My father has given me a Sony VAIO VGN-Z21WN laptop. It has an Intel Centrino 2 (Duo) 2.53 Ghz processor and 3Gb of RAM. I have installed Ubuntu 10.04 on a Dell Latitude before and despite having difficulties getting the wireless driver to work (initially), it did end up being a fairly straight-fordward installation.
I would like whichever version of Ubuntu to work well on this Sony VAIO so I am wondering:
Which version of Ubuntu should I install for a mostly trouble-free installation and usage?
Are there any issues I should be aware of before I proceed with the installation.
As I have had compatibility issues with formatting when using OpenOffice in the past, I might like to use Microsoft Office in the future (e.g. Excel and Word). Would it therefore be possible to partition the hard drive and install Windows XP on one partition, and Ubuntu on the other? If so, will this be difficult to achieve?
Will this Sony VAIO laptop be compatible with a 64-bit installation and Operating System?
Many thanks for your input.