if i download 3 disc from here http://centos.mirror.aussiehq.net.au/5.5/isos/i386/
will i be able to sucessfuly boot and install centos?

Well, it's a 7 disk set.... You'd probably be able to complete an install if you don't install a lot of extra packages. Which packages are on which disks, beats me. Once you specify the packages you want to install, the setup process will tell you which cd's you need to continue.

Are you downloading this thru your iphone or something - are you restricted to 2gb of traffic per month, or ??? Why can't you download the whole set?

or download the dvd iso
the torrent works just fine
CentOS-5.5-i386-bin-DVD.torrent

or is there a reason you NEED the cd's
like no dvd drive on the old headless server ?
or use the "net install" iso it fits on a very small usb thumb drive ( it is all of 9.5 meg)
or install the Live cd

CentOS-5.5-i386-LiveCD-Release2.iso

i actually can download the wholeset but it seem to take forever.

no dvd too.

but if ijust download the netinstall.iso

can i customize which packages too?

I like to use the netinstall. It downloads only the packages you need/want (the installer will let you customize) and they will be the latest versions, so you don't need to update immediately after installing.

you can do what ever Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5 can do

but cent/rhel is meant primarily for headless server and the desktop as a secondary use
do not expect to run the very new software
CentOS 5.5 uses kde 3 -qt3 ( the current KDE is 4.4 ) and Gnome 2.16 ( current 2.30) gtk 2.4 ( current is 2.6.8) gimp2.2 ( the current gimp is 2.6 )

you can do what ever Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5 can do

but cent/rhel is meant primarily for headless server and the desktop as a secondary use
do not expect to run the very new software
CentOS 5.5 uses kde 3 -qt3 ( the current KDE is 4.4 ) and Gnome 2.16 ( current 2.30) gtk 2.4 ( current is 2.6.8) gimp2.2 ( the current gimp is 2.6 ) firefox 3.0 ( current is ff 3.6.8)

i'vejust download the netinstall.. i'd be great if it works.

just want to know since i also download 3 disc of fedora13 and it works even when it has 5 disc. so the 3 disc is enough to actually work and have to full desktop environment..bt what about in centos?

what can i accomplish with 3 disc only?

If you want to run the latest and greatest software, your best bet is the Maverick Meerkat. It has GNOME 2.31, GTK+ 2.90, KDE 4.5, and various other of the latest and greatest things.

Yes, I agree with you. you'd better to check your software

how do i check the software?

It's possible to do a fairly minimalistic (base package as the only optional package, you'd likely need base for this else you may not get yum making it a near dead end install) install with just Disc 1, however it takes prior knowledge of how to start with, and that's without any GUI and even without configuring the networking at all during installation (configuring networking tells the installer it needs a package on Disc 3... pppoe I believe). It's possible to build up the system from such a point, installing everything you want separately after this via yum (and having to configure the networking when it's installed). But again I wouldn't recommend even attempting this unless you know CentOS and bash well enough to begin with... which after 3 years in a Datacenter were CentOS is one of the most used OSs... I personally do and thus why I don't recommend it unless you have had to do this previously.

I would go with above, netinstall or dvd are the best bets.