I've tried working a little bit with both now, and decided to give some of my opinions. Plus, I would like to see other people's opinions.


First Impressions of Mandrake 9.0 RC2:

• The install seems faster than it was with the other Beta versions. And no problems encountered.
  
• The choices of packages is great. Almost everything you want is there.
  
• Gnome 2 is wonderful here. I love the look and speed.
  
• XFree86 4.2.1 is really working well. I haven't had any X11 problems yet.

First Impressions of RedHat Null:

• Install seemed to crawl.
  
• Not as many package options as Mandrake. More "buisness" suited than Mandrake.
  
• What the hell is up with Gnome 2 here? They just took Gnome and made a KDE clone with it. Not good.
  
• Xfree86 is only 4.2.0, but it is stable and fast.

As you can see, I personally think that Mandrake has done a MUCH better job.

Well I too have used both for just a bit and here is my impression:

Mandrake 9 RC2

1) Install was just as easy as anyother Mandrake install. No better no worse.

2) I had a problem with using KDE as my default login. It would crash while trying to log in. This was fixed by installing the init scripts from the cooker.

3) KDE apps and Gnome apps fly on this thing. Hell opening and using the GUI is even faster than in windows on the same box. They did a great job on speeding up X.

4) I've had minor issues installing stuff through the Mandrake Control center. I have been notified that it has been fixed in the cooker.

5) the Mandrake Control Center is awsome looking, and pretty functional.

Red Hat 7.3.93 Limbo Beta

1) A very improved install. This thing is much better looking and easier to use.

2) I love the main package selection screen in the installer, its easy to use and lets you easily select certain options. However the full package selection screen is way to hard to navigate and seems to be missing packages.

3) Gnome look a hell of a lot like windows and like the previous comment seems to mimic KDE.

4) Apps in Red Hat are noticably slower than in mandrake.

5) The vsftpd FTP server that Red Hat now uses as default is the easiest dam ftp program I've ever used. After install the ftp server was not only installed but worked with anony. logins right away.

6) They didn't seem to pay any attention to the KDE side of this program since some links on the pannel didn't even work.

All in all this is my opinion. For the beta's Red Hat is the most stable with the least amount of problems. Mandrake though seemingly a little more unstable has crap loads more to offer and the speed of the interface alone makes me want to stick with it.

Red Hat 9/10
Mandrake 8.5/10

Note: these scores take in account that they are beta and still need improvement.

Even though I gave mandrake a lowwer score when they release it I will probably switch everything over to mandrake, since I prefer KDE over Gnome and the faster interface.

i have had problems with kde 3 freezing at times, not sure if i am the only one have that problem