which os is best for me
 

I have a new windows machine (powerspec, real cheap). I installed linspire 5.0 and used for a while, but it crashed almost like windows. I tried suse 9 but couldnt get any hardware set up. I have an imac G5 bought 2yrs ago to escape from ms windows - the imac is a true dog. So here I am! Trying to find the best solution to bad computers and OS's. This will be a personal computer that will be used for some business including web editing. I used macromedia graphics ste. and ms office mac, and open office on OSX. I am interested in non-proprietary software, but want the freedom to use others if need be. Any suggestions as to what OS would fit best into my situation? There are a lot of choices, Iv'e found, in the linux community, and its a bit mind boggling.

my personal opinion is that probably every distro out there wont automatically detect and setup all hardware on your machine flawlessly. some distros are more 'automated' in this detected than others, i would imagine suse would do a good job...

check www.distrowatch.com and download any of the top 3-5, ubuntu or the latest suse is my recommendation. since it sounds like you have more than one computer, install any distro really, and when a problem arises make a thread in the appropriate forum and after afew threads im sure your system will be running how you want.

oh ya, about any distro will do about anything so any distro you pick will suit any needs you have. also try do a search here for a thread similar to this and you will find hundreds (i imagine), i tend to not answer them because there are so many but just letting you know.

so, again, install any distro, just get the latest stable version of it, install, report problems appropriatly here. good luck

try this site i hope this helps| £Ä3

http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/

If you list your hardware, I or others can give you answers if certain hardware will or will not work. Basically, any Linux distribution can run on the same hardware. It comes down to the kernel version that each Linux distribution is using.

I never heard of an iMac G5. I heard of an iMac G4 if that is what you are talking about.

I do not recommend SUSE because I and others can not help you because it is too proprietary.

I like the distrowatch idea. Browse around there, read the descriptions of the various distros and try the ones that sound good to you. There's no better way to find the distro that best suits you than to try several for yourself.

I do find a Powerspec homepage. Which do you have?
What were you unable to set up? What did work?

My current hardware- Maxtor HD 160gb, Printer HP psc1315 all-in-one, older Zoom external 56k modem c.1999 (Im on dial-up)

The imac G5 came out about two years ago. I got one of the very first units.

What do you mean suse is too proprietary?

The problems were on Linspire 4.5 on an older powerspec (2yrs old) with 40gb HD- don't know the model, but was purchased as a linspire 4.5 computer at micro center. But my new PowerSpec is model 6343 160gb 768ram and I will have another distros on it(me thinks, which is what I'm doing on this forum). I'll be using all the following hardware that I used on the older PS which is: a maxtor HD 160gb external used for b/u, an HP psc1315 all-in-one printer, and a Zoom 56k external modem for dial-up. On the old powerspec I couldn't get the modem or the scanner function of the all-in-one to work, and sometimes the icon for the maxtor HD wasn't there when I switch between computers(Oh yeah, I use a kvm switch that linspire didn't like). However I did find an internal modem that worked great - but I havn't tried the new computers (PS 6343) internal modem yet.

Try a few live cds and see how they work. If you find one you like - install it.

PclinuxOS, Mepis, Kanotix, Knoppix, and Mandriva come to mind and there are many more.

Software availability
 

There are so many that it is, like I said, mind boggling. I think one consideration is the availability of software. The only distro I am familiar with is Linspire, where they have a CNR warehouse to download their applications, of which they boast about 2,000. But what about other distros software? Are there some that have only limited apps to choose from, or do all linux software work on all distros, even OSX? Will OSX apps work on linux distros?

since your on dial up i suggest http://www.osdisc.com/cgi-bin/view.c...ad=distrowatch. there you can buy linux distributions online for cheap, so you dont have to spend days downloading one.

again i recommend a distro such as the latest ubuntu.

just responding to your latest reply now:

dont you have to pay for the CNR service?i thought you had to. and im sure the software they charge you for is available for free (legally) elsewhere on the internet. its probably just the convenience of the tool that they are really charging for. check out websites such as www.sourceforge.net and www.freshmeat.net for free software (of which combined i would guarantee is _way_ more than 2000), with the majority compatible with UNIX-based OSs (BSD, yes OSX, and Linux). linspire was supposed to be called lindows but was unable to for obvious legal reasons--its basically the windows of linux, and i imagine theres a large population of unix users that dont support it.

you have to understand the difference between 'distros'. its not like windows vs OSX. microsoft windows comes with 'notepad' which is a microsoft product. all distros (id assume 99%) come with vi (or a variant), and is software not related to that paticular distro. a linux distro is basically a collection of linux programs and a kernel, and sometimes specific ways things are done--all have their pros and cons. for example, slackware is more 'advanced' (not really), its a distro that doesnt have software such as linspire's CNR to manage programs.
contrary to what i have said, CNR is proprietary and linspire-specific, a la microsoft.

at distrowatch when you click on a distro from the menu itll display a list of popular/essential software, whether that distro includes this package, the version that comes with it, and the latest stable version of this software (for reference i guess).
more or less any 'linux' program will work on any distro. most programs depend on afew core components, such as the linux kernel itself, the version of the component, and its capabilities.

i stick with what i have said just previously, visit the osdisc.com website and order a cd to be mailed to you (first decide on one, thats probably the hardest part), install (or try to), and post a thread here where appropriate and we can help you get up and running.

Thanks,good thought. I have some CDs but I'm finding installing them all is becoming a ridiculous task.

CNR is now free, unless you want to subscribe to pay service which provides automated updates plus pay for proprietary software. Their new disto that allows this is called Freespire - a spinoff of Linspire - that lets you install other apps not specific to CNR.

I'll checkout some of these sites that you mentioned to see what the software situation looks like. Thus far, Iv'e seen a couple pretty good apps for linux.

Thanks,

I'd add Ubuntu 6.06 to that list. Very easy to pick up and use for me. I've always been a big fan of Mandriva, and I downloaded Mandriva 07 when it came out. It is w/o a doubt, the biggest piece of crap Linux I've ever tried. It crashed on several occasions when starting my TV card(which it did detct correctly). I was extremely disappointed with it.

Ubuntu runs great as a Live CD to try out. Another very good one to try, but it unfortunately doesn't operate as a Live CD, is Fedora Core 5. Probably my second fav to Ubuntu..

Good luck

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