Linux users help me out.

[Oolok]

Amazon does not allow Australians to buy music

I have found Amazon is not the only site which does not sell to Australia. As a result I went to smaller sites or JB Hi-Fi.

But as [user]Monster_user[/user] pointed out, WINE is not perfect but does generally provide the necessary functionality of your program. But it can have some...peculiar issues.
For example, I run Steam through WINE (looking forward to this http://blogs.valvesoftware.com/linux/) and it runs great. However there is one interface issue I get which is occasionally a problem. To be able to enter text into a chat, I must alt-tab to the chat window. Clicking my way to it does not work.

EDIT:
I find your avatar is incredibly mesmerising, Evil Smurf.

So I can run TF2 through steam through wine? You may have solved my (future) gaming problems

With any luck, we may not need use WINE soon since the limited external beta for Steam Linux has been scheduled to arrive this month...not here yet though.

[user]DrunkOnEstus[/user] reminded me of this site: http://www.linuxalt.com/
GIMP is a pretty neat Photoshop alternative.

 

[Evil Smurf]

So I can run TF2 through steam through wine? You may have solved my (future) gaming problems

Please realize that with an Intel HD 4000 video chip you're going to likely have to have everything on ultra low, especially if you're not running it natively in Windows. You're giving up processor cycles and video emulation of a virtual environment, or the "not-emulation" of the Windows environment (I say that because Wine stands for "Wine Is Not an Emulator").

I found another system with these specs "http://www.pugetsystems.com/nav/traverse/standard/customize.php?sys_id=47" it has this card "nVidia Geforce GT 650M 2048 MB" is that better?

 

[Evil Smurf]

So I can run TF2 through steam through wine? You may have solved my (future) gaming problems

Please realize that with an Intel HD 4000 video chip you're going to likely have to have everything on ultra low, especially if you're not running it natively in Windows. You're giving up processor cycles and video emulation of a virtual environment, or the "not-emulation" of the Windows environment (I say that because Wine stands for "Wine Is Not an Emulator").

http://i.imgur.com/8TQtd.png

This is a picture of the graphics card/specs

 

[DrunkOnEstus]

I found another system with these specs "http://www.pugetsystems.com/nav/traverse/standard/customize.php?sys_id=47" it has this card "nVidia Geforce GT 650M 2048 MB" is that better?

Oh God yes! If a program will run either through Wine or a VM, that video chip can brute force the 1080p resolution and high textures and all that Jazz no problem. You could even emulate the Aero environment if you run 7 through a VM no problem. I still do recommend the dual boot option if you've been using Windows for a long time, as you're bound to find applications that just won't run in Linux (though it is worth checking if there's an open source version, Openoffice.org is a great alternative to Microsoft Office, for example) and you'll be glad there's a native Windows environment one restart away.

 

[Evil Smurf]

http://www.linuxalt.com/

Thanks for the website

 

[Evil Smurf]

I found another system with these specs "http://www.pugetsystems.com/nav/traverse/standard/customize.php?sys_id=47" it has this card "nVidia Geforce GT 650M 2048 MB" is that better?

Oh God yes! If a program will run either through Wine or a VM, that video chip can brute force the 1080p resolution and high textures and all that Jazz no problem. You could even emulate the Aero environment if you run 7 through a VM no problem. I still do recommend the dual boot option if you've been using Windows for a long time, as you're bound to find applications that just won't run in Linux (though it is worth checking if there's an open source version, Openoffice.org is a great alternative to Microsoft Office, for example) and you'll be glad there's a native Windows environment one restart away.

I use OSX, and Google docs for all my work stuff. I will either duel boot/virtualise windows XP and or 7 if the situation requires it.

 

[DrunkOnEstus]

I should also note, that regardless of the Distro you choose (except maybe Gentoo or its variants...) that Distro's forums should be filled with incredibly helpful, nice people who are there to help you cut your teeth on the whole experience, although the GUIs are getting incredibly better at emulating the ease-of-use that Windows enjoys.

