I found a coupon on the net for a free download of Linspire 5.0, so I went and downloaded and burned the iso, popped in the cd and choose the live cd option to test everything out before HD install. Everything worked ok, but no internet. No mattter what I did with the network utilities in Linspire it would not recognize my Zonet ZEW1601 wireless pci card, which has the Ralink rt2500 chipset. I went back into windows and cruised ove rto Linspire.com and into the forums and read post after post of horror stories from poor slobs who had ponied up 50 bucks for Linspire and then 50 more for CNR, and could not get there wireless runnning. They like me read how Linspire was the easiest linux and switching from windows to linux would be painless. It does not seem so when it comes to wireless. everything else worked pretty good and looked good. Some on the forum reported after much digging and command line work and ndsiwrapper work they got there wireless working, some did not. I had previously tried PCLinuxOS and it worked with my wireless card right out of the box. Boy, am I glad I did not pay for Linspire. As a Linux noob I was hoping the stories about Linspire were true and it would be painless. Alas, it was not.
A P.S.- I did not mean for this to sound like a Linspire bashing post. I probably should have worded it a little nicer. Sorry, I just could not get the wireless to work and I saw on the Linspire forums others struggling with it when they thought they would not have to. Some of them sounded very desperate because they had spent out there money for it. Maybe the next release of Linspire can address the wireless issues and I will probably fool around with it some more to see if I can get it working. I am just looking for a Linux distro that will "just work" for me. I suggest anyone looking at Linspire to try the Live CD first before spending money on it to see if it works for you. Thanks.

Yes WiFi is a pain on a lot of Linux distro's. I don't know what PCLinuxOS uses for the drivers for your card (maybe NDiswrapper or maybe a native driver project). I think Linspire doesn't come with NDiswrapper by default (I had a similar problem with Debian on a Centrino laptop, NDiswrapper worked on Debian but after upgrading some packages it got broken. The same laptop worked fine with SuSE 10 and a native driver project. The card uses the iwp2100 chipset. and Linspire didn't even install on that system).

Also I don't know if it's true at this moment but a while ago WiFi PCI cards were not supported in Linux (maybe they are now I don't know I only use WiFi on the Laptop).

Now IMHO Linspire is a very userfriendly distro, the only problem is that when you get into trouble (like when you need to manually compile a modem driver) you're into a bunch of trouble since they don't provide make, gcc, ... in the default installation.

If you are happy with PCLinuxOS I wish you the best of luck with it, and maybe you can pass the free Linspire to a friend who's hardware IS 100% compatible with it.

Linspire seems to have a few problems that just always nag a release, either that jiffyboot thing, or the software suspend thing, wireless is pitiful, sound seems problematic this time around.... Linspire is one of those if it works for you then GREAT and if it doesn't then you are probably better off changing distros! I think it is because they mix this with that, and try new things and dont get it all ironed out before they release it... Of course they are a small outfit and trying to make BIG differences so there are bound to be some rough spots...

I did extensive research on the wireless situation before I purchased Linspire.
I was glad to find out that my wireless card IS, in fact, listed by Linspire as a compatible unit. However, I did NOT see your card on the list of compatible wireless cards.
I would hope that you will, in the future, take advantage of the tools necessary to research such a product before purchasing.
It should make for a much more hassle free situation.

Yea but the list is way too general and often times even 'supported' hardware doesnt work or is a pain to get working...

My Cisco Aironet stopped working after upgrading to the 5-0, 4.5 went back on for a while & then a newer release has everything all friendly again.
There are any number of el-cheapo cards that'll work while the lads at Linspire can catch up with the wireless market that just loves to swap chipsets around like musical chairs.

UPDATE- after much thinking I tired Linspire 5.0 again and after doing some configuring with the GUI interface for the wire less, it started working and I was on the web with the live cd version. Cool.I had to manually enter some info( no command line stuff ) and viola! Funny, I thought I had tried all that the first time to no avail. Hmmm, second times the charm I guess. I was just about to go with PCLinuxOS, because it worked with the wire less right out of the box. Now I have a to make up my mind. PCLOS or Linspire? I still wonder if paying for click and run will be worth it. Any one got any arguments to persuade me?

If you need CNR then get CNR, if you need someone to pump your gas.... well you get the idea! But if you dont need it why spend money on it?

Yes,
Linspire targets the windows users who don't want :
- to spend much time searching for software
- Compile from sources (allthough many software is in DEB/RPM/LOKI installer these days
- Want to use/see a commandline to install a program
- Want to use/see a commandline Ever

You don't "Need" CNR but you also don't need to go to "Jiffy Lube" to change the oil of your car (but many people have someone else do that and they are happy to pay for it). CNR is just a "service" that provides a 1-Click installation of all the software in CNR (and some discounts on Commercial products, like StarOffice 8) for it's members.