I use Fedora Core 3 just because it's the only linux with SATA support i have found. It looks 90% like windows and it's easy to use, i think it's a good start for a newbie like me, but i would like to ask you what's the difference between one version and another, and, if you can tell me, which version it's best (i think it's hard to tell). Thank you.
And please, if you give me an advice, i would like you to recommend me a version which SATA.
Finally, i think it is possible to have a grub with 3 or more options, is it? I have now Windows XP and Fedora Core 3 and i don't want to give up on any of them.

first off, there is no "best" linux. that said, linspire is evil. don't get it. i don't even consider it linux, more like some sort of deformed abomination to nature, and hopefully it will die a quick death, so as to limit the casualties.

if you post a thread like this you're just going to get a bunch of opinions which generally will boil down to arguments like "well....oh yeah..... the suse cd i got in the mail smelled funny". oh well... my faves right now (they're likely to change) are mepis and feather (for old hardware).

I was going to try to explain the differences between distros but i confused myself.

yes, you can have as many entries in grub as you want.

The one that works for you is the best.

Ask 100 people you ill get 100 answers.

"How to pick a distribution for youself ?"
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...threadid=20451

"A Beginner's Guide to Choosing a (Linux) Distribution"
MEPIS and Xandros are considered the best for new Linux users who want to get productive in Linux as soon as possible without having to master all its complexities. On the other end of the spectrum, Gentoo, Debian, Slackware and FreeBSD are more advanced distributions that require plenty of learning before they can be used effectively. Mandrake, Red Hat, Ubuntu and SUSE can be classified as good "middle-road" distributions. Knoppix is a so-called live CD - it is great for trying out Linux without getting your hands dirty as it runs directly from a CD, no installation required.
http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major



In my opinion Debian is the way to go. Whether you use Ubuntu, Xandros, Knoppix, Kanotix, MEPIS, or a Debian install.

If you are using a nforce4 based board with the nvidia sata controler ubuntu supports it with no issues for me as well as the network controler,sound and video.My board is a ultra 6800

/me shouts "Freedom"

Here is my standard answer as I haven't decided yet (5 boot, 4 Linux, one Windows, still haven't tried the Big Scary Daemons yet, and I have been running Linux since 1999):

Preparing to install Linux:
# Choosing a Linux Distribution:
Will your hardware work?
Do you have good RAM? Memtest86 - A Stand-alone Memory Diagnostic
A Beginner's Guide to Choosing a Linux Distribution
Reasons to Choose or Not Choose Linux
LWN distro list
elinux Linux Distributions
# Freeware tools for partitioning/resizing hard drive partitions:
Any Linux Live CD usually have fdisk, cfdisk and other tools available
Ranish Partition Manager
# Understanding Linux Filesystem layout:
Directory Navigation Help File
Filesystems, Directories, and Devices Help File
Proper Filesystem Layout
Advanced filesystem implementor's guide (requires registration)

Do I buy a boxed source, download off the internet or buy some cheap CDs?
It's your choice! If you download, I suggest that you check the md5sums on the Linux ISO Images and make sure you know how to burn ISOs in Windows to install Linux
# Cheap CDs
Discount Linux CDs
Linux Central
Cheapbytes
TuxCDs
ComputerHelperGuy
CheapISO
Os Heaven

Fedora Core is a very good distro. As for which is best, there isn't a correct answer because it differs from person to person and it depends on personal choice.

I'm personally not a fan of Fedora at all. And there you go, proof everybody is different. Rather than opinion, here is some fact for ya. Any distro will support your SATA drives as that's part of the kernel, not the distrobution. Just depends on whether the distros kernel has it compiled in from the word go or not

If there was a best linux, everybody would be using it

Go with slack 10.1 read the man pages and learn from the ground up. Don't give up on it and stick with it and before you know it you will have learned a whole lot more using slack than other distros. my $0.02

If you think that FC3 is the only distro with SATA support, I suspect that you will find you are mis-guided on that account.

I know nothing of RAID or SATA and the like, but I'm aware that most of the mainstream distros have support for such facilities i.e. mandriva, SuSE, Fedora/Redhat for a relatively easy setup, then gentoo, debian and slackware for something that generally needs a little more experience.

I'm not too knowledgable, but have recently had gentoo running, only because their install documentation is excellent, you should have a read of their install guide heres a link for their documentation site translated into Romanian which would enable you to read up in, what I suspect is your native language. I don't know if that would be of any help, I know that it has all sorts of stuff relating to SATA discs.

regards

John

And then there's this (in)famous platitude: "If you use RedHat, you learn RedHat. If you use Slackware, you learn Linux."
Nonetheless true, IMHO.

I am a Slackware user but don't really agree with the above. You can learn Linux using any distro, the fundamentals are basically the same and you can use them on any distro.

Yes and no. Slackware is good for learning. I usually recommend it as the 3rd distro - by that time you should know how the machinery works.

The default Slackware installation discs (2), come with kernels that support SATA. I've tried out numerous distros, and Slackware definetly is at the top of the list. Give it a try, if nothing else suits you.

I said it is the only distro with SATA support that i have found, not that it is the only, if you see what i meant. I'll keep searching and install a Slackware, because all of you agree this is a good distro for learning.