If you plan on using Ubuntu, do realize that its Gnome GUI is closer to Mac OSX than Windows. KDE is the one that's closer to the Windows experience, with the "start" button on the bottom and such.

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

The admin of the Linux Users Group!

And the other guy...who seems to post there with the greatest frequency

So can either of you offer any more insight? Here is the question

I am considering getting a laptop like this: https://www.system76.com/laptops/model/gazp8 I have no problem with Linux but if I am going to use it primarily I will need to know a few things.

1) I have an itunes account, I buy music, movies and apps for my ipod touch with itunes. Is there a way I can use itunes with linux or is there an alternative which lets me buy music, movies and apps for IOS devices and lets me sync IOS devices with Linux?

2) I have the CS5 suite, is there a way of running it in Linux short of Duel booting/emulating OSX/Windows and installing from there?

Well this is weird. 2 in the morning about to go to bed when I get the urge to have a little look at the Escapist to find I have been summoned. So yeah apparantly pentagrams can summon me

Anyway to the questions

1) Movies and music can be synced using Gtkpod, Rythymbox or Banshee on linux. I personally have used banshee for syncing my ipod classic and android phone for 2years with no issues, so I'd recommend that as the best itunes replacement. As for apps I think itunes is still needed to sync them, though I've never had a touch so I can't really say for definite, though I think itunes would still be required for that. If you want to keep itunes the best way is to use a osx/windows virtual box set up with your media folders to be shared between the guest and host OS so you can just easily access all your media in the guest OS without copying it over. As for buying music i find amazon useful, although its mp3 downloader seems to only work in 32 bit linux OS's but if you have access to amazon cloud player in your country then you can easily download in linux with that. Also players like rythymbox and banshee have built in support for various mp3 stores. Though I personally just use amazon directly.

Edit: whoops posted before i was finished

2). According to Wine db CS5 is rated gold so it should be possible to run it in linux via wine with little problem. There are instruction that may help on windb http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=20158.

Although if my experiences with trying to get AutoCAD to work on linux is anything to go by, it is often a time saver to either 1) run the program in a virtualbox if your computer can handle the extra resource demand, 2) dual boot or 3) use an alternative that is linux native (although that isn't always an option really). I'd say try running it in wine first to see how it works and then try either option 1 or 2 if performance in wine is not up to standard.

I hope this was somewhat helpful. Sorry if the post is a bit rushed I typing on a touchscreen at the minute, not ideal. If I come across anything that might be useful to you I'll let you know.

 

[thesilentman]

I am considering getting a laptop like this: https://www.system76.com/laptops/model/gazp8 I have no problem with Linux but if I am going to use it primarily I will need to know a few things.

1) I have an itunes account, I buy music, movies and apps for my ipod touch with itunes. Is there a way I can use itunes with linux or is there an alternative which lets me buy music, movies and apps for IOS devices and lets me sync IOS devices with Linux?

2) I have the CS5 suite, is there a way of running it in Linux short of Duel booting/emulating OSX/Windows and installing from there?

..................

1) I plan to buy music on my ipod

Hate to break your bubble, but iTunes won't work under Wine. There's some issues with it as Wine is a compatibility layer, not a true layer. (Google for details)

As for CS5, I have to ask what programs of the suite you use as I'm sure there's a free Linux equivalent which should be just as powerful somewhere. I know that GIMP can replace Photoshop, but I'll have to look for equivalents for the other programs.

Now, for initiation.

Welcome to the OS elitism club. Good to have ya' here, Smurf. Stupid Mac kiddies. (Apologies if you use a Mac, D

PS- Make a 32-bit Ubuntu Live USB. It basically lets you rescue any system, be it Windows or Linux or Mac, if you know what you're doing. Google is your friend in these cases. That thing has saved my ass more times than I can count.

