Rating: 
Summary: Linux is a false economy
Review: After 3 weeks (probably 40+hrs at the computer) I have had the following expericences to share; 1) I have a 1 year old Dell computer Linux doesn't recognise my modem. If you have an internal modem chances it will not work with mandrake linux(and all linux distribs's). 2) I have not been able to get it to recognise my CD writer. 3) One of Linux's strengths is being able to use the Apache web server right?....Wrong! Click on install Apache 1.3.12 in this product it will say... install disk 1 I put in disk 1 click o.k. and nothing happens. If you want to get frustrated and stressed and feel stupid(particularly if you ask someone in the linux community or a linux shop for help) then buy Linux. But if your time (like mine) is worth more than about $5 an hour don't buy this product. Even if Microsoft is and has been anti-competitive at least you can get your job done with there products.
Rating:
Summary: Linux is a false economy
Review: After 3 weeks (probably 40+hrs at the computer) I have had the following expericences to share; 1) I have a 1 year old Dell computer Linux doesn't recognise my modem. If you have an internal modem chances it will not work with mandrake linux(and all linux distribs's). 2) I have not been able to get it to recognise my CD writer. 3) One of Linux's strengths is being able to use the Apache web server right?....Wrong! Click on install Apache 1.3.12 in this product it will say... install disk 1 I put in disk 1 click o.k. and nothing happens. If you want to get frustrated and stressed and feel stupid(particularly if you ask someone in the linux community or a linux shop for help) then buy Linux. But if your time (like mine) is worth more than about $5 an hour don't buy this product. Even if Microsoft is and has been anti-competitive at least you can get your job done with there products.
Rating: 
Summary: An excellent distribution for the the new user
Review: After having tested the Red Hat, Caldera, and SuSE versions of Linux, I settled on Mandrake 7.1 and have been using it for several months. The other distros are good in their own ways, but I highly recommend Mandrake for newbies. It has an extremely useful configuration tool, it supports much of the available hardware, and it offers a stable, Pentium-optimized kernel. The last poster seemed very frustrated, which is the reaction of some people who come to Linux for the first time. I'd like to offer some helpful pointers so people will try this OS and not get discouraged: 1. Most distros now have intuitive and very simple installation programs now. 2. The complaint that many internal modems won't work with Linux needs to be clarified-- software-enabled modems, Winmodems, are the standard today because they are cheap to produce. Yet they are truly not modems, because they have no on-board processor and instead use the main CPU. If you plan on using Linux with a modem, and you have no modem or you have a Winmodem, you need to purchase a real modem. These will generally be more expensive ($60-$80) but they are worth it because they don't slow your CPU down and you migrate to other operating systems without worrying about compatibility. 3. Any time you plan on using new software, you should read an instruction manual. This includes operating systems, and there are many books on Linux. 4. Supporting Linux, despite initial frustrations, will foster the already sizable Linux community and result in easier and more compatible versions, as well as showing your support for free software. 5. Use the Linux support community, which you link to from any of the distros' websites. Any possible difficulties you might encounter have been seen before, and the answers are everywhere. Have fun with it.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent distribution for the the new user
Review: After having tested the Red Hat, Caldera, and SuSE versions of Linux, I settled on Mandrake 7.1 and have been using it for several months. The other distros are good in their own ways, but I highly recommend Mandrake for newbies. It has an extremely useful configuration tool, it supports much of the available hardware, and it offers a stable, Pentium-optimized kernel. The last poster seemed very frustrated, which is the reaction of some people who come to Linux for the first time. I'd like to offer some helpful pointers so people will try this OS and not get discouraged: 1. Most distros now have intuitive and very simple installation programs now. 2. The complaint that many internal modems won't work with Linux needs to be clarified-- software-enabled modems, Winmodems, are the standard today because they are cheap to produce. Yet they are truly not modems, because they have no on-board processor and instead use the main CPU. If you plan on using Linux with a modem, and you have no modem or you have a Winmodem, you need to purchase a real modem. These will generally be more expensive ($60-$80) but they are worth it because they don't slow your CPU down and you migrate to other operating systems without worrying about compatibility. 3. Any time you plan on using new software, you should read an instruction manual. This includes operating systems, and there are many books on Linux. 4. Supporting Linux, despite initial frustrations, will foster the already sizable Linux community and result in easier and more compatible versions, as well as showing your support for free software. 5. Use the Linux support community, which you link to from any of the distros' websites. Any possible difficulties you might encounter have been seen before, and the answers are everywhere. Have fun with it.
Rating: 
Summary: A great distro for the new and experience user alike
Review: As a long time RedHat user I decided to try Mandrake which is built upon the RH distro. I was pleasently surprised and I'm now a convert. The installation process is straight forward and includes an easy to use GUI to do the dirty work. Once I installed it I found that a lot of the goodies I've collected over the years was already installed! I've installed this on several desktops and on two laptops without a hitch, I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: A great distro for the new and experience user alike
Review: As a long time RedHat user I decided to try Mandrake which is built upon the RH distro. I was pleasently surprised and I'm now a convert. The installation process is straight forward and includes an easy to use GUI to do the dirty work. Once I installed it I found that a lot of the goodies I've collected over the years was already installed! I've installed this on several desktops and on two laptops without a hitch, I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Linux-Mandrake is the best of both worlds.
