New Installation

[Polytropon]

On Tue, 5 Sep 2017 14:17:07 +0100, John Chapman wrote:
> Hi,
> I have a well used laptop that had Windows Vista on when I bought it.
> As you know Windows no longer supports Vista and I don't see the
> point in upgrading at great expense.

That's fully correct. There is no value in dealing with "Vista"
anymore.



> Is it possible to just uninstall Windows and download FreeBSD.

It is not needed to uninstall "Windows". Basically, it's even
technically impossible to _un_install "Windows" because it does
not have a means to do so. ;-)

When you start to install FreeBSD, one of the first things you
do is to delete your partition entries and create new ones. That
will "uninstall" any existing "Windows" from your hard drive.



> My only real needs for Window was the Office function and I
> believe all that is covered by Free BSD,isn't it?

On FreeBSD, you can use LibreOffice, which is superior to
the "Office" programs you probably use on "Windows". It's
easier to use, has better compatibility and interoperability
support, and generally performs better.

There are alternatives, such as OpenOffice, GOffice (Gnome
Office programs) and KOffice (in case it's still existing).
Still I'd suggest to install LibreOffice because that one
seems to be the de-facto standard office suite.



> If installation is that easy, can you send a link I can download.

You'll find everything on the FreeBSD website. Depending on
_how_ you want to install and _what_ you want to install,
choose yourself.

Regarding how: CD (with the rest via Internet), DVD (the same),
or USB stick

Regarding what: OS version (11.1 or 10.3), platform (32 bit, called
i386, or 64 bit, called amd64)

https://www.freebsd.org/where.html

However, if you want a preinstalled and preconfigured system,
you might find TrueOS (ex PC-BSD) quite interesting:

https://www.trueos.org/

You'll find a download section there, too.



> I am based in the UK

Check if you can find a local mirror for download, so data transfer
will be faster. If not, just wait a little bit longer. ;-)




-- 
Polytropon
Magdeburg, Germany
Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0
Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...