 

[Evil Smurf]

Hate to break your bubble, but iTunes won't work under Wine. There's some issues with it as Wine is a compatibility layer, not a true layer. (Google for details)Okay, looks like I will run itunes with Virtual Box

As for CS5, I have to ask what programs of the suite you use as I'm sure there's a free Linux equivalent which should be just as powerful somewhere. I know that GIMP can replace Photoshop, but I'll have to look for equivalents for the other programs.I've heard I can run it with wine

Welcome to the OS elitism club. Good to have ya' here, Smurf. Stupid Mac kiddies. (Apologies if you use a Mac, D Yeah I do use a mac, I love it because the GUI, Virus avoidability (YES I KNOW YOU CAN GET VIRUSES ON A MAC!) I realised that Linux offers the same things, so why not?

PS- Make a 32-bit Ubuntu Live USB. It basically lets you rescue any system, be it Windows or Linux or Mac, if you know what you're doing. Google is your friend in these cases. That thing has saved my ass more times than I can count.

could you elaborate?

 

[DrunkOnEstus]

PS- Make a 32-bit Ubuntu Live USB. It basically lets you rescue any system, be it Windows or Linux or Mac, if you know what you're doing. Google is your friend in these cases. That thing has saved my ass more times than I can count.

could you elaborate?

A "live environment" is a CD or USB stick that you boot from, and it has a linux environment right from boot that you use normally, except it doesn't install anything to the hard drive. If something wonks on your computer you boot from it, and can mount your regular hard drive and run virus scans/fsck (chkdisk) or get your files off of it if it's doomed and requires format etc. It is in fact very handy and it works on anybody's computer. You can slipstream the programs you want on there, but by default they come with a web browser, virus scan, mp3 player, essentially everything you'd want a computer to do in a jiffy.

You can also use a Live CD to test a distro through the CD to see if you like it, then just install it to your HDD from the live CD if you like what you see.

 

[Evil Smurf]

PS- Make a 32-bit Ubuntu Live USB. It basically lets you rescue any system, be it Windows or Linux or Mac, if you know what you're doing. Google is your friend in these cases. That thing has saved my ass more times than I can count.

could you elaborate?

A "live environment" is a CD or USB stick that you boot from, and it has a linux environment right from boot that you use normally, except it doesn't install anything to the hard drive. If something wonks on your computer you boot from it, and can mount your regular hard drive and run virus scans/fsck (chkdisk) or get your files off of it if it's doomed and requires format etc. It is in fact very handy and it works on anybody's computer. You can slipstream the programs you want on there, but by default they come with a web browser, virus scan, mp3 player, essentially everything you'd want a computer to do in a jiffy.

You can also use a Live CD to test a distro through the CD to see if you like it, then just install it to your HDD from the live CD if you like what you see.

Nice!, Even nicer is that my ISP has linux distros in its freezone

 

[thesilentman]

As for CS5, I have to ask what programs of the suite you use as I'm sure there's a free Linux equivalent which should be just as powerful somewhere. I know that GIMP can replace Photoshop, but I'll have to look for equivalents for the other programs.I've heard I can run it with wine

It's better to run it native, as you won't need to configure Wine like crazy. But it's up to you.

Yeah I do use a mac, I love it because the GUI, Virus avoidability (YES I KNOW YOU CAN GET VIRUSES ON A MAC!) I realised that Linux offers the same things, so why not?

[sub]Pwease don't hurt me. I'm sowwy. "Runs off and sobs in a corner"[/sub]

I have nothing personal against Mac users. It's just that the majority that I've met were dicks. So I apologize (once again).

could you elaborate?

It lets you run a full copy of Ubuntu off of a flash drive. Very useful when you face virus issues and tech shit that just refuses to cooperate. There's also a CD version for older computers and Macs as I've heard Macs can't boot from USB. I actually am writing this post off of a Live USB. Damn Vista partition just had to go to hell...

