Which Linux GUI with XP dual boot

[antgross@pacbell.net]

After watching the incredibly slow SP2 update for an hour (what was really the freakin point to it anyway? I have 3rd party firewall, antivirus, and spyware doctor already) take forever, I decided that maybe it's time to start looking elsewhere for my OS needs. I know nothing about unix/linux etc but I'm a Windows power user. I guess I need to know the following:

Which LINUX OS w/GUI is best for my needs: I've looked at Linspire (seems too lightweight) and Mandrake(seems like overkill and designed for engineers and extreme nerds) but not sure which one would be best for setting up as an alternative OS to XP ( I want to setup Dual boot). Will probably use separate hard drive for each OS. I went to some linux website and there must have been about 50 versions of Linux (I think some consolidation is in order here folks if Linux wants to really take off)

Which Linux OS has the best chance of working with most of my hardware: I have ATHLON 2700+ and asus a7nx8 motherboard w/Leadtek 6800gt video card, samsung 213T monitor, logitech wireless keyboard/mouse, audigy 2 sound card, external USB maxtor harddrive.

I'm not interested in learning about the deep inner workings of LInux. I just want an alternative OS for safe surfing/emailing/document creation(something compatible with MS WORD)-without having to worry about my data being stolen, hijacked etc.. I can use XP for games, etc.

thanks,

Anthony

[Rugpriest]

I chose suse linux because it has a very useful configuration tool called YaST (Yet another Setup Tool) which is very easy to use and like windows control panel. I havnt seen anything like it on other versions of linux. They also have an excellent update service and software package management.

Open Office.org is compatible with MS Office files and is free (there are both windows and linux versions of it)

If you want to test hardware to see if it will work then try downloading Knoppix www.knoppix.org. This is a live cd that doesnt require installing - just boot from it and go. From that you can see if Linux works or not. Its based on Debian Linux

[kilgoretrout]

The ususal suspects for newbs are fedora, mandrake and suse. By the way, the only one that ever described mandrake as "for engineers" is linspire in their great shoot out add campaign. Linspire/lindows has a habit of making outlandish marketing claims and pissing everyone in the linux community off. Mandrake is a very newbie friendly distro and generally acknowledged as such by anyone knowing anything about linux and it's free, unlike linspire, which is why they try to trash mandrake in their adds. Suse is also very nice as is fedora. If you want to test the waters, the best thing to do is download a bootable live linux cd like knoppix; it writes nothing to your hard drive and has excellent hardware detection. Knoppix is also a good way to see if you have any hardware problems with linux.

[LocoCoyote]

With you being a Windows power user, I think that once you get over the initial switch you will probably migrate totally to Linux. For those who love to tweak and play, it is hard to beat Linux.
You are correct that there are tons of different distributions out there. each one focuses on some aspect or idea (more or less).
I prefer SuSE 9.1 right now and I think it would be a great choice for you just beginning. It is very user friendly, runs KDE (GUI) by default, and has tons and tons of software (pro version).
Do yourself a favor and stay away from the Lindows..lin whateveritisthisweek hybrid. It is just trouble. I advise against fendora (or whatever Red hat became). It was a great distribution, but has headed downhill since Red Hat cut the umbilical cord. Most other major (Mandrake, Slackware, debian, Knoppix, etc) are good choices to.
Defiantly do it though. Get a distro and spend some time using it. Put aside your prejudices , keep an open mind and I think you will be surprised how much you'll like Linux!

Best of luck to you!

[antgross@pacbell.net]

Thanks. After looking at SUSE screenshots, reading about features etc. I think it might the best choice for me at this time. I am simpy BLOWN away by the number of programs that can be used for free.

I downloaded SUSE 9.1 last night, made the ISO CD and booted from it. I had to abort the installation though because I got confused over some issues of partitions etc. I only have one partition on my hard drive and I didn't want to accidentally wipe out XP. I'm going to install an old second hard drive and install Linux on that instead.

Anthony

[LocoCoyote]

Don't confuse KDE (which SuSE uses by default) with linux! You could just as well use Gnome, IceWM, or any one of a thousand other window managers. each one brings with it a differnt look and functionality. remember..this is linux (or any other *nix..I have no problem running KDE and Gnome on my FreeBSD 4.8 system)

You're not on Windows anymore Toto!