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What questions should I ask myself when trying to choose a particular linux distro? I'm just a regular desktop user who likes the maximum in a graphical interface with a minimal about of technical knowlege. I hear that one of the hardest things I can do in linux is compile a program to work with the distro I might finally choose. It might be hard for some people like me and easier for those with a technical background which I definaltely don't have. I currently have chosen between Xandros and Fedora Core 3. Don't know why these two, but I guess I picked Xandros because Codeweaver comes with it and I have no particular reason why I chose Fedora. Might these two be ok for a first time beginner who is experiencing a new OS? I also chose Mandraklinux, but could not figure out a way to fit the iso image on to my disk since its capacity is a little bigger than the space on my blank media.
It sounds as though Xandros is a good choice for you! Other distros you may consider would be SuSE and MEPIS. The two you've considered, Xandros and Fedora are both good, solid distros. If you don't want to mess with the command line at all, Xandros certainly fits that bill. You may also want to look at package management and what software is included; meaning, will you need to install more software than the "standard" install. There are many distros that make installing software quite easy, including SuSE, Mandrake, and others..
When you said Mandrake was too large to fit on your media, what did you mean? Are you burning to CD? If so, Mandrake comes in a standard three (or is it four) CD set these days, so you'd be burning the .isos across multiple media.
I downloaded the three iso's from the website and they all were larger than the capacity of the 3 recordable cd's I had to prepare. I wanted to burn those iso's onto the disks.
Honestly, if you really want to learn about Linux, I would go with pure Debain or a Gentoo/Slack system. But, what is great for home useres (like myself) isn't always the most configable system. I don't really care if my system is screaming at the fastest speed that is possible. It runs quicker than windows, and that's all I care about.
Xandros coming with Crossover is def. a great plus. Personally, I don't like to pay for my OS, so I choose something else. (I know Xandros has a free version, but still I want as much as I can get for free and not have to mess with software and settings to get it to work at 100%)
Pretty much every distro has tons of reasons as to why you should use it. It's personal taste.
If you don't wanna use the command line thats great, I was once like you. Just keep in mind, once you learn how to do what you need to do, it becomes a very powerful tool.
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