 

[Evil Smurf]

I have nothing personal against Mac users. It's just that the majority that I've met were dicks. So I apologize (once again) Fanboys in general are dicks, I know my brother refuses to buy/use non apple things. Powerpoint? NOPE word? NOPE. It is infuriating.

It lets you run a full copy of Ubuntu off of a flash drive. Very useful when you face virus issues and tech shit that just refuses to cooperate. There's also a CD version for older computers and Macs as I've heard Macs can't boot from USB. I actually am writing this post off of a Live USB. Damn Vista partition just had to go to hell...

that is very usefull I will use one with my XP in virtual box when I need to then.

 

[thesilentman]

It lets you run a full copy of Ubuntu off of a flash drive. Very useful when you face virus issues and tech shit that just refuses to cooperate. There's also a CD version for older computers and Macs as I've heard Macs can't boot from USB. I actually am writing this post off of a Live USB. Damn Vista partition just had to go to hell...

that is very usefull I will use one with my XP in virtual box when I need to then.

I just remembered a catch though; the live USB doesn't save any settings that you change. So if you connect to a wireless network using a Live USB, you'll need to do it every time you boot off of the USB. Installed programs also get wiped every time you shut off the computer. And adding the fact that USB drives get worn out fast by running an OS on it, the USB is only good for repair. There's more, but I'd be here all night to explain.

 

[Okulossos]

I just remembered a catch though; the live USB doesn't save any settings that you change.[...]

Thats only partially true. You can make a USB-Live-Distro of Ubuntu with some extra space allocated. There you can save some programs and settings. I have never tried it out, so I don't know how well it really works, but a friend of mine is Running one of his PCs like that.

Another Thing: when coming from Mac OSX you will need to adapt a lot (perhaps even more than with windows). Linux has not been made with "'visualizing' the user into believing his system works well" in mind. Most of what makes up the work process on an Apple is just there to comfort your eyes. The security of the system is close to non existent and leaves huge gaps which have been exploited by uncountable amounts of malware and hackingtools, yet apple keeps lying to their customers, because the security issues are by design and they don't want to change that. Linux on the other hand is close to being the most secure thing you will encounter, meaning that a lot of things need to be verified and such. there is also very little in the way of "window dressing" and you will come to a point, where you will have to use and understand the console (don't be afraid though, it's actually very easy once you overcome the fear).
Mac OSX has completely forgotten its UNIX-Roots and it's terrible that you brother won't even install any third party software since that include the few and poorly designed Anti-Malware programs you have for that system.

I have bin using a fair share of different Distros over the past years and for most of my work I have somehow gotten stuck on Xubuntu, which is Ubuntu with a modified Xfce Desktop (for most of the rest of my work I use either Arch with xmonad, which is hard to learn but if you have it you will know what speed feels like, or Oracle Linux with KDE at least atm). I would advise you to try out different desktops in you time, because they all have a different feel to them and you have to choice to permanently optimize your workspace for your needs. There are some desktops that are completely different from anything you know, and there are some desktop modifications that can revolutionize they way you look at a desktop, much like the windows 3D Workspace does. Ubuntus Unity-desktop is fine, although not what I would use, because it has some mechanics that are just slowing down in my opinion.
Below I have made a small list of desktops and distros you might want to check out as a beginner:

Desktops for beginners:
-KDE (bulky but beautiful)
-Gnome3/Gnome Shell (I guess its more meant for touchscreens, but a friend of mine loves it on his normal laptop)
-Mate (Gnome 2)
-Cinnamon (a different branch of Gnome 3, its a matter of taste)
-Trinity (old KDE)
-Xfce (very light, but lightning fast)
-Lxde (even smaller and faster with some efford it can also be pretty)
-Enlightenment (even smaller and faster than lxde)
-Openbox (the smallest in this list, I have used it for a year and I still love it)

There are Desktops that are far more adventurous, but can also be very neat. For example, i have once combined Fluxbox with Metisse to get a superfast and very interesting desktop. It crashed a few times, but i also never found the time to really do something with it. It was still a lot of fun to play around with that.

