hi there, i've been looking for a linux that looks rather similar to windows for my parents to use, i don't want to shock them too much, all they do is check there e-mail so as long as i could set up thunderbird on it and firefox they should be fine, also i was looking for one that has a start menu like the new windows XP start menu, because they are used to that one, i was wondering if anyone know of a such an OS? i've found a few, but i was really looking for one with a windows XP start menu look-alike? if anyone know can they please help me out?

If you install the FVWM95 window manager, you should find approximately what you're looking for. You'll need to configure the start menu by hand, but you might be able to write a script to automate that, or find that converts gnome's configuration or something. You can install it on any distro. I think you'll find, however, that Gnome and KDE are a fairly easy transition from WinXP. I don't actually know of a distro that doesn't come with at least one of the two.

Xandros seems to have a familiar look and feel for people, as does Mepis. I've used both before, but not longterm.

hmm...you could install any distro you want and then get xpde from www.xpde.com check out the site for some screenshots...

Ark Linux seems to be very similar to XP as well.

xpde has already been pointed out.. I tried while I was on gentoo though.. and it seems awefully unpolished.. some of the fonts just don't seem to fit right. However, KDE is quite similar to the classic windows menu.. not the new double-wide thing that takes up your whole screen.

I think anyone would find a standard KDE desktop as freiendly as XP and wouldn't mind the change. I might recommend Xandros if you really want a Windows clone.. which is what it sounds like.. or SuSE if you just want a user friendly distro..