Which Distro?

[chemikalguy]

Okay,

I'm a bit frustrated. I want a distro that works, right out of the box. Any suggestions? I've tried just about every one I can think of - Mandrake/Mandriva, SuSe, Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Mepis, etc. There's always something that doesn't work. I want a system that I can install, access my other (windows) boxes on my network for data sharing, play multimedia files (including .wmv), etc. So far, I haven't found a distro that functions properly on a fresh install. It always seems like I try to play a .wmv file and I get a message that I need to install some kind of codecs and all that, which I have no idea how to do, or even how to find. I even tried to play a .mpg, and even that wouldn't play.

I tried it on Mandrake/Mandriva, and the multimedia worked, but I couldn't get it to connect to my windows boxes. I also couldn't get my laser printer to install. I'm very frustrated. I want to make the switch to Linux (on at least one computer), on a permanent basis, but I'm not a Linux expert, so I want something to work as a windows replacement right out of the box.

Any suggestions?

[techieMoe]

Please read this thread. There are answers to several common questions, including "Which Distro?"

http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/lin...ead-first.html

If you have a specific question about how to get something working in a specific distribution, please start a thread in that section of the forum and we'll do our best to help you.