Distros for beginners:
-Linux Mint (I guess it is supposed to be the easiest of the bunch, is basically a redesigned Ubuntu that comes with a lot of condecs etc that you have to install after setup on Ubuntu)
-Ubuntu/Xubuntu/Kubuntu/Lubuntu (One of the most prominent distros, it has many features that make it very eay for beginners to get the hang of things. Meant to be a "Windows-Killer")
-PCLinuxOs (one of the first distros for non-nerd users and still one of the best. it comes with huge ammounts of pre-installed software)
-Zorin (You want Linux but like Windows: Zorin is linux that looks and feels like windows)
-Knoppix (the first Linux to introduce live-CD and still a very well designed and stable linux, i have used it for 2 years and was never not happy with it)
-open SuSe (very stable and old distro based on slackware. Its "the other" ubuntu for those that dislike Debian)
-Fedora (bleeding edge software that does not always run very stable? here you go, with fedora you are ahead of you time. Its based on red Head but does not use the RH unbreakable kernel)
-CentOS (another fedora which is a bit less bleeding edge and a bit more stable to my knowledge, I know someone who is a die-hard fan, but I have never used it)
-Crunchbang (Debian with graphical installer and configure Openbox Desktop: extremely nice and plain distro, I use it for netbooks and systems that need to be stable and setup quickly at all costs)
-Slitaz (very small runs from you memory)
-Aptosid (perhaps the easiest rolling release distro)

That is by far not all, but I guess the most interesting from my point of view (no, I have not used Mageia and I don't know anyone who did, so I have no opinion here).

 

[Evil Smurf]

I just remembered a catch though; the live USB doesn't save any settings that you change.[...]

Thats only partially true. You can make a USB-Live-Distro of Ubuntu with some extra space allocated. There you can save some programs and settings. I have never tried it out, so I don't know how well it really works, but a friend of mine is Running one of his PCs like that.

Another Thing: when coming from Mac OSX you will need to adapt a lot (perhaps even more than with windows). Linux has not been made with "'visualizing' the user into believing his system works well" in mind. Most of what makes up the work process on an Apple is just there to comfort your eyes. The security of the system is close to non existent and leaves huge gaps which have been exploited by uncountable amounts of malware and hackingtools, yet apple keeps lying to their customers, because the security issues are by design and they don't want to change that. Linux on the other hand is close to being the most secure thing you will encounter, meaning that a lot of things need to be verified and such. there is also very little in the way of "window dressing" and you will come to a point, where you will have to use and understand the console (don't be afraid though, it's actually very easy once you overcome the fear).
Mac OSX has completely forgotten its UNIX-Roots and it's terrible that you brother won't even install any third party software since that include the few and poorly designed Anti-Malware programs you have for that system.

I have bin using a fair share of different Distros over the past years and for most of my work I have somehow gotten stuck on Xubuntu, which is Ubuntu with a modified Xfce Desktop (for most of the rest of my work I use either Arch with xmonad, which is hard to learn but if you have it you will know what speed feels like, or Oracle Linux with KDE at least atm). I would advise you to try out different desktops in you time, because they all have a different feel to them and you have to choice to permanently optimize your workspace for your needs. There are some desktops that are completely different from anything you know, and there are some desktop modifications that can revolutionize they way you look at a desktop, much like the windows 3D Workspace does. Ubuntus Unity-desktop is fine, although not what I would use, because it has some mechanics that are just slowing down in my opinion.
Below I have made a small list of desktops and distros you might want to check out as a beginner:

Desktops for beginners:
-KDE (bulky but beautiful)
-Gnome3/Gnome Shell (I guess its more meant for touchscreens, but a friend of mine loves it on his normal laptop)
-Mate (Gnome 2)
-Cinnamon (a different branch of Gnome 3, its a matter of taste)
-Trinity (old KDE)
-Xfce (very light, but lightning fast)
-Lxde (even smaller and faster with some efford it can also be pretty)
-Enlightenment (even smaller and faster than lxde)
-Openbox (the smallest in this list, I have used it for a year and I still love it)

There are Desktops that are far more adventurous, but can also be very neat. For example, i have once combined Fluxbox with Metisse to get a superfast and very interesting desktop. It crashed a few times, but i also never found the time to really do something with it. It was still a lot of fun to play around with that.

