Linux Distro for Newbie

[mt_100]

I have a laptop that has a partitioned drive and wanted to learn linux by dual booting with Vista.

Unfortunately I don't know enough to deal with complex driver problems and such but I do want to learn without pulling my hair out.

I've looked at a few distros and tried to come up with a good one to start with that will be a bit challenging as well as have enough support on the internet to get me through things that don't work.

I was considering: ( no particular order)

Debian
Ubuntu
Kubuntu
Mint
Mandriva

After using the live CDs for all of them Mandriva was able to detect the wireless adapter in my laptop, although incorrectly, it did work.

My laptop is a Compaq C751NR with a dual intel CPU, Atheros wireless adapter, and intel graphics. I was thinking 64 bit would be a great choice since i can fun it.

So please, can someone help me choose a distro?

[arinlares]

well, there's a forum for all of those here... as a newbie myself, i'm going to be using Ubuntu (it's really easy). Mint, Ubuntu and Kubuntu are all built off of Ubuntu, and i think the only hard part is the initial istallation (which is really simple, Mint is less so), I don't know enough about Debian and Mandriva.

[GNU-Fan]

Hello,

all of the above Distros are great for starters, but I only love Debian.

I also like Mandriva because of this experimental French desktop called Metisse, which I think was cool.

Ubuntu has a community which is said to be very newbie friendly, because the whole distributions was made with beginners in mind.
Kubuntu is Ubuntu's sister with another look. (Do you prefer blondies or brunettes?)

[oz]

I was considering: ( no particular order)

Debian
Ubuntu
Kubuntu
Mint
Mandriva

Welcome to the forums!

Any of those should work fine.

Check the information in the link in my signature for a couple of quizzes to help with choosing a distro.

[kostasan]

Since Mandriva worked better out of the box on your laptop, it seems the natural choice for you. It is very user friendly.
I use Ubuntu and it rocks! Can't say the same about Kubuntu, though, cause it never received the attention to detail as Ubuntu...
You could also try opensuse, but it does not have a live-cd.

[GNU-Fan]

You could also try opensuse, but it does not have a live-cd.

Actually, it has.
openSUSE News » openSUSE 10.3 Live Version Available

[mt_100]

Mandriva worked but I did notice it detected the Atheros wireless and the wrong model and didn't know how to change it.

I'm eliminating Kubuntu from the list, down to:

Ubuntu
Mandriva
Debian
Mint