How have distros developed since a few years ago?

[ExpertBeginner]

Background:

About two or three years ago I started to play with Linux distros, partly out of curiosity, and at the time, frustration with Windows. I’m sure you’ve all heard this scenario thousands of times….

After a few months of playing with different live CD’s and a couple of installations I decided Linux wasn’t for me at the time, and left it alone.

Part of the reason I decided not to persevere with Linux was because at the time, I couldn’t find a distro that truly did everything I wanted, and back then NTFS write wasn’t supported, and I still had issues with installing software (I wasn’t a fan of using CLI for this).

Matter:

Here we are at the back end of 2008, and I’m curious to know if there have been any major developments with distros that can roughly mimic how Windows does it’s thing, but with the added security, stability and customisation that Linux core offers.

I am aware that NTFS write is now fully supported – I am also seeking to find out if any automated application installers have been developed and widely accepted into any distros; all that along with driver/hardware support and a sprinkling of eye candy with newer DE’s.

Are there now distros available that have these specifics?

[L4Linux]

All major distributions fulfill your criteria. I use Ubuntu 8.10, but you may prefer Fedora, OpenSuse, Mandriva, Debian or something else. Driver support has made leaps these 3 years and program installation has become easier as well. Compiz is now a few clicks away from activation, if not enabled by default.

For package management, there is a very promising approach by Fedora & Red Hat: packagekit. This is a frontend that can be used by any distribution and uses the distributions backend (deb,rpm,etc...) This way, all distributions can have the same front-end while keeping the back-end of their choice. This will unify the user experience to some extend if used by all major distribution and will help new users greatly (since installing a program will look the same to them, regardless of distribution)

[wowbag1]

Hi,
I know what you mean about this with the distro's.
I use Fedora 8 which seems to do most things I ask of it and using the Yum / rpm software updating and installing is quick and easy most times. It also supports all my hardware although my setup is not cutting edge, it does better out of the box on my setups than XP does.
Crossover office is good for running microsoft office apps on Linux, but I still need XP sometimes because of commercial codecs etc.
So you get what you pay for I think, and in my opinion you get more for your money with Linux than Windows.
Just a small comment however, I like it to be different to windows including in the way it does things.

wowbag1

[ExpertBeginner]

Just a small comment however, I like it to be different to windows including in the way it does things.

wowbag1

Thank you both for your comments, very appreciative.

Of course, I don’t want a Windows replica, - it would be truly ignorant to ask for such a thing of Linux – I realise Linux has its own identity and way of doing things, and naturally it’s supporters/users and developers are very loyal to it’s fundamentals.

However there is something to be said about the progress that has been made through other operating systems functions, that have (for your average user) developed more intuitive, compatible and ultimately productive solutions to get tasks done with a computer.

These are functions that I think would be very valuable to some mainstream Linux distros, and I’m pleased to hear that developers are granting these to new users.

[arkolyte]

I use Fedora Core 8 also and I can do just about anything with it than I can on Windows (except high-end gaming, although Windows doesn't do too good of a job itself) and usually with less hassle and frustration. The only exception I've had so far is installing graphics drivers for SLI. Took me FOREVER. However, I did finally get it to work, using only help screens and Google. Although it took me a while to get the drivers installed, Linux uses the GPUs more efficiently than Windows does. Now if my games worked on Linux, it'd be great. :P

Basically, most distros have gotten more user friendly and more compatible with other filesystems, connecting to Windows computers/servers, running Windows apps, etc.