Best LInux Flavor

[ibi001]

Looking for the best Linux OS out there at the present time...One that looks like
windows... I have used at least 10 different Linux flavors... But which is the
latest and best that duplicate most of windows structure... Will await your reply...

[John A]

That's an extremely vague question at best, but some easy to use distros include Ubuntu, SUSE, Mandriva, Xandros, and Linspire.

[BillBrown]

Your request for information is entirely too subjective for us to give you solid answers. If your definition of "best" is that the GUI looks like Microsoft Windows, then you'll probably want something running KDE, which many Linux OSs can do. I'm a fan of Kubuntu (Ubuntu running KDE). Otherwise you're going to have to spend the time to research them yourself and find one that you like.

Bill

[ithelp]

Go for redhat .

[Gromit]

My advice? Try them ALL! At least the mainstream ones. Most everything else is based on one of the mainstream distros. It's all a matter of preference. I started out with RedHat and rpm dependencies drove me nuts... Found Debian a few years later and fell in love with their apt package manager.

Most distributions these days come with a live cd so that you can try them out without even having to install them on a hard drive. Some of the ones that I would recommend you start with:

Ubuntu
OpenSuse
PCLinuxOS
Fedora
Xandros

I believe all of these (except maybe Xandros... It's a commercial distro, with a stripped down free version) have live CD or DVD versions available.

Hope this helps! The thing that makes this question so hard is that Linux can be anything you WANT it to be! With very little experience, you can take just about any distribution out there and make it as windows-like as you want.

-G

[evstevemd]

I love Ubuntu and Fedora Core. I also give my cents to Solaris though not sure if is Linux ro Unix based (I guess Unix based)

[cscgal]

Check out this recent blog entry: http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3322.html

[michinobu_zoned]

As far as performance goes, all Linux distros run about the same since they have the same kernel. However, when it comes to UNIX OS's vs. Linux, then that's a debate concerning performance.

But, as far as other issues, such as ease of use, compatability, etc. I'd say that Ubuntu-based distros seem to be the easiest for me to install and use (with full use of sound card, wireless net card, ethernet, etc.) right away when compared to a Debian distro. I think the e17 desktops actually use hardware acceleration, so they would give a faster desktop window performance - which was one aspect of XP that made it superior to ALL other OS's during the time before Vista.

Other performance issues, such as scheduling efficiency, etc. - again, those are related to the kernel used by the UNIX or Unix-like OS. I think that Linux generally runs slower than Solaris, so if you want a faster OS, I'd say go with OpenSolaris or Nexenta (uses DEbian userspace) instead of any of the Linux distros. If you want an e17 desktop (without putting it in your OS yourself) get either Elive (fast but a pain to install any drivers) or Maryan which is slower than Elive but runs all my hardware right away. Elive would never install any of the Debian drivers for my laptop - EVER!

[michinobu_zoned]

I love Ubuntu and Fedora Core. I also give my cents to Solaris though not sure if is Linux ro Unix based (I guess Unix based)

Yeah, it's definitely UNIX-based dude. It's certified against the Single UNIX Specification (SUS). I know, Linux is Unix-like, but it's not certified, so it technically isn't. Also, the two kernels are very different. The Solaris kernel out-performs the Linux in certain situations.
All Linux distros use the same kernel but just use a different user-space. How they can get the kernel and user apps to interact with each other is where the user-space differences in the Linux Distros comes into play.

But, the kernel is pretty much the center of the OS and is where the major differences between OS's come into play.

[evstevemd]

At last tell us which distro convinced you and why!!

[michinobu_zoned]

At last tell us which distro convinced you and why!!

I assume you're talking to me.
The distro of Solaris that convinced me that Solaris' kernel is faster than Linux is Solaris. I'm basing this off the stats I saw from somewhere else online. I've tried regular OpenSolaris and Solaris on the Sun Blade workstations. Both are kind of bland, OpenSolaris being less so since I could play it on my computer. Personally, I can't tell the difference since I mostly use Linux - lol. I prefer using the Enlightenment desktop and I don't know of any Solaris distro (what few there may be) which uses e-17 desktop.

[Snapafun]

Looking for the best Linux OS out there at the present time...One that looks like windows... I have used at least 10 different Linux flavors... But which is the latest and best that duplicate most of windows structure... Will await your reply...

This is where this thread started.... Again I'ld suggest PCLinuxOS ( Very Windows User Friendly) as it is only 1 cd and can be fully operational as a live cd before you commit. Note also that a variant is targeting SOHO, called "bel" ( Business Enterprise Linux ). If you are capable of getting involved then here is a distro that is targeting business servers - Window Users friendly and vary active within its forums.

[Howard2008]

I'm new to Linux, but see you have not replied to any suggestions so far and I guess mistakes I make will be corrected by others. So:

If when you say ''duplicate most of windows structure...''. You want a system that has the same file structure as Windows. Where things are stored and can be found in the same way. I think your going to have difficulty. The Linux file system does not look like Windows and needs to be learnt. Particularly the faster and capable versions.

I hate saying this but Windows is helpful in giving things names based on the function they carry out. In Linux for example, KPPP is a useful modem setup and Internet dialler utility. But you would hardly guess so from its name, and this is typical.

Being able to install and use 10 different Linux distributions suggests you have enough system and video memory to run major distributions. So choosing a distribution from somewhere like Distrowatch.com you may not be restricted by hardware limitations. I also like Linux Forums, see http://dir.linuxforums.org/category/72/ , from where a 'brief' introduction to each distribution can be found.

Windows has changed over the years. Windows on Dos 5.1 holds fond memories for me, but besides the commands that remain in use how to use this old software is forgotten. Linux is changing fast and if your happy to pay for your Linux the choice becomes even wider.

I suggest you start with a distribution that you find the easiest to use. To what the others have listed above I would add Mepis, but am writing this using 64 Studio. If you can change hard drives, get a second drive and experiment on the second drive. Disconnect your working drive while experimenting. Transfer your data using the backup copies you have made to CD or flash drive when you want to access it from a new distribution. Changing application default settings will give a chance to learn more about the apps.

Boring I guess,but hopefully helpful.

[Selwyn]

HELLO
I would suggest g os for a great linux operating system.
I tried ubuntu about 1 year ago a didn't like it.
I too myself have now switched over to linux from windoze and this is the best os i have used for new linux people.
It is still in the beta stages but windoze hasn't been right since they killed xp.
Just type g os up in google and it will be the first one
Hope this helps you out
Cheers
Dave