Distros for beginners:
-Linux Mint (I guess it is supposed to be the easiest of the bunch, is basically a redesigned Ubuntu that comes with a lot of condecs etc that you have to install after setup on Ubuntu)
-Ubuntu/Xubuntu/Kubuntu/Lubuntu (One of the most prominent distros, it has many features that make it very eay for beginners to get the hang of things. Meant to be a "Windows-Killer")
-PCLinuxOs (one of the first distros for non-nerd users and still one of the best. it comes with huge ammounts of pre-installed software)
-Zorin (You want Linux but like Windows: Zorin is linux that looks and feels like windows)
-Knoppix (the first Linux to introduce live-CD and still a very well designed and stable linux, i have used it for 2 years and was never not happy with it)
-open SuSe (very stable and old distro based on slackware. Its "the other" ubuntu for those that dislike Debian)
-Fedora (bleeding edge software that does not always run very stable? here you go, with fedora you are ahead of you time. Its based on red Head but does not use the RH unbreakable kernel)
-CentOS (another fedora which is a bit less bleeding edge and a bit more stable to my knowledge, I know someone who is a die-hard fan, but I have never used it)
-Crunchbang (Debian with graphical installer and configure Openbox Desktop: extremely nice and plain distro, I use it for netbooks and systems that need to be stable and setup quickly at all costs)
-Slitaz (very small runs from you memory)
-Aptosid (perhaps the easiest rolling release distro)

That is by far not all, but I guess the most interesting from my point of view (no, I have not used Mageia and I don't know anyone who did, so I have no opinion here).

Wow, thanks man. I have used Ubuntu 10 in the past and Ubuntu netbook remix, I just had now idea there was so many, Why did'n't you include redhat?

 

[Monster_user]

Red Hat is generally several steps behind the current distros, and hardware and software support for non-enterprise level stuff is a little lower for anything less than a year old. You get a better consumer distribution with its development releases under the "Fedora Core" brand. Just don't get too close to the edge,...

The clear seperate between Cutting edge (Testing), standard (unstable), and proven (Stable) in Debian/Derivatives is one of the things I like about it. Cutting Edge distributions have the most problems, but provide the niftiest features. Standard distributions are what most derivatives are based on, not too old, not too new. Proven distributions are often obsolete when they are finally classified as "proven". Good for servers, or systems that need high uptimes and reliability. They don't support a lot of new hardware or software unfortunately.

That was just a small percentage of Linux distributions, there are WAY more out there.

Personally, I recommend Ubuntu.

PCLinuxOS, and Mint are two good distributions from what I've heard, never actually used them. I think PCLinuxOS uses a non-Gnome/non-KDE environment that is fairly popular, I've been meaning to try it.

 

[Okulossos]

snip

Red Hat is generally several steps behind the current distros, and hardware and software support for non-enterprise level stuff is a little lower for anything less than a year old. You get a better consumer distribution with its development releases under the "Fedora Core" brand. Just don't get too close to the edge,...

No, I did not include red hat because it is meant for Companies. It is there to be sold with service, and only with that service you will get all the features you need. Oracle has released a public yum Server with which you can use the Redhat unbreakable kernel in Oracles Linux Distro for free: http://public-yum.oracle.com/ But this is not the desktop Linux that is meant to be used by a normal user.

