what first, templates or virtuemart?

[mkarmali1]

I'm new to Joomla and VirtueMart. After installing Joomla, what should I install next? Should I install a VirtueMart compatible Template for my site or install VirtueMart?

Or does installing VirtueMart come with a template of it's own? If not, what is a good free template to use?

What stable versions of Joomla and VirtueMart should I be installing? I'm running Windows 7 Professional.

What is best a Linux or a Windows environment for my host's server?

Any suggestions of a host? I'm thinking HostGator.

Many thanks.

[jenkinhill]

Install WAMP or similar on your PC so you can work with Joomla without yet having to spend money on hosting.

A good start place would be to install our Joomla/VM package, all preconfigured and with a working template. The latest package is VirtueMart3.0.9_Joomla_2.5.28-Stable-Full_Package.zip from http://dev.virtuemart.net/projects/virtuemart/files     It installs just like joomla, but when installation is complte you have buttons to install sample data for VirtueMart, which you should do.  This is built on Joomla 2.5.28 rather than Joomla 3.4 which currently has some issues, so it is better to learn on 2,5,28 which is very stable.

Then you can start working out how it all fits together and use Joomla and VirtueMart.  Then you can think about migrating to Joomla 3.4.x and  changing the template.

Once all is happy think about hosting - it should be Linux and basically you get what you pay for. Cheap is a waste of time.

[mkarmali1]

Thanks a lot jenkinhill!