Having replaced the old HDD in my Toshiba Satellite A30 laptop I am now in the process of selecting an OS. I'm unsure whether it would be best to reinstall XP using the recovery disks or go down the Linux route. I've never used Linux before but I'd be interested to learn albeit I'd need suggestions on which distribution to use.
I'd typically be using the laptop for college work with activities such as: Internet browsing, Skype, Word Processing, etc.
The key specifications of the laptop are as follows:
Pentium 4 @ 2.66 GHz
768 DDR RAM
40GB HDD
A full spec list can be seen here (however some hardware has been upgraded):
http://www.toshiba.co.uk/discontinued-products/satellite-a30-203-p4-2.66ghz-xp-he-256mb-30gb-15tft-combo-lan/
Which OS will give me the best balance between performance and functionality? And if Linux is the better option which distro should I opt for? Thanks for any help.
I'd typically be using the laptop for college work with activities such as: Internet browsing, Skype, Word Processing, etc.
The key specifications of the laptop are as follows:
Pentium 4 @ 2.66 GHz
768 DDR RAM
40GB HDD
A full spec list can be seen here (however some hardware has been upgraded):
http://www.toshiba.co.uk/discontinued-products/satellite-a30-203-p4-2.66ghz-xp-he-256mb-30gb-15tft-combo-lan/
Which OS will give me the best balance between performance and functionality? And if Linux is the better option which distro should I opt for? Thanks for any help.