Which one do you think is better? Mandriva Free, or PcLinuxos

I have been using PCLinuxOS for about 18 months now. In the interim I have installed the various Mandriva releases. They work reasonably well, but PCLinuxOS is faster, have plenty of packages, and their forum is very helpful.

Another Vote for PCLinuxOS although I use .92 I can't stand .93 but I'd wait until .94 final release comes out

Jake

you will need to use mandriva if you want Multilingual support

Debian :P, I don't really like either of those distros to be honest

I hate to burst your bubble, but there is no .94 release. PCLinux2007 is in its final testing stages. While it's not likely to ever make it on any of my computers because it is RPM based, I have heard very good things about it.

There is little doubt that PCLinuxOS is better than Mandriva for the average new user to Linux, but anyone who has experience with Linux would have no trouble with most of the distributions that are available, except for a few.

I agree with binary1011100 that Debian is the way to go.

I vote for PCLinuxOS, which I'm using on my personal computer that I use at work.(all company computers use WinXP) I use PCLinuxOS because it's easy, lots of great software pre-installed and it agrees with a very fussy, three year old Dell desktop. Another reason is I'm using an older Samsung monitor that only a handful of distros can handle without any tweaking. The Mandriva versions I've tried in the past wouldn't boot up live, so I didn't go any further.

I've given away several PCLinuxOS LiveCD disks to co-workers trying to spread the Linux word and they've all worked on their machines.

for the two debian lovers:
i like debian just a bit
but this poll isnt which distro is best, its which distro out of these two similar ones are best

Ok, sorry lol

I have tried may distros. PCLinuxos is a well put together package, not bloated with stuff I don't need. I must tell you the list of programs you can add is large and simple to use.

There is a reason PCLinux is now the number 4 linux distro and moving up.

"Better" is a very relative term. However, both of the mentioned distributions are aimed at a similar audience (easy to install, reasonable multimedia support, simple for a Windows user to transition to, and so forth). Given that, the hardware support with the machines and releases I have tested personally do not seem to be as good with PCLinuxOS as they are with Mandriva Free 2007.

Let me add for the sake of completeness that if you ever intend to purchase the retail version of Mandriva, go ahead and do that anyway, skipping the Free version. The proprietary software will install easier and cause fewer authentication problems if your system realizes it is the commercial release and not the free version. (The free version leaves some files around that do not seem to go away with a new install. I think you need to reformat the disk to get rid of them unless you happen to know where all of them are and can remove them manually.)

Nailgun wrote:

I'll second that. It is a good OS to start with as a

I believe it has more programs than I could possibly use

I tried pclinuxos 2007 test 2 and it works very well. I used MANDRIVA 2006 AND IT WORKED VERY WELL ALSO. I WILL HAVE TO CHECK ON MANDRIVA 2007. I DON'T USE LINUX ON LAPTOPS YET. I DO MY LINUX TESTING ONLY ON DESKTOPS SO FAR. PCLINUXOS 2007 SHOULD COME OUT ANY DAY NOW. I THINK PCLINUXOS 2007 IS LITTLE BETTER FOR PEOPLE NEW TO LINUX. BUT MANDRIVA IS A VERY GOOD CHOICE ALSO. CHECK OUT PCLINUXOS 2007 TEST 3 LIVE CD.

dutchy, you are very wrong here. Pclinuxos is the best and will be the best and easiest and most new user friendliest Linux Distro. Nothing comes close to it. The only thing is that we have to wait till comes out the 94 final release, in them eantime it is still in the test release. Also more packages will be addet in the repo later then. It is a wonderful distr and my vote for it.
Debian is way too much difficult for a new user, always lots of comands and not knowing how to install with comand, not the codecs includet for DVD and win32 codecs, hard to find from where to get it.
Pclinuxos has it all in the Repo,
Mandriva free has not the wireless drivers i need on my laptop, Pclinuxos has it all automatic. Mandriva has nothingto install from their repo, alot is missing. So its not for a new user.
All the way Pclinuxos.

Witch comments like that, it clearly points out that you are a new user and do not know much about Linux (or Debian) at all. You have to understand the policy of this (and most others as well) forum and not go around trashing one distro or another. Apparently, you don't even know of the version numbering change of your own distro.

There is a plus and a minus for all distros, and while PCLinuxOS might be right for you, that doesn't mean that it's right for everyone else. Some people like to know what there computer is doing, others want everything to work automatically.

If you don't have the willingness to learn how things work, then that's not my problem. But don't go telling me that I am wrong.

In regards to the automatically installed "questionware", it is only a matter of time before someone sues Textar for doing it. That is why all of the major companies refuse. They are bigger targets than just one guy, and have deeper pockets to pick.

If you are happy with PCLinuxOS, then all power to you. Just do this: Try to upgrade you .93 to the new version. Oops, doesn't work. That says why I don't like it. I don't want to have to reinstall my OS from scratch when one guy (or company) decides to change things. That's why I don't like Windows and why I dislike some Linux distribution.

However, what I like, or prefer is irrelevant to you. Remember that. Your computer, your choice. My computer, my choice.