Just installed SM 8.5 on my desktop computer and two laptops. Despite my prejudices about KDE 4.X, I must say the new desktop looks very usable in SimplyMEPIS 8.5. It is a really sleek transition arranged by the distro developers.

As usual, the CD started flawlessly on all the computers I tried (5 of them, 2 desktop and 3 laptops, including an Acer Aspire One. All the hardware was recognized in matter of seconds, including WiFi, webcams and of course printers. The included MEPIS assistants are very effective and easy to use, so you get a full and stable (Lenny) Debian system, but with a newer 2.6.32 kernel and apps in a matter of minutes.

Also I realized that, despite being a KDE-centric distro, if any KDE application does not work well they use the Gnome equivalent (as in GDebi). Having Firefox and OpenOffice from the start is a plus.

Good news for non-English speakers (like me): Internationalisation of SimplyMEPIS is becoming wider, so maybe you can find your language from the start.

In few words: if you feel comfortable with your present Debian-derivative distro (say *buntu, etc.), give a spin to SimplyMEPIS. Maybe you get a nice surprise. As they say: "SimplyMEPIS just works". Yes, it does for me.

I upgraded my Mepis 8.0 test box to 8.5 using the instructions in the excellent Mepis Wiki. For users who don't mind undertaking slightly risky jobs like that and then doing a bit of troubleshooting afterwards, it was easy! For all others, do a clean install because SimplyMepis 8.5 is a treat!

I've been using SimplyMEPIS as my primary OS for the past 4 years, beginning with SM 6.0. In my opinion SM 8.5 is the best release yet.

It features excellent hardware recognition, and most users will have everything up and running within a half hour right out of the box. If you have any problems or issues, expert help from the Mepislovers Forums is right at hand.

SM 8.5 is based on Debian stable (Lenny); however, there are also several Community Repositories that maintain the latest versions of software compiled from upstream sources. All of the MEPIS releases feature the MEPIS Tools, which provide aid for system configuration and repair.

I would highly recommend SM 8.5 for beginners and experts alike.

I LOVE this distro! I run both simplyMEPIS and Ubuntu Studio on separate partitions of one machine (and have installed it as a robust fall-back on every computer I own even if I never use it) because no matter what I may mess up because I'm learning as I go... MEPIS will always boot in some form or fashion even when all else fails.

I tried to install 5 different distros on my boyfriend's Gateway NV54 laptop and could not get a graphical interface to run on any of them. Installed simplyMEPIS and even after he accidently deleted the only working video driver, I was able to get it up and running like a pro.

I have used older versions of MEPIS and they worked well. Good starter distro as most packages and drivers are installed. Only distro I tried (others: Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Mandriva) to display correctly on my Sony Bravia TV straight after installation. Haven't been able to connect to home WiFi network. Settings seem more complex than other distros. Older versions of MEPIS connected fine. This was a new installation though.

I like the menus and layout of controls in MEPIS - much better than Kubuntu and more usable than Lubuntu.

Highly recomended. Running VirtualBox fine.
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This probably one of the easiest distros for a beginner. The installer gives a description of every stage and, if this is not enough, it runs from the live CD so you can read the manual or get help from the internet.

It is also very fast, both in loading the live version and in booting when installed. The claim that it will run in 256MB is clearly true, which is quite an achievement for a KDE distro. There's a reasonable selection of programs to start with, and full support for audio, video, and flash codecs is built in.

It does not, however, remove my dislike of KDE. For example, if you click on an odt file it does not open in OpenOffice, but in the Okular file viewer! And there seems to be no way to define which programs are used with which file types. That could get very irritating. Similarly, the pager only shows which workspace is in use, not the use of the others.