mandrake9

I was a complete linux newbie and decided I would give mandrake a try, as I had heard that it was pretty easy to setup and use for a first time user. What I found was that it was just as easy to setup and get started as windows was if not easier for me. I will have to say that I am not a computer newbie but a linux newbie so maybe that helped me to some degree. Here's all I had to do to get started. First I downloaded the three disk images and burnt them using nero as my burning tool of choice. The site I downloaded the images from even had step by step instructions for burning the images using several popular burning programs if you are not familiar with how to do this. Second I defragmented the harddrive as it suggested since I was keeping windows and running a dual boot system (at least till I was sure I could handle linux). Third I popped the first cd into the cd drive and linux guided me the rest of the way installing mandrake. I have to say mandrake has a great installation program, it handled everything from partitioning the harddrive to finding all the hardware, the only thing that it didn't set up automatic was the lcd screen, (I should pointout that I installed this on a HP Pavilion n3290 laptop) and all I had to do to get mandrake to setup the lcd was pick from a pull down menu. Again I cannot overstate how easy that mandrake setup on this laptop system. I have roadrunner as a internet provider and it also set that up with no intervention from myself either. After installation things ran fine also, although there is a little bit of a learning curve once you get into other things, but to do the basic stuff like websurfing, checking email and the like you can use the automatically installed software. Myself I opted for different programs than the installed software and this is where the learning curve comes in as some software is somewhat more involved in installation than just running the setup program, but other than that I say mandrake is just as easy as windows to setup and use if you use the default programs.

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