Newbie's first impression

[PorPorMe]

I have had Manriva installed on dual boot w\XP sp2 for about a week.My system is an Athlon XP 2400+,1gig mem,GeForce fx 5400 vid,Epox 8k5a2+ mobo w/Avance A97 Audio,80gig Western Digital(XP) 40 gig (Linux)

I don't play games (boreing) I use a computer because I find it VERY interesting to try to figure out.

I've gotten bored w\windows so am trying Linux (for fun!).It's not going to be boring-thats for sure!
A couple of first impressions I find troubling. I have no sound in Linux. After pokeing my novice head into settings and finding no solution-I looked into this forum and others only to find this is a very common problem w/no universal solution. I also have a modum that is not supported (winmodem) While I find this to be a little more understandable than the sound issue, It is still a problem that, in my opinion, is not excusable.

I, as a novice, should not have to spend all this time just to get the very basics to work. People say a lot about Windows but 1 thing they are good at is haveing a default driver or config for just about any setup. Enough ranting!

I am impressed with the no virus situation w/Linux and while XP is very stable for me,it takes some effort to keep it that way.

I am looking forward to a long learning curve!

[Freston]

Someone at some point will mention that hardware manufacturers only provide Windows drivers for their hardware. Today, it's me. I share your complaint, but it's neither Linux' fault, nor Microsofts merit that this situation exists. The best thing you can do is write the manufacturer of your sound card. Or just buy hardware from vendors that support FOSS.

But I'm glad you like our little OS Are you running Desktop effects, such as Compiz or Metisse?