I have no idea about paying for the download - but admit that i didn't install Linux myself.

I got my dad to do it, it got me a little bit lost aswell.

However once it is on your system - it is so easy to use.
I couldn't say which version you should use, coz like I say, I wasn't sure about that bit either.

Sorry Silver

Thanx. Carl

I have an NVidia FX5600 graphics card - are there proven Linux driver for such cards ?

IanR

Since reading this post I have looked into it...but I'm afraid it appears at first glance that this is really complicated stuff as far as downloading and installing Linux.  I have NO idea what to do...like which specific version I need for my system and stuff (Pentium i386?, i586??).  Also I hear Linux is free...but what's this about having to subscribe for a price in order to download?

Rollerball has given you the correct link for downloading the 3 ISOs.
You want i586 ISOs
It is free; you can make a donation if you like.
You must then burn them as 'image files'
look at your burning software for info on burning ISO images.

It is all pretty straight forward but Linux does require a bit of reading and there is a learning curve.
I would suggest anyone who is interested look at the demos on the Mandrake home page and get a feel for it.
Main thing is to prepare your hard drive properly first for the  install.
On a new harddrive as some people have suggested, you would not want to partition for format at all. Hook it up and make sure it is jumpered correctly and recognized in the BIOS and then let Linux install to the drive.

For those wondering about how easy it is to transfer to linux.  I would personnelly say it is very easy and you will enjoy using linux.  You can do anything that you can do with windows plus more.

A good program similar to m$ office to use is staroffice.  Also if you don't want to download linux you can buy it from most computer shops for about £20-30.

Wow

I'm sending this using the Konquerer browser in Mandrake Linux. Just above the panel I've got several lines of text all saying' browser not compatible with these buttons'. That just about sums it up.

Just to say I'm now abandoning any attempt to get anything working in Linux! If this is the 'user friendly' version I'd hate to be dealing with the one that has a reputation for being totally uncommunicative and/or downright uncooperative!

I've got Mandrake and Wine on board - but I don't have the faintest idea how to make em do anything useful!

It's like going back to the 70's and 80's when everything was new and pushing back frontiers and you had to be either an expert or a total enthusiast to achieve anything. I was then but I'm afraid Windows has totally spoilt us now by making most things intuitive so that anyone can do even highly complex things with the software without needing to know anything about what's going on under the bonnet(..hood for our Trans-Atlantic cousins). That's Mr Gates's main achievement.

Linux (and Mandrake Linux) is like UNIX always was - a language that has to be studied and learnt. I just don't now have the time. Things that you can work out in a few minutes with Windows are taking hours with Linux. It seems you've got to read the book to make any progress. Never had to do that with Windows.

So best of luck to anyone else who's carrying on. I look forward very much to seeing how you get on. If you do manage to create an idiots step-by-step how-to I'll be the first to try it out, but I can't spend any more time on it now unfortunately. I'll be keeping my disk configd for the time being - just in case.

- code as Smilies aren't compatible.....

Roger

I am going to have to agree with RollerBall and add one more thing.  I can't even get past the installation.  So much for the user friendly and error free operating system.

Anyway, the problem is not exactly the installation.  The installion completes just fine except that it doesn't like my video card.  The ATI Radeon 9800 pro is not even on the list of video cards during the installation.  I can't get KDE or GNOME or any other windows platform to start.

Silver1SWA, you are using a Radeon 9800 pro.  Did you get past the installation?  If so, how?  I refuse to give up on Linux yet.

He he  

I had it sending and receiving emails - but very badly compared to the fantastic convenience and features of Outlook or Outlook Express. I had it browsing - again very badly, with gaps in frames and squashed images. Adding things to Favorites (or Bookmarks) took about 3 or 4 clicks and even though I asked it to put Bookmarks in alphabetical order, it didn't.

I made it play a DVD - surprisingly well actually. But although it had sound, I couldn't initially make it play a CD. And when it did (how I made it I still don't know) as soon as sound came out, the CD player crashed.

I looked in the tute at how to install stuff - and it looks as though you've got to learn dozens of commands and switches to install even the simplest prog through the console, apparently. And I still even now don't know how to make a prog run, or how to get a shortcut onto a (very bleak and empty) desktop.

No, I don't think that Linux has managed to move away at all from its roots - which is as a plaything for computer programmers. And that's the problem. It's created by programmers for programmers whereas Windows is created by programmers for idiots. And that's why Windows has been so successful.

The market of idiots who want to use PCs with little or no knowledge is MUCH bigger than the market of programmers - and always will be.

But there you are, you get what you pay for, I guess. It's probably unfair to compare Linux against something that is probably the most successful commercial product in the history of the World. Expectations should be in proportion to cost and Linux is free after all.

PS

For PC buffs, I should add that we're talking about the client side here. Anyone must recognize that on the server side where the demands are totally different UNIX is a completely different kettle of fish and may still be the best server system ever.