Hi,
Now I´m using Mandrake 9.2 Download Edition but I would like to upgrade to the kernel 2.6 via a new distro and not per RPM or compiling.
I mainly use Internet, hear music or burn CDs, so just normal use.
I´m pretty happy with Mandrake so I would try the new version 10 but I don´t know if I should wait for 10.1 or 10.2
I was going to buy Suse 9.1 but I didn´t knew wheather it is good or not. I also heared much about Slackware, it the new 10 version better than the 9.1 or should I wait for 10.1 or 10.2, too???
Or should I even try Red Hat Fedora?
I read the reviews but everybody says something different!
I know its a little bit stupid to ask this but here are some things more I need to have and some information:
-I have a Notebook (Acer Aspire 1620)
-I need WLAN (Broadcom)
-Kernel 2.6
-It should be easy but it could be a little difficulter, I preffer to have more options than to have it easy. Is Slackware to difficult?
-nice design
-newest OpenOffice!!!

Thank you, and make a good choice for me!
fedivh

Suse you can now get for free. Mandrake 10 is a good distro, I haven't tried suse but I've heard good things about its ease-of-use. Red hat 9 stopped RH's free desktop linux so I'd stay away from that because if you want to upgrade again you'll start with a different distro. Fedora isn't nearlly as easy or user friendly as RH9. I just installed Slackware on my laptop and its pretty easy if you follow general directions and it did a good job of finding my wireless card.

Moin,
Why would you like to change to 2.6 ? I compiled 2.6.5 yesterday or so to see what's new but still use 2.4.22. I think a Kernel change is only neccessary (how to spell this word, damned) when you have really new hardware your kernel can't handle. (A long time ago I was like "Argh, I want the newest Version of everything" like too ^^)

I use Slackware and it isn't hard, it just depends on how much Linux you want? Are you using console more often, doing compilings and such?

The design is something that doesn't depend on the disti, you can have the "ugliest" linux, just download fluxbox and here you are ^^

Just get the newest Mandrake/RedHat ISOs and you should be happy .. im tired.

Blah.....get Fedora.....if my wife can install it and use it for day to day stuff you won't have any problems.

My progress has been Mandrake>SuSE>RedHat>Slackware>Debian>FreeBSD
so far my favorites are Debian and FreeBSD as both servers and workstations. Amazingly FreeBSD makes quite the kick-butt workstation. I just dont get along with .rpm distro's very well. They just seem kinda sluggish to me for some reason. Slackware is nice n simple. Pretty fast too.
Get some .iso's and whatnot to find out for yourself. Just make a seperate partition for /home and whatever you want. It makes switching distro's a bit easier.

FEDORA CORE 2 ROCKSSS!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE IT....NEVER HAD A PROBLEM ........

What you will notice is now this thread will turn into a 'what distro' thread.
Check out lq's distro reviews

Based on what you are going to use it for, I would recomend Suse 9.1. Fedora is usually a good choice for general use but if you want to do those things that you mentioned (internet, music, burning) straight out of the box then I like Suse. In order to listen to MP3s on Fedora you will have to download something besides what comes with it, since it pretty much only plays ogg. As for burning, Suse comes with K3B which is pretty much just like Nero for windows. I wasn't to fond of whatever came with Fedora. For internet browsing any distro will do just fine, any X equiped distro comes with Mozilla. Besides that, Suse9.1 also has a nice little utility called Yast which makes doing just about anything from installing new apps to managing firewall and iptables a piece of cake.

But like darin said, this is a 'what disto' thread and everyone will have their own opinions. But whatever you choose, install KDE 3.2, its the most beautiful X Window release I've ever seen.