Review: I have tried 2.1, RedHat 5.0, 5.2, 6.1, 6.2, Corel Linux 1.0, Caldera OpenLinux 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, and Linux Mandrake 7.0 and 7.1. Of all these, Linux Mandrake 7.1 is what got me to settle down and actually start using Linux instead of playing with it. I had to get rid of the cruddy winmodem I had just bought, but it was a pleasure to experience Linux fully once I had rid myself of it and bought a real modem. Linux Mandrake makes things easy. I don't want to spend hours configuring everything right off the bat. My aim is not to become a Linux guru. I just want a decent OS that works. As time goes by, I'll learn the rest, but for now I just want to be able to boot up in a reasonable amount of time, and not crash constantly, and not cost an arm and a leg for a bug infested waste of time, money and disk space like Windows. If you feel similarly, and you can read (there's books, web sites and documentation all over the place if you have a question), then Linux Mandrake is for you. The price is reasonable. It works. It comes with everything and then some. It's easy to use. It handles more load on the same hardware. It's much faster. And you don't need to reboot unless you want to. Nuff said.
Rating:
Summary: Linux-Mandrake is the best of both worlds.
Review: I have tried 2.1, RedHat 5.0, 5.2, 6.1, 6.2, Corel Linux 1.0, Caldera OpenLinux 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, and Linux Mandrake 7.0 and 7.1. Of all these, Linux Mandrake 7.1 is what got me to settle down and actually start using Linux instead of playing with it. I had to get rid of the cruddy winmodem I had just bought, but it was a pleasure to experience Linux fully once I had rid myself of it and bought a real modem. Linux Mandrake makes things easy. I don't want to spend hours configuring everything right off the bat. My aim is not to become a Linux guru. I just want a decent OS that works. As time goes by, I'll learn the rest, but for now I just want to be able to boot up in a reasonable amount of time, and not crash constantly, and not cost an arm and a leg for a bug infested waste of time, money and disk space like Windows. If you feel similarly, and you can read (there's books, web sites and documentation all over the place if you have a question), then Linux Mandrake is for you. The price is reasonable. It works. It comes with everything and then some. It's easy to use. It handles more load on the same hardware. It's much faster. And you don't need to reboot unless you want to. Nuff said.
Rating:
Summary: Simple, easy, for Newbies to Linux.
Review: I have used some version of Linux on my home computer for about two years now and I can honestly say that Linux, to include Linux Mandrake 7.1 has come a long way. Linux Mandrake 7.1 provides the user with one of the easiest installs and setups. Compared to Suse's YAST2 and Caldera's Lizard - Mandrake has configured a good setup tool. Linux Mandrake 7.1 also provides several good programs and applications that will help the new Linux user get accustomed to the world of Linux. New users who are coming from the Windows OSes will feel a bit easier using Linux Mandrake. On my machine I tired several different installs, using different cards. I swapped out my Voodoo Banshee card and threw in a generic 8MB video card - it found the card but there was a huge difference in the display quality of my installation process. I then re-installed it using two different sound cards, a Sound blaster Live! and a ESS Generic sound card - both were found but the ESS had more support and installed easier. Partitioning was the easiest it has ever been - gone are the days of having to learn the commands of FDISK or partionmagic. The partioning of the Linux Mandrake also makes it easy to install DOS/WIN partions. Although I liked Mandrake 7.1 and I would recommend it for novice users - I found that an install from Suse 7.0 was cleaner and provided me with the applications, especially the server applications and programs, that I use on a regular basis. Mandrake 7.1 is a good place to start. The price is amazingly reasonable and there is more support in publications for Red Hat compatible products -so it is a no brainer for newbie Linux users - go with Mandrake.
Rating:
Summary: Simple, easy, for Newbies to Linux.
Review: I have used some version of Linux on my home computer for about two years now and I can honestly say that Linux, to include Linux Mandrake 7.1 has come a long way. Linux Mandrake 7.1 provides the user with one of the easiest installs and setups. Compared to Suse's YAST2 and Caldera's Lizard - Mandrake has configured a good setup tool. Linux Mandrake 7.1 also provides several good programs and applications that will help the new Linux user get accustomed to the world of Linux. New users who are coming from the Windows OSes will feel a bit easier using Linux Mandrake. On my machine I tired several different installs, using different cards. I swapped out my Voodoo Banshee card and threw in a generic 8MB video card - it found the card but there was a huge difference in the display quality of my installation process. I then re-installed it using two different sound cards, a Sound blaster Live! and a ESS Generic sound card - both were found but the ESS had more support and installed easier. Partitioning was the easiest it has ever been - gone are the days of having to learn the commands of FDISK or partionmagic. The partioning of the Linux Mandrake also makes it easy to install DOS/WIN partions. Although I liked Mandrake 7.1 and I would recommend it for novice users - I found that an install from Suse 7.0 was cleaner and provided me with the applications, especially the server applications and programs, that I use on a regular basis. Mandrake 7.1 is a good place to start. The price is amazingly reasonable and there is more support in publications for Red Hat compatible products -so it is a no brainer for newbie Linux users - go with Mandrake.
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