AMD released their first X86 based 64 bit processor over 3 years ago. While the original processors, Opterons, were for servers, the desktop variants, Athlon 64, soon followed. Due to the open nature of the Linux kernel, distributions of Linux supporting the 64 bit architecture were readily (and freely) available before Windows. In the past year, the Athlon 64 has made its way into laptops and more users are finding 64 bit versions of their favorite Linux distributions satisfactory for their needs.

The market for Tablet PC’s and Webpads is not very large compared to the Desktop or Laptop markets. Their linux market is in fact much smaller. Some manufacturers however do produce linux compatible devices. Fujitsu provides a rather nice series of webpads. The older version Stylistic ST4110 Tablet PC originally had Windows XP Tablet Edition which was replaced with Linux. Users of Fedora know that a great deal of extra customization is required to properly setup the operating system.

Over the last weekend I installed Fedora Core 5 on a Dell Latitude D810 laptop. Unlike Jason’s laptop criteria, I basically required a Dell laptop. I wanted the D610, however it was unavailable and I had to settle for the D810. Even though I customized it, I really did not have any control over what hardware specifically would be better for Linux. However one luxury I was afforded was to be able to maximize the provided features.

My new Seagate Barracuda 300GB hard drive just arrived. I’ll need some time to redo my entire computer (currently there are 4 operating systems). Whenever I purchase a new harddrive (about once ever 2 years) I always put some serious evaluation into how I will partition it. Some points I consider Windows is primary operating system A second Windows should be possible Windows should have at least seperate ‘applications’ and ‘work’ partitions Multiple Linux distributions should be possible (2-3) Swap partition can be shared in Linux At least /home partition should be shared in Linux In truth I only have about 3-4 GB of actual work and about 6-8 GB of media to save.

When I started this blog it was a “fork of thoughts” from my main blog with a focus on software and linux. So how does a trip to Germany fit it? I decided I would try to take note of the basic differences I observed in computing. Granted Windows is used in far more public places that people realize (i.e. flight status monitors), but people don’t realize that Linux is used in just as many in on different scales.