<p>there are so many that it has become rather confusing. opinions?</p>
<p>or at least tell me which one you have so I can go by tyranny-of-majority :p</p>
<p>i run ubuntu.</p>
<p>easy to set up, easy to configure. probably the best for someone used to windows and unused to the command line.</p>
<p>but really, you should just try a couple of different distros. an install doesn't take that long, and many of them have live CD's i believe.</p>
<p>I've tried about 10 different Linux distros, and none beats Ubuntu, it is the (hands down) easiest Linux distro to setup, use and update.</p>
<p>It also includes a LiveCD (boots into Linux without touching your hard drive) BEFORE you install so you can test it out. If you don't see your monitor, your mouse, wireless, etc. doesn't work, you'll know. It'll automatically make room for itself (you specify how much) and co-exist with Windows.</p>
<p>It automatically detected all the hardware in my 9 month old laptop, including the wireless (which, 2 years ago, was awful in Linux). Every other distro I tried had some sort of problems. Whenever I wanted to watch a video I didn't have the plugin for, it asked me if I wanted to download, gives some important stuff (apt-get for updating) a nice interface, etc.</p>
<p>You can download via HTTP (slow), BitTorrent (fast, if you're not behind a router and your connection is good), or you can order a CD by mail for free.</p>
<p>opensuse or ubuntu</p>
<p>DON'T GET UBUNTU...it's for the week. I mean might as well just sick with windows if you want to get ubuntu... i recommend SuSE or Red Hat.....</p>
<p>thanks for all the input! downloading ubuntu right now.</p>
<p>WDF, why ubuntu? It sucks.....</p>
<p>what sucks about it?</p>
<p>everything, what's a worse linux distribution?</p>
<p>Uh, sheed30, have you ever tried Ubuntu? It may not be the most flexible (there's always Slackware for that), or business oriented (Red Hat), but Ubuntu is an easily configurable distribution that runs well, which is important for people new to Linux.</p>
<p>I have tried Ubuntu, i guess it's personal preference but i dislike it, i'd rather use Windows than Ubuntu.</p>
<p>Ubuntu for your first distro
once you are comfortable, move on to slackware</p>
<p>'ve never used Linux but I have a PC with a corrupt/infected Winxp on it, that someone gave to me and I'd like to check out Linux."</p>
<p>If you are new to Linux I would suggest Ubuntu. Ubuntu is about as easy to use as windows. It installs with an installer which makes it very, very easy.</p>
<p>-- "The 3d cube (Beryl) looks interesting, but I am not sure if Beryl or Ubuntu is the actual OS. I believe that Beryl is the GUI that is installed after Ubuntu which would be the Linux distribution. Is this totally wrong?"</p>
<p>Beryl is a Windows Manager that works on top of popular Linux/Unix Windows managers such as GNOME, KDE and others. The program that runs that flip/cube is Beryl.</p>
<p>openSUSE looks interesting. Kubuntu is good too.</p>
<p>solaris anyone????????????</p>
<p>Solaris is not linux. It's a flavor of UNIX.</p>
<p>I know...................</p>
<p>PCLINUXOS is definitely the easiest to set up (as far as drivers etc go). It is kde while ubuntu is gnome. KDE has more a mac look, gnome has more a windows look.</p>
<p>Of course you can swap kde and gnome on most distros, but if you're just starting out, pclinuxos or ubuntu both are great.</p>
<p>uh, its the other way around. OPENsuse is KDE-based, and it looks like windows with a chameleon on the start bar instead.</p>
<p>I haven't tried PCLINUXOS, but I have tried KDE, and I definitely prefer the Gnome interface in Ubuntu.</p>
<p>Of course, if you like KDE, there's Kubuntu. I've tried both, and, as I've said before, I prefer Gnome.</p>