Hi, I'm a Linux and was wondering about this. I was reading alot of threads on other forums about Fedora Core 4 and Ubuntu. They both look great, but I'm not sure which to go with. I already have 2 of the 4 CDs of Fedors burned. Well, like I said, I'm new to Linux and was just thinking about this. I hear mixxed comments on Fedora. It seems it has hardware issues and is very buggy. When reading about Ubuntu, I see not to many people complain about it.
I'm coming from Windows and they say Fedora is really good for new users. I'm just not sure which to choose. Which, in your opinion, is better for the new comer? I've tried various others, but they are to outdated now.

The system for Linux is
AMD K6-II+ 600mhz
3 GB HD(Might upgrade to at least 20gb)
Some ISA Sound Card
Microsoft Serial Mouse
128mb of RAM

I also noticed that in the Fedora install, my serial mouse didnt work. I need to get a new CD-ROM drive for this computer since mine is defected and wont read the discs properly. Or, I may just take one out of my Windows computer and use it for the install.

EDIT: O, and which one is easier to configure wireless with? This computer will be on a wireless network and there is a native linux driver for it so I shouldn't have any trouble there.

Both distros use GNOME and are equally easy to use. Personally, I would rather have Fedora. I'm not sure about wireless programs though. Check the sites of both distributions to see which packages come with which distro. You can order free copies of Ubuntu here shipping paid. Actually, you can order say..10 and distribute to your friends and share the joy of Linux!

Your system wont turn into a speed demon on either one but they should both be easy enough to install.I'd rather go with Ubuntu since it's easier to manage the software packages.

About the wireless thing:
It would help to know what card you got - otherwise just goggle for 'yourcard and ubuntu or redhat'.

Its a Belkin 11mbs Wireless Desktop Network Card v2. It works with the ndiswrapper BUT after 2 hours of using the driver off of the CD(the WinXP one) the system froze up. This was on Knoppix 3.8.1 and 3.9. I dont know about other distros. If it helps, it uses the ADMTek chipset and there is a native linux driver for it.

I currently use FC4 and I am happy withit. I can't stand Gnome so use the KDE environment. I am currently installing kubuntu which is ubuntu with the KDE environment rather than Gnome. I found ubuntu installed easier than FC4. It asked fewer questions and just got on with the job. FC4 install more software out of the box (so to speak). You will more than likely need a broadband connection to use kububtu/ubuntu as it downloads new packages from the internet and not from CD or DVD.
kubuntu did look more impressive than FC4. Then microstuffed makes windoze look impressive, at the expense of performance and stability (hope that's indication).

There are many new users who choose Fedora, while there are also many new users who choose Ubuntu – It really depends on your personal preference. Both are relatively easy for newbies, and you shouldn’t really have many problems; although I personally prefer Ubuntu.

Good luck with your choice though.

I found that Fedora didn't like all my hardware (dell laptops). So I had a lot of issues and never got my wireless to work. Ubuntu found EVERYTHING and my wireless was up and running in about 12 seconds. I'm new to this, so as long as it's logical I'll figure it out, otherwise I'm lost. Ubuntu however doesn't have the software that fedora has. So if you want more software toys, you'll need to go fedora. If you want ease of use, go ubuntu.

Thanks for your replies guys! I think I'm going to go with Ubuntu. I have a broadband connection. I dont want to install a bunch of extra crap like Fedora does. I just want to mess around with this Operating System. When I tried Red Hat, I hardly used all of the apps that were installed. I've ran through Ubuntu's install in Virtual PC. Absoloutely flawless. I think Ubuntu has better support(they have all those guides) than Fedora Core. Hell, if Ubuntu doesnt work, I'll put Fedora on. You never know how things will turn out with Linux distros!

Ubuntu stalled for almost an hour when it was checking the network for repositories (or something like that) just be patient! It'll finally get going.

Yah, I downloaded CentOS to see what it was like, installed it on my Laptop and it wasn't pretty. Didn't find any of my network devices. So I just deleted my partitions through Windows and popped the Ubuntu CD back in and in an hour and a half it was running again (an hour was just waiting for the network thingy to finish).

I'm stuck with exatly the same question, I've tried both, and I like both of them equally because of their qualities (FC4 because of it's large app. collection, and ubuntu because it's debian based and package management). By the way, is it possible to get ubuntu up to the same kind of applications as FC, and is it easy to upgrade ubuntu to use openoffice 2 instead of 1.

Any info wud be great, Buck

Ububtu has an application on the menu called kynapsys (or similar spelling). What you see there is what ubuntu will download and install for you without any problems. If you want something else then you will need to Google fo it and download then follow the instructions to install it. The easisest way is to wait for ubuntu to make it available. Remember you are using Linux and are able to able to search find and install any apps on the internet (may not necessarily be easy or straightforward) but it can be done. I want Kino but it came up in ubuntu so I decided to take a more difficult path and use gentoo NOT recommended for newbies.