I have just installed mandrake 9.1 and I must admit I'm impressed but I do have a couple of questions. I am looking for a terminal emulator comparable to hyperterminal or procomm in windows. Is one of those Included in the software if not where can I get one? Also I know my sound is working because I can play cd's but when moving through the KDE interface no sounds are made. Is there a place to turn that on? Also I would like to put on a theme I have found several I like but have not figured out how to install them. Thanks in advance for any help.

For the terminal emulator try this; Control Center (like start in windoze) then Terminals/Konsole. I think that's what you want. There are two, one regular user and one as root or super user.
You may need to start a sound server. Try this; Control Center/Configuration/Control Center. Then on the left, click on 'Sound' to open, then Sound System. On the right you should have the option to start a sound server, probably aRts. Put a check there and click 'apply'. Note I have had problems with delays in this sound server. If you do you may want to try another or post to see if you can get help fixing it.
I'll try to get you started with themes. You can find them in the control center, same one as sound, just click on 'LookNfeel' then 'themes'. You can select your themes there. I assume you if download a theme and install it, it would show up in the list.
When you download try to always get a 'rpm', preferably one that has 'mdk' in the name. It is made for Mandrake. Generally to install, just click it to open and it goes to work. Just read and answer yes to the questions for the most part. If you get a 'dependancy error' write down the files you need and then install them first. Usually works anyway.

Hope this gets you started. I'm a newbie too. Kind of like the blind leading the blind.

also on the themes you need to make sure that if you download any make sure they are for your desktop version.
i DLed some for kde but they were for kde 2 not for kde 3 and would not work
check out
http://themes.freshmeat.net/browse/957/?topic_id=957
and
kde-look.org

I went to freshmeat and pick 16 off the link above. I have unzipped the file but when I go and try to add the Theme in KDE it still doesnt seem to recognize it as a theme file. Also I am still lookint for a terminal emulator for linux. I need something that supports telnet, rlogin, serial, and dialup (tapi) Thanks

Try Control Center/Remote Access. There are a lot of terms there. I'm not sure which one you are looking for though. Sorry.
I use KPPP to connect to the net for surfing. If you have a external serial modem it works real well with almost no setup. Just find out what port you are on, COM1 COM2 etc and select /dev/ttyS0 (COM1), /dev/ttyS1 (COM2) etc, and you are good to go. Don't forget to put in your login and password.

Hope this helps better than my last post.

i think the problem you are having with the theme is that particular theme is used with the "liquid engine" that must be installed first.
try here for some themes that will work
http://www.kde-look.org/index.php?xc...2314c7bc8d06fe

Ok I have to admint I'm getting discouraged. I have been tring to get this installed for about 2 weeks. Why is this such a pain? It seem's that many things that are a piece of cake in windows are a giant pain with Linux. I still have not found a terminal emulator anywhere that allows you to dial up things remotly. Is there a place you can like pay to recieve one on one support? Because I really would like to be sucessful with this but I do not want to dedicate my life to learning Linux.

http://freshmeat.net/search/?q=emula...ojects&x=0&y=0
You may find a terminal emulator here. I typed in "emulator" for the search. You may want to narrow it down by adding more terms.

What software are you trying to install and what commands are you using? I'm not real good at it but I'll try.

Remember, you didn't learn windows overnight either. Just takes a little getting used to. Hang in there.