Drivers in Linux

[Mario Vukelic]

On Sun, 2008-06-01 at 08:05 -0700, Sam Albers wrote:
> I am looking for direction in terms of how do I make Ubuntu support my
> hardware with Linux compatible drivers. 

This is a good place to start:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Hardware

A quite good list of supported hardware is here:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupport

> I am about to make the switch from Vista to Ubuntu but I am not sure
> how to ensure that all my hardware functions properly. 

You can download and burn the Ubuntu Desktop CD. Then you can boot the
computer from the CD and test all your hardware without installing
anything at all on your computer.

> Should I seek out the drivers before installing Ubuntu and then be
> able to have them ready to install? 

You need to switch your mindset from Windows to Ubuntu. Due to the
blessings of Free and Open Source Software, most hardware drivers are
already included with Ubuntu. Only in rare cases do you need special
drives from your hardware vendor. (And sometimes there might be no
support for a particular piece of hardware, and then you might be out of
luck)

> Basically, I am looking for the smoothest transition from a Vista
> based machine to Ubuntu! Thanks!

A good place to start:
https://help.ubuntu.com/8.04/windows/C/
https://help.ubuntu.com/8.04/newtoubuntu/C/index.html
https://help.ubuntu.com/