To John VV:

Thanx for the info. This is just the kind of reports I'm looking for; Informed analyasis from those who have used a particular distro. This will help in making my decision. Yes, I agree, I do have a lot more 'research" to do. And, every bit of information will/does help.
Take Care:
Rick

I would consider the following to be on the "short list" of options, based on what you're looking for and your experience so far:

1) Linux Mint (based on Ubuntu, but done right; there's a reason it's #1 at Distrowatch)

2) Debian (rock-solid stable, although getting all multimedia functionality may not be something you want to deal with)

3) Crunchbang (Debian + Openbox + multimedia and good mix of apps)

4) Xubuntu (Ubuntu + Xfce, but minus the stupid and bloat)

5) Salix (Slackware made easy; rock-solid stable, good mix of apps, easy updates, and multimedia codecs are a simple menu install away)

6) Stella (desktop/multimedia friendly CentOS)

Yes, I have used them all, and can recommend them all. My only misgiving on Stella is the RedHat/RPM heritage; as I said before, not a huge fan of these. I pretty much stay in the Debian and Slackware realm of Linux distros.

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To: JWJONES;

This is great. Exactly the type of information I am asking for. THANK YOU. Yes, Linux Mint is one of my considerations, along with PINGUY & Fedora20. Been sorta turned off on Ubuntu's latest distro's. #5 & #6 I was unaware of, however, Stella warrants attention. Xubuntu, unfortunately, was a big disappointment beyond 12.04.03. Way too much configuration to do.(my opinion) I've yet to come across much talk about Fedora/RedHat. I don't know, maybe there's a good reason for that? And the newest (14.02) Ubuntu distro's are geared toward 'touchscreen" operation, so for now anyway, I doubt I'll give much, if any, thought to those.
Also, CrunchBang deserves a look. Personally, I'm looking for an O.S. that's lightweight, configured for everyday, personal applications, and is pretty much Out-Of-Box ready-built. So far, Pinguy "claims" this and is sorta what I'm favoring. However, I've not made a decision,yet,and will research a few of the distro's you've mentioned. Take Care

Rick

I had a look for it, but sorry, 26minute youtube videos are only slightly better than watching paint dry, even when I have free time. I'm flat out now, have been for a few weeks. Link to the video for anybody else intrested-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgwI0UukVQg

If you ever rewatch it and/or can tell me where its stated that pinguy has 'fixed' programs, I'll have a look. But I'd guess that its just they have slightly changed some config/default settings that is easy enough for 90%+ of users to change.

Well, not really geared toward touchsceens so much as 'single user interface for both mobile and PC desktop'.

I'm no big fan of apple, but I belive that they are correct in the position that (as far as I know) they are still sticking with (and I'm paraphrasing)-

Desktop is different to mobile, and a desktop UI should be different to a mobile UI.

What exactly do you mean by ready 'out of the box'?

Most distros come with programs to do most common tasks, its in things like multimedia support, DVDcss where there can be a big difference between distros.

IMO you are better of learning how to enable DVDcss and multimedia support than spending time looking for something that has all that 'out of the box'. Its less time consuming, more rewarding and gives you much more range in distro choice.

Yeah, I remember seeing a few of the arch users over there, I'm pretty sure I used to talk to 2 or 3 of them on a P2P/chatting program that will remain nameless. I missed out on exactly what happened next, but I 'spose it doesnt matter anymore.

A FREEZIN' Good Morning To All:

Today, temps were below zero to start and not getting much better during the day/weekend. So, along with my cold toes, I'm still harboring cold thoughts of the Ubuntu distro's since 10.4. With that being said, I'd still like to entertain opinions of/about Fedora 20 & Linux Mint. Not familiar with either O.S., and am seeking info from those who are! Also, what can be told about PINGUY? I've been checking about it and like what I've read...so far. Keep the cards and letters coming!!
Take Care:
Rick

You seem to be taking a very cautious approach to this. Are you working with mission-critical systems, or something? You know these are all available to download for free and try as live DVDs/USB images, right? Got a flash drive or blank disks? As the Nike slogan says "Just Do It!"