Which Distro ???

[Roberts]

I'm looking for a linux version to use on a PIII, 256MB ram and 20GB hard drive,
I need one thats fairly easy to install, and is easily networked with my other
Windows machines.


Thanx

[Roberts]

Linspire, Mepis, Xandros, Lycoris or Mandriva???
I want one thats similiar to Windows..


thanx Again

[tsehou]

Generally all the ones you named are similar to windows.

Are there any other criteria?

Each has their own strengths and weaknesses.

[Dan]

suse and debian are good.

[Roberts]

Well I have tried Xandros, But it was a bit of a chore to get networked.
(never actually worked) Also is it possible to use windows based programs?
I've heard that there is a program available that will let you do this.

[ultrabuzz]

It's Windows that is the problem when you try to get network going, not Linux.

BTW, what kind of network are you talking about ?
Internet sharing, file sharing, both ... ?

[Roberts]

File sharing actually, I wanted to have one computer to use with Linux
but I don't want to convert all the others.

[ultrabuzz]

I would suggest getting yourself a distribution that best suits your needs in other aspects. Don't worry about the network part for now. Play around with few, pick one you like the most then come back here and I'm sure someone will assist you with getting the file sharing set up as the process is very similar no matter what distro you decide to stick with. It's not difficult at all, btw..

[Roberts]

Ok, But any recomendations on which distributions to use
I want one similiar to windows without a major learning curve.

[tsehou]

Networking in linux and windows require you to learn how to configure SAMBA, this is standard in Linux.

Using windows programs on linux requires the use of a program called wine.

If you don't want to go into a major learning curve then mabye try linspire or mandriva.

[Ken_ver_1_5]

Any new operating system is a major learning curve.
windows they are not........
I use Debian my self took me 2 months to get the networking working.
Through that time I also learned how packages worked and how the drive
is set up etc. my advice is to jump in and see what works for you.

I am still on the upward clime in the learning curve of linux.....

[canprince]

Most new distributions now have a LiveCD which allows you to experiment without installing the OS.

I find that www.frozentech.com (http://www.frozentech.com) provides some good information on the LiveCD's available.

By the way, I use Mandrake 10.0 on an old Pentium I 233 mhz for webserver. Although it is really slow, I don't use it for anything else other than serving files.

Regards.

[Deb]

Accordign to your needs, linspire would probably be the best and easiest for you :) With linspire, you shouldn't have to mess with network settings at all, it's all done automatically for you. It looks very "windows-ish" and updating is very easy as well.

Here's a flash file so you can have a peek at it:

http://images.linspire.com/linspire5.0intro4-6-5.swf