I am relatively new to Linux, I have been using it for about 3 years now, but I have not gotten into the programming (I am a grad student and have no time to do other things at present). My wife is trying to migrate to Linux, but is barely functional on Windows (she's not here right now so I can tell the truth). Does anyone have a recommendation about the most user friendly (for a Windows person) distribution? What I am looking for is one that is stable and relatively maintenance free, that is also pretty intuitive for a Windows XP user. I am also looking for a free distribution (as opposed to Lindows/Linspire or whatever they call themselves now)....grad student, remember?

I also ask because I have been using OpenSuse and really like it, but have kind of been itching to try some other distributions, and if there is one that is really easy to use, I would like to try it. Plus I admit to being honked off at Novell for getting in bed with Microsoft. Am I the only one who remembers Faust?

Have you tried Ubuntu?

You might like Linux Mint (based on Ubuntu) as it comes with all the codecs etc to play Windows and Proprietry media (MP3, WMV, WMA etc) which makes it even easier to change because you don't have to fiddle around to get that kind of material to play on your new OS.

http://www.linuxmint.com

Do you know if it is easy to add KDE to Linux Mint? I got to looking at it last night and I like some of the programs with it, but my wife does not like the GUI (Gnome). Specifically she does not like the applications menu.

Are there any other easy to use, free distributions out there to try?

I prefer KDE---easier to configure. In principle--with enough RAM and HD space, you can add KDE to any distro.

2nd question: Only a few hundred... The link below may also be useful.

There is a KDE Version of Mint - Mint 3.0 was only released last week, and the the KDE respin wasn't released then, it might take a week or 2 to get it released, but it should be out soon.

Version 2.0 has the KDE version and it's more than usable - the real major difference between 2.0 and 3.0 is Beryl / Compiz.

Moved: This thread is more suitable in Linux Distributions and has been moved accordingly to help your thread/question get the exposure it deserves.

Mandriva http://www.mandriva.com/community/mandrivaone

PCLinuxOS

http://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/metalab/dist...glish/preview/ ftp://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/metalab/distr...glish/preview/

This is the distro I use and recommend, Why because it works right out of the box. No need to configure Everything, everything just works. It also comes as a 1 CD install that is a live CD that you can install later if you wish.

Mephis
http://www.mepis.org/