New Laptop: Need suggestions for fancy/showy distro

07mackenzie · 03-25-2007, 11:32 AM

Hi all!

I just got a new laptop (HP) with a 17" widescreen, intel core duo, 2GB RAM, and an nVidia 512MB gfx card, and 2 100GB 7200 RPM SATA Drives

I plan on quadbooting with Vista, XP, Mac OS X, and Linux. I got the first three running successfully right now, but I need your help picking a good linux distro. As you can see, my comp can handle a pretty good amount of visual effects and I'd like to take advantage of this.

I have some experience with Linux - and im basically looking for something that has a lot of features right out of the fresh install. So far I think i'm considering Ubuntu and OpenSuSe and Fedora. XGL seems really cool too -- Any thoughts?

I know it seems silly that I'm seeking out a distro with visual showiness, but it just seems cool to be able to take advantage of all of the visual effects Linux can offer - until now, I've only used small resource-light distros because my PC was so slow...

Also important is good laptop support, good wireless support (I really dont wanna go through driver installation and stuff if possible...)

Thank you!

GrapefruiTgirl · 03-25-2007, 12:04 PM

You may find what you're looking for by checking out 'Distrowatch', if you haven't yet. I don't have the exact link handy, but google it if you've never been there. It lists all features and has general reviews of a lot of distros.
Also the LQ Distro reviews and screenshots may point you in the right direction.

I'm quite new to Linux, so my experience is limited, but from what I have **heard** and **seen** in pictures, Sabayon looks quite flashy. In my personal experience, Knoppix has excellent hardware support/detection and also looks nice.

Best of luck with your creation

jacook · 03-25-2007, 08:53 PM

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

PCLinuxOS .92
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/

Blag
http://www.blagblagblag.org/download/