I thought it would be worth mentioning that there's a lot of activity going on to make Linux accessible and easy for a newbie. Responding to Fabiana's question earlier I did not even think of the many not-as-obvious alternatives out there. I'll try to give a short listing here instead.
The general rule is that if you download the stuff online, you get just the iso images to burn on cd. Sometimes a boxed version is basically the cost of the cds but with most of these products, you get docs to help you out. If you order it boxed, depending on the price you will get a wider set of apps bundled (some of which are not free) AND you will most likely get some docs included as well (docs are not always easy to find for Linux, different projects have different sets of documentation available). Unless you have a beefy internet connection, downloading will take a lot of time.
Suse: commercial distribution with a long history of quality products
My recommended product: Suse Linux 9.0 Personal
Feature listing: http://www.suse.com/us/private/products/suse_linux/i386/pers_prof.html
Cost: $39.95/also available as free download
3 CD-ROMs, 1 manual (User Guide), 60 days of installation support
Tested? I tried Suse 8.2 and it was the best easy Linux distro I had seen at that time.
Mandrake: they have both commercial and free products
My recommended product: Mandrake Linux Discovery 9.2 or Mandrake Linux 9.2 free download
Feature listing: http://www.mandrakesoft.com/products/92/discovery
Cost: $39/free
2 CD-ROMs, The Discovering Mandrake Linux Guide, 30 days Mail Installation support, 1 Month MandrakeClub subscription
Tested? Tried Mandrake 9.0, quite nice but I liked Suse more, perhaps the new Discovery product is even friendlier.
Lindows: commercial distribution designed for Windows converts, I'm skeptical because I see them as too commercial (eager to advertise their product) rather than letting the product speak for itself, like most distros
My recommended product: LindowsOS 4.0
Feature listing: http://lindows.com/lindows_sales_intro.php
Cost: $59.95/$49.95 for download version
Tested? I tried Lindows 3, and I didn't like it, it was bloated and looked a little bulky.
Xandros: relatively new project, not really familiar with it
My recommended product: Xandros Desktop OS version 2 Standard
Feature listing: http://www.xandros.com/desktop_standard.html
Cost: unknown, product to be released in December 2003
Tested? No
Fedora: based on RedHat Linux, Fedora is a community project. RedHat is a long standing business quality standard, since they decided to give up their desktop project, a community project was initiated to continue the work they did with RedHat Linux. The first Fedora release has been well received
My recommended product: Fedora Core 1
Feature listing: http://fedora.redhat.com/
Cost: free
Tested? I've tested RedHat 8 and 9, both of which are nice but not quite user friendly enough for my taste
The general rule is that if you download the stuff online, you get just the iso images to burn on cd. Sometimes a boxed version is basically the cost of the cds but with most of these products, you get docs to help you out. If you order it boxed, depending on the price you will get a wider set of apps bundled (some of which are not free) AND you will most likely get some docs included as well (docs are not always easy to find for Linux, different projects have different sets of documentation available). Unless you have a beefy internet connection, downloading will take a lot of time.
Suse: commercial distribution with a long history of quality products
My recommended product: Suse Linux 9.0 Personal
Feature listing: http://www.suse.com/us/private/products/suse_linux/i386/pers_prof.html
Cost: $39.95/also available as free download
3 CD-ROMs, 1 manual (User Guide), 60 days of installation support
Tested? I tried Suse 8.2 and it was the best easy Linux distro I had seen at that time.
Mandrake: they have both commercial and free products
My recommended product: Mandrake Linux Discovery 9.2 or Mandrake Linux 9.2 free download
Feature listing: http://www.mandrakesoft.com/products/92/discovery
Cost: $39/free
2 CD-ROMs, The Discovering Mandrake Linux Guide, 30 days Mail Installation support, 1 Month MandrakeClub subscription
Tested? Tried Mandrake 9.0, quite nice but I liked Suse more, perhaps the new Discovery product is even friendlier.
Lindows: commercial distribution designed for Windows converts, I'm skeptical because I see them as too commercial (eager to advertise their product) rather than letting the product speak for itself, like most distros
My recommended product: LindowsOS 4.0
Feature listing: http://lindows.com/lindows_sales_intro.php
Cost: $59.95/$49.95 for download version
Tested? I tried Lindows 3, and I didn't like it, it was bloated and looked a little bulky.
Xandros: relatively new project, not really familiar with it
My recommended product: Xandros Desktop OS version 2 Standard
Feature listing: http://www.xandros.com/desktop_standard.html
Cost: unknown, product to be released in December 2003
Tested? No
Fedora: based on RedHat Linux, Fedora is a community project. RedHat is a long standing business quality standard, since they decided to give up their desktop project, a community project was initiated to continue the work they did with RedHat Linux. The first Fedora release has been well received
My recommended product: Fedora Core 1
Feature listing: http://fedora.redhat.com/
Cost: free
Tested? I've tested RedHat 8 and 9, both of which are nice but not quite user friendly enough for my taste
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