I had a h*ll of a time trying to install Ubuntu some days ago, even my girlfriend got tired of seeing me by the computer.

I don't give up, so I've tried to change distro, now to Xubuntu, which I'm currently downloading.

Are there differences with the installation progress-- I turn directly to the display/graphics configuration which was the reason I gave up the Ubuntu installation.

Further I'd like to see a list of all the necessities I will need; MP3 codecs, MPG codecs, packagemanagers, updates and so on.

I thank you deeply in advance.

Thanks!

What sort of problems were you having with the video setup? Ubuntu usually installs in a breeze on a majority of machines...but I guess not all.

check out this page: www.ubuntuguide.org

it'll get you up and running with all the codecs you need...as well as a lot more.

I've found that a lot of people have better luck with the 'alternate' installation cd than the default live one.

I get all sorts of problems like; "unable to to this", "can't find that", "need this", "fatal error" and so on.

So I wasn't aiming at a certain problem with my video settings. I'd just like to have everything infront of me when I am going to configure my new distro with music, video, graphics and such.

One of the things I look for first is the package manager, I don't like to use commands and the terminal to install programs, I like to have it done by itself. From SuSE there was Zen and Yast which is excellent-- I have tried apt-get, but I don't really know-- there was a lot of good programs missing.

Which package manager do I have in Xubuntu, and/or wich one can I download?

I believe *buntu comes with Synaptic. A GUI front-end for apt/dpkg. But I may be mistaken. Regardless, it's a fairly intuitave Package manager. Fairly well done if you like that sort of thing

As for music/video etc. You may want to take a look at a program called EasyUbuntu (or something like that) it downloads and installs the codecs and whatnot that you need for mp3s DVDs and a bunch of other proprietary stuff.

If you got a lot of problems from the Ubuntu installer, chances are you'll get more or less the same from Xubuntu. It's the same distro, with a different desktop.

I put this list together a few weeks ago: linux.gotfoo.org/xubuntu-essential-applications

I know it's totaly shameless.

Looks nice all of this.

My terminal fails to make me an authentic user it seems... How can I solve it?

And how do I change my desktop to something like Gnome or KDE?

To do admin stuff in a terminal do this:
It will ask for a password so type in your password.
You now have temporary admin rights in the terminal.

Now for instance, to get root access while using Thunar file manager do this:
You now have thunar open and you can modify anything outside of your home directory so be careful.

Now to install the Ubuntu-Desktop (GNOME) do this:
I hope this helps.