Recently, CPU (Computer Power User) magazine rated the "best" Linux distro's for former WinXP users. (may 2005 issue, page 50)

The list is small....

xandros 3
linspire 5.0
suse professional
knoppix 3.3
mandrake (mandriva) discovery 10.1


Out of that list above, if you had to add a distro that's comparable or better for windows users, what would your choice be?

Hello,
I didn't want to reply because I'm not really "adding" to the thread, but here goes.

No one can answer this question, the review of those distro's were based off of a persons opinion, that's mainly what reviews are.
If you're unsure about which distro to choose, download each one and install it, see how you like each one. If none of the float your boat, download more. CDs are chump change now, heck some install from a boot floppy which is nothing.

Only you can say which one is best, because it's different from one person to the other.
-Jason

P.S. Just to throw it in, here's my opinion:
xandros - never used it
linspire - was a good idea, but the company sucks at executing the idea
suse - didn't like it, gave me too much or not enough control on packages during install, and it used fdisk, not cfdisk
knoppix - never used, but I've heard a lot about it 'cause of the live boot cd
mandrake - never used it, had a friend that used it years ago, but I personally never liked it

i was suprised not to see TurboLinux in that group of Windows-friendly OSes

yep, I'm not going to directly answer the question either. Personally I don't get into the "what distro is best business". I feel that it is more important to stick with one that works well on your hardware and feels good to you but most importantly to stick with it. There are just enough differences between the distros that you will get frustrated if when something goes wrong, you just install a different one altogether instead of sludging through it and actually learning it. (run on sentence)

of your list I have only used two (unless you add mandrake where I installed it, couldn't stand it for a minute and through something over it) of those:

Knoppix- I have used it alot for data recovery, etc at work, works well in the tool kit.

SuSE- I used this distro for some time, was quite nice, clean looking in X, refined but a bit slow for my liking. Heavy on the eyecandy out of the box (sure this can be toned down)

Mandrake- no comment

Personally I really like slackware, don't get confused over the BSD style/ sysV bit though. Very peppy distro.

I have blabbed enough, bye

pjbii

Where have these CPU magazine guys been, vacationing
on Mars. This list tells me that they are clueless.
MEPIS should by far top this list They probably never
heard of it. LOL

There is no "best".

I usually recommend Mepis for total newbies even though my distro of choice is Slack.

Guys, T3gah has kicked off a discussion thread, not a "help me choose a distro" thread. Shame there's no Ubuntu love from that mag

I don't know how they can rate them like that because it will obviously differ from person to person. Xandros and Linspire would probably suite those accustomed to point and click and probably not very adventurous. The rest could suite power users and those interested in learning Linux in depth.

Mandrake 10.x is aweful. Mandrake 9.x is better organized and it works better. Mandrake or Mandriva should be smarter next time when they distribute the download edition.

Knoppix 3.7 is great. Do not download 3.8 though. Knoppix 3.7 is a must have for any computer technician. Knoppix-STD and PHLAK should be included in the the tech kit too.

I do not recommend SUSE because it does not do it the Linux way. It is too dam Windows like.

IMHO, I think Gentoo will be the distribution of the future that will show Linux real strengths. Its able to patch or update with ease. Gentoo developers created Portage to make updating libraries and programs easier. Unfortunately, it does not have a GUI installer like the rest, so I do not recommend using Gentoo unless the user have played with Slackware or Debian. If Gentoo developers can write up an ncurses program to help users to install Gentoo, it will probably be the hardest distribution to compete with.

Linspire (is Linspire Lindows because Linspire site looks familar to Lindows) and Xandros should be cross off the list because Linux should not have to to bought to use. Many people that are thinking of switching to Linux is because it is FREE.

Mepis looks too orginal.

If I can not say Ubuntu, I will not use it.

My favorite distros are Arch, Slack, Crux, Gentoo, and Debian. None of them are on the list, so I don't know how my choices might apply. I guess you can pick one to add...