Now, after getting a feel of Vista that came in along with the laptop, I decided to install Ubuntu Hardy on it. The installation of Linux is no longer intimidating as it was when I first installed it (~8 years back), the process is simple next,next,next,...
After the install, here are a few quick things that I did:
1. Update the repositories : sudo apt-get update
2. Upgrade all the utils: sudo apt-get upgrade
Wireless didn't work by default on this and after some searching and research I got to page which helped me with this:
http://linuxtechie.wordpress.com/2008/04/24/making-intel-wireless-3945abg-work-better-on-ubuntu-hardy/
The initial symptoms of the problem were: ifconfig -> wouldn't detect wlan0
wireless LED - wouldn't glow
Fix: sudo apt-get install linux-backports-modules-hardy-generic
and reboot, if you find the wireless LED glowing and wireless applet unable to detect wireless -> restart gdm -> ctrl+alt+backspace
P.S. Please ensure that the wireless switch is turned on through the process.
./M
