gnome 2 clone) - I'd probably suggest Cinnamon as I think you prefer Gnome 3.
I'd suggest downloading and burning some Live CDs, so you can try without installing. Or buy a few copies of Linux Format magazine, which usually have some multi-bootable DVDs on with various distros to help.
Be very sure you have backed up everything you need before installing, and read up on how to install before starting.
BUT
Are you sure you want to do this? Can't you just reinstall libre office and possibly update to a newer version of Ubuntu? If you format and re-install, you'll have to work out how to configure your scanner again!
HTH :-) Steve
On 13/11/12 09:44, Bev Nicolson wrote:
I think the time has come. Yesterday 11.10 'uninstalled' Libre Office off its own bat. Nul points and a bit worrying.
So, without wishing to turn this thread into a discussion over which distro to go for, and without installing it over Ubuntu which I'd rather not do, how do I swap? I've used Ubuntu for ages now so I've no idea who to go about this.
Bev.
main@lists.alug.org.uk http://www.alug.org.uk/ http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/main Unsubscribe? See message headers or the web site above!