It's a bit of a noob thing, so please bear with me.

Recently, I've been trying to install and configure Debian to run in GUI mode with the functionality as I want it. I finally managed to get it correctly installed and configured yesterday (and I was so happy, the 10 repeat installation cycles of practice has paid off), but it was a pain to get it to work that way.

Then, I recall one of the former web admin of Stuyvesant High School recommending me on using the "Sarge" version in summer 2004, which I declined as I didn't want to mess with a testing version. Now that "Sarge" is a stable version, which ISO's should I download and burn?

Downloading all 12 ISOs is out of the question. Verizon DSL is not living up to its promise and I'm getting about 1/3 of the advertised speeds and I don't like to waste CD's. I'd prefer to avoid Net installs, as my target computer won't have 24/7 internet access.

Immediate add ons I'm looking for is the X Windows System, the Desktop Environments, some Games, vim (or some variant of it), etc... Basically a Home Desktop System, but with a few extra tools, namely some programming tools (basic programming tools will suffice).

For Woody, the first three cd's were enough for me, but would it be the same for Sarge?

Thanks and sorry about the verbose thread

yup the same, two cds should be enough... you'll get the rest through download if it happens not to be on the cd.
Good luck!
A.

Just for your info, my net install on a not so fast dsl line (1Mbit) takes about an hour, more or less (minutes difference one way or the other) and that gets me to full desktop functionality. Even at a third of that, 3 hours would surely be less time than downloading a few of the cd's. Just food for thought .