I've recently installed winXP on my computer. I think it's the best ever but also the most intrusive.
I've been intrigued by Linux for some years but every time I tried to install it on my computer I failed miserably. I'm not the one who wants to read through tons of books before taking the plunge but would rather like to learn hands-on.
In order to accomplish that I'ld like to find a distro that will peacefully co-exist with Win XP (dual boot) until I feel confident enough to wipe it off.
Alternatively I could install one on my ancient 486/586 compaq presario which I would happily dedicate to linux but the times I tried Linux I did it on that box failing miserably.

The big question: Can anyone advise me as to which distro to try? Many thanks in advance.

Computer: Packard Bell PII 350 with slot 1 mobo, upgraded with slotket to Celeron 850, IBM hdd 40gb, 256mb ram.

Mandrake is probably best suited for you. Everyone seems to agree it has the most user friendly install.

I used to like Mandy until I found out they phone home on 1st boot up. Geez!

I'm on ASPLinux which is RedHat-based. So what, you ask? So I can download/install all RPM software, which is the most popular.

The things I like it most are the installer: Gnome-based, very simple interface (yes/no/back/next/cancel), nice looking, easiest package chooser. And that it works!

It bundles slightly old packages, though. Like KDE 2.2.1-1 instead of 2.2.2 and X 4.1.0 instead of 4.2.0.

Finally, it does NOT phone home.

www.asp-linux.com

thanx sixpax and jetblackz, will give them a go!

Hi Lennart,

I am very new to Linux; only installed it about three weeks ago. I would recommend you go with Mandrake 8.2. It installs very easy and I have found that it is pretty easy to learn as the GUI is a lot like Windoze. I started out with Mandrake 8.1 and just upgraded to 8.2. I made a big fuss about partitioning my hard drive and ended up buying some fancy partitioning software. If I would have just listened to what the fine folks here were telling me to do, I could have skipped this step, saved $70, and let LILO and Mandrake do all that for me. Get it, follow the on screen set up instructions, use a little common sense, and you'll be off and running. If I can do it, so can you.

Just my $0.02 worth.
freezinbutt

Guess I will need to try Mandrake, but I put in a vote for RedHat.

It didn't get to be the most popular for nothing.

SuSE 7.3 to me is a much better choice than Mandrake 8.2. I installed 8.2 beta's 1,2,3,RC1, and the final release and at no point would my Logitech Optical iFeel mouse function, and I know more about editing X files than David Duchovny

Mandrake this, Mandrake that, hit my computer with a whiffle ball bat :smash:

LOL

Well I'm a newbie and I've only tried Mandrake 8.1. I've not had any problems with it, it recognized and installed all the correct drivers for my hardware and I was up and running. I didn't know anything about linux and only went with Mandrake cause it was the cheapest one in the store. I didn't want to invest much in case it didn't work out.

I've been debating about upgrading to 8.2 but I'm not sure if my other applications that came with 8.1 would work under 8.2 and I'm a little leery at this point about messing with something that's working fine for me.