I want to install Linux on my PC, but I'm not sure which distro to use, because I have had numerous problems in the past: I tried ubuntu and it had problems with my wireless card. It just wouldn't stay connected to the router long enough for me to do anything interesting. Also in ubuntu it couldnt control my system fan properly, and my computer sounded like a jet engine plane (as opposed to Windows where the CPU fan is stopped all together if it cools down.) My processor is a Pentium 4 3.2GHz 541 if anyone knows how to fix that.. So what I'm looking for is a distro with superdooper wireless support (for my Netgear WG311T 108mbit card which I run at 54mbit anyway >_>) and the distro needs to be simple to use for long time Windows users and dummy safe. Also, what should I format the linux partition to? I used reiserfs last time but the windows drivers to see its partitions weren't complete.. so I need a file format that still lets me access linux hdd in windows. Hope there is a distro that can do this.. :) Thanks. Pentium 4 3.2Ghz OCed to 3.6GHz w/stock cooler 2048mb DDR2 Ram GeForce 7800GT @ 450MHz GPU OC Windows XP Professional SP2

Having used only a few distributions, I am poorly equipped to make a recommendation for the 'best' Linux distribution. I can however tell you why I use Mandriva. Back in 1998 I wanted to try Linux so I could find out for myself what all the 'hoopla' was about. The most widely discussed distribution of the day was RedHat 5.2. I went to my local BestBuy and got a boxed copy for about $30.00 US. When I tried to install it, X-Windows would not load. I spent every spare moment for about a week trying to get it to work for me, but no luck. The accompanying documentation was of no help, and on line help was no where to be found. I decided I was not such a power user after all, put the project on a back burner, and returned my focus to Windows. A few weeks later, I was back at BestBuy to get a few needed utilities when I saw the O'Riley release of Mandrake-Linux 6.5. This was actually Mandrake-Linux 6.1, but O'Riley chose to use .5 version increments. I got it, and the installation succeeded! The only peripheral hardware on my system that did not work out of the box was my sound card. It was an ISA Plug-n-Play device which needed a configuration floppy to get it to work in Windows so this did not surprise me. What did surprise me was how easy it was to find help on the Mandrake-Linux WEB site. The Mandrake-Linux newbie mailing list was my new best friend. There I learned about the ISA Plug-n-Play tools package, and received help understanding the documentation. By the end of the day, my sound card worked too. That about sums up why I started with Mandrake-Linux which is now Mandriva Linux. Since then I have tried out other distributions including RedHat (Fedora), Slackware, Debian, and several Debian derivatives including Kubuntu (Ubuntu with the KDE Desk Top Environment). I find things I like about each of them, but I get to missing my familiar array of System Management tools provided with Mandriva. I have been a GUI user since Windows 3.1, and Mandriva's collection of GUI-centric tools permit me to do nearly all of my system management from the comfort of the GUI :). The current downloadable version, Mandriva Linux 2007.0 Free (Official) is perhaps the best I've seen yet. Overall performance is improved over previous versions, and the CPU runs about 10 to 15 degrees celcius cooler than with previous releases or with Windows XP. Finally, I think the graphical installation is excellent. For users new to Linux, it is safe to use the defaults at each step of the installation. For control freaks like me, there is a custom partitioning option, several expert buttons, individual package selection, and a chance to customize the hardware configuration in the summary screen at the end of the installation process. Mandriva allows several ways to do the installation. You can download the set of three or four install CD images, then burn them to CD. You can download the Mandriva One CD image appropriate for your needs (there are 16 images available) and burn it to CD. Mnadriva One is a 'Live' CD, so you can try Mandriva out, then install it from the running Live CD if you like what you get. You can download the boot.iso image from the install/images directory on an ftp mirror, burn it to CD, boot from the CD and do an ftp install from the Internet. HTH, Ernie Registered Linux User 247790 ICQ 41060744

Passa: Best Linux Distro...it is all a matter of opinion. I suggest you search this forum and or do a Google search on it. This question gets asked very frequently.

Also I might add that linux doesnt use the same file system as windows. This means some problems in accessing your linux drives from windows. However accessing your Windows partitions from Linux is less of a problem, just serach the web when you have decided what Linux distro to use and you should find out how. Also many of your hardware problems might not be distro related. I belive that many of them can be solved by different settings in your Linux distro. Btw I might mention that I use Fedora5 (www.fedora.redhat.com) my self with wich I have been quite satisfied so far (have used it for about 2y now). matte85

which version of ubuntu have been trying so far? 6.10 'edgy eft'is out now and it 'sells like mad' according to distrowatch.com. the point is: the more ppl using a particular distro the more feedback (incl. hardware issues) the developers will get. i started my linux career on mandrake. now i'm using ubuntu since the 'hoary hedgehog' became available and now 6.10 and freespire on my laptop. i found nothing wrong with either distro (freespire is probably a bit more newbie friendly) Today's subliminal thought is: 'Calm down ... it's only ones and zeros.' icq 10183575