I think that the best distro is the one I am using. The only thing is, I jump around and use different distros. Which means that the best distro is now the one I am using at the time.

It really is too broad a question - which car is the best, which man-made fabric is the best, which is the best child's name, etc...

A better question would be -I am very new to Linux and have only ever used Windows. I need a system to allow me to surf the web and read email, write documents etc. Can anyone point me in the direction of a distro which will need minimal customisation from scratch and which will allow me to do these things and then to do more as and when I feel comfortable.

It's also a lot less likely to garner STFW answers and grumpy people will be able to move on to other things.

Oh yeah, I have the same model of laptop and can exclusively reveal that: RH9, Mandrake 9.1, Slackware 9, JAMD Linux, Slackware Live all install on the laptop with no problems. I would suggest hanging on to the XP install and to dual boot, as if you hit problems and can't get an internet connection, you can use the XP section of your HD to ask for help.

Just my £0.0122242 (2 cents at todays prices)

if you want to try debian with a easy install, try libranet-

http://www.libranet.com

libranet 2.7 if free, and 2.81 is not.

got to be one of the easiest installs out there

I also used SuSE 8.2 for about 1 1/2 months then switched to Red Hat 9.0 and would never go back. Red Hat seems to be a lot more user friendly for the newbie. SuSE looks very nice but after days of frustration compiling a kernel, getting graphics drivers installed and 3d working, not to mention getting updates (correct ones) through Yast just left me pulling my hair out. With Red Hat I was able to compile a new kernel, install my graphics drivers, get 3d working, sound was configured and working during installation (didn't have to mess with alsa-project.org).

Don't get me wrong, SuSE is very nice and for the person that knows what they are doing it can do it, however my last few days of SuSE as a newbie almost made me quit Linux altogether until I decided to try Red Hat and I couldn't be happier.

Just my 2 cents, YMMV.

rberry88

i have red hat 7.3, libranet 2.81, and suse 8.2, and i always seem to end up on the suse rig most of the time. the big problem i had with red hat 9, is that i could not use the nvidia driver and install the mp3 plugin. xmms would always end up with a segmentation fault, and not open. nvidia driver was easy to install on suse 8.2, works just great, and i still have the xmms player too, unlike red hat.

as for compiling kernal , that sort of thing wih suse 8.2, and from what i read in the above post,, not to sure about that. but i will disagree with installing nvidai driver on suse, it was easy.

come on, folks. everyone should know by now that slackware is the best distro.