The clear seperate between Cutting edge (Testing), standard (unstable), and proven (Stable) in Debian/Derivatives is one of the things I like about it. Cutting Edge distributions have the most problems, but provide the niftiest features. Standard distributions are what most derivatives are based on, not too old, not too new. Proven distributions are often obsolete when they are finally classified as "proven". Good for servers, or systems that need high uptimes and reliability. They don't support a lot of new hardware or software unfortunately.

Not entirely true. There are several stable distros out there that do support a lot of new hardware IF you know how to implement it. if you want a Linux, that you install once and never think about again, you might as well go for Debian or Slackware oder the likes. There are many drivers in the repo that work wonderfully to support most new hardware, but you do need some experience to get those systems running. if they run, they will run till your hardware dies and never let you down.

That was just a small percentage of Linux distributions, there are WAY more out there.

WAAAAAAAAAAAAY more, just go to distrowatch and see for yourself, and those are not all...

Personally, I recommend Ubuntu.

Who doesn't?
Ubuntu is for sure the most popular for good reasons. it is stable and well implemented and supports nearly every feature. Its those moments, when you need something BAD that is a bit out of the line, that Ubuntu fails miserably. I had that while trying to install some very experimental stuff.

PCLinuxOS, and Mint are two good distributions from what I've heard, never actually used them. I think PCLinuxOS uses a non-Gnome/non-KDE environment that is fairly popular, I've been meaning to try it.

PCLinuxOS has a lot of different desktops in it's repo.

Choosing a desktop to suit your needs should only be the secund of your concerns. First you should chose the right distro. Even if the distro does not have your desktop of choice in its repo, you can mostly either download the sourcecode and compile it yourself, or take an external repo to install it. So the desktop can always be chosen afterwards.

 

[Monster_user]

But this is not the desktop Linux that is meant to be used by a normal user.

My mistake about why, but we do agree on the last part.

There are many drivers in the repo that work wonderfully to support most new hardware, but you do need some experience to get those systems running. if they run,...

So I had that a little wrong. Its not the lack of support, but the lack of ease in getting it working. I suppose that ease will make its way to stable releases in a few years, but the unstable releases will be that much easier to maintain.

Why would any consumer/average user want to run a "stable" distro? An "Unstable" distro is just such a great balance between cutting edge, and stable.

Personally, I recommend Ubuntu.

Who doesn't?

Point.

I've found that when Ubuntu fails, there is often a lot of good information in the Ubuntu Forums to help fix the issue. The Ubuntu Wiki Documentation, and the Ubuntu Forums are the main reason I recommend Ubuntu, not because of the polish of the distribution itself.

If you can point out a distribution that has more user friendly forums, documentation, and presentation than Canonical and their users provide, I will recommend that instead.

PCLinuxOS has a lot of different desktops in it's repo.

Choosing a desktop to suit your needs should only be the secund of your concerns.

I am aware that most distributions have multiple desktops. I was referring to the default DE. Most distributions use Gnome or KDE as their default desktop, aside from Ubuntu with its Unity desktop. My comment was that I seem to recall a lot of PCLinuxOS screenshots using LXDE, which is a DE I've never used before.

I've never tried PCLinuxOS, to compare it to Ubuntu, nor have I tried LXDE. I'm a big fan of the KDE 3.x series desktops, but not too fond of KDE 4.x. Plasma just doesn't feel quite as solid as most other GUIs.

I feel that the desktop environment is a critical part of a distribution, or the OS entirely. If the distribution I am using does not have adequate native support for my preferred DE, I will look elsewhere. The desktop is the first thing I look for in a secondary operating system. After that the package management system (DEB/APT based preferred), and the variety of packages in the repos, and how current they are kept.

Before Ubuntu, I actually recommended a little distro called "Xandros". This distribution modified KDE 3.x to fit the Windows 2000 paradigm, and it made the transition so much easier. I ended up using it as my primary OS for four years.