Rating: 
Summary: Some effort to install, but it is slick
Review: After some effort, I was able to install Mandrake 8.2. Once it is up
and running it is really slick. A few things did not work, like Xsane
for my epson 1240U scanner. Other than that it was capatible with everything
else that I had hooked to my computer. It even had a slick j-pilot
application for syncing my palm pilot.
Rating: 
Summary: highly recommended by a beginner in linux
Review: easy install on a dell 8200 pentium4 w/santa cruz sound card w/nvidia 4, viewsonic
digital lcd, wireless logitech keyboard and wheel mouse via ps/2, old panasonic
dot matrix. all working under linux mandrake v8.2. and automatically configured
my dsl connection. soon to kiss mr gates goodbye. my computer came with
win xp on it and it froze on the first day. wiped it out and put on win98 until i
could find a linux distro that would work for me. try it, u will like it!
Rating:
Summary: Excels in ease of use but still a long way to go...
Review: I am a linux enthusiast and have been trying out new linux distributions as they come out for the past 3 years. Needless to say, linux's 2.4 kernel has made some dramatic improvments and so has KDE 3.While RedHat is suited better for enterprise users, Mandrake and SuSe try to adapt their packaging for the average home user. SuSe 8.0 has to be the "easiest" linux distribution out there now by virtue of its great system configuration tools and streamlined installation. While Mandrake 8.2 has good configuration tools, it lacks the friendliness and wide scope of SuSE Linux. Two features that caught my eye in this distro are: 1. Mandrake's utility for configuring Samba file sharing and browsing, and
2. Mandrake's font installer. Unattractive, out-of-the-box fonts typically plague Linux distributions, so a good font installer is a must. In tests, the Mandrake font utility was much easier to use than the KDE-based utilities that come with Red Hat and SuSE. Overall, Mandrake 8.2 has taken some great steps. However, if you are looking for a replacement for Windows, SuSe 8.0 is a better option.
Rating:
Summary: It can't possibly get easier
Review: I installed RH 7.2 and Debian Woody a combined total of four times in the past week. Just as I was ready to bag the idea of using Linux, I decided to give this distribution a chance. The installation was easy and, in terms of time, tiny compared to Debian (which is still not complete after 3 days). This only took 45-60 minutes. Everything configured fine and the customization is nice. Everything is running fine for me... Don't be scared of this distribution of linux. If you can install any other operating system, you can definitely roll this one out with a few clicks. No fancy footwork required.
Rating: 
Summary: I cannot believe there is no telephone support
Review: I totally agree with Elmer P. VanDenburgh's comment on this product, after buying this product you have to pay for extra cost to get extended phone service. On top of that, the customer service person at California is totally rude.
Rating:
Summary: Customer support?
Review: I've been running linux on my machines for several years, and mandrake is by far the best distribution that is available for those who are new to the linux experience. A lot of these reviews complain about customer service. I, for one, have never even thought to call someone for help with linux. If you want customer service, then perhaps Linux isn't for you. There are billions of places on the internet to find the answers to your questions without calling some poor geek in California who just started learning the OS and asking him your obfuscated questions and expect to get a clear, concise, fix everything that's wrong with your installation response. OK. that was a long sentence...my point is...Don't expect customer service, and don't bother those poor people. Get on the internet and search google for the answers to your woes. That's what Linux users do ;-) I've also always thought that http://krnlpanic.com was a good place for some common answers too Happy Linux'ing!
Rating:
Summary: Best Linux yet.
Review: I've been using Linux for about two years and Mandrake 8.2 is the best I've seen yet. Here is what you get with Mandrake 8.2. Easy to setup with Mandrake's graphical installer drakx. Includes great packages such as cups print server, proftpd, postfix, Star Office 6, Real Player, kamera, chat, and scanner software. You can choose from 11 desktops including Gnome and KDE. You get games, multimedia, development, and a large assortment of extra printer drivers, and special Mandrake configuration tools to get up and running pretty easy and painless. I had Mandrake 8.2 installed in about 30 minutes, and it was near painless. It was the easiest install of any Linux distribution I have ever done. So if you are sick of Windows, and are looking for something else try Mandrake 8.2. Even old Linux hands can enjoy 8.2.
Rating:
Summary: Easiest Linux Distro for the Desktop
Review: I've been using MDK 8.2 for a few weeks now and its performance is really good. It requires a good quantity of RAM (128 are okay, but double that and it flies). I run it on a 400 mhz PII with an 8 mb Trident card and it works really well. Its "wizards" are very useful for the new user: they make tweaking your machine a very simple process.
Rating: 
Summary: Eh...so-so
Review: I've used Mandrake 8.0, 8.1, and now 8.2. I have also switched to SuSE 8.0. I like Mandrake and I like some things they do. But, the problems are just too numerous to recommend, in my opinion. Mandrake tries to be a little too bleeding edge, and when I was testing 8.2, I had some issues that I could not resolve. On the other hand, SuSE 8.0 ran out of the box for me on both my home-built desktop and my Dell laptop. Absolutely no major issues on either machine. The other thing is that Mandrake is now releasing 9.0 beta to its testers. I don't understand Mandrake's accelerated release schedule. 8.2 just appeared in stores and they're already working on 9.0. Go figure. Anyway, keep an eye on Mandrake, they are a nice company and put out a nice distribution. I would just look elsewhere for now.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but needs work
Review: Linux in general has many awesome features, including efficient a high command line, great networking capabilities, security, and (in my opinion) the best file system (i.e., disk format) around. Being Linux, those are all here. This distribution is designed to be user friendly, both in installation and everyday use, and it mostly lives up to that. Included are some form of all the most common program types for a home PC -- word processors, web browsers, mp3 players, etc. Further, the user interfaces have all been set up with a very attractive appearance. Unfortunately, some of the office software is lacking in feature that were added after this distro was release and is a little buggy. However, there are some short commings. My biggest complaint is that the C/C++ compilers don't work out of the box -- I had to change several links by hand to gcc 3.x work, and I've never gotten gcc 2.96.x to work at all, and it still will not compile all programs. While compilers may not be desirable on production servers for security reasons, they may be needed on other systems. If you are a tinkerer / programmer, a student learning C++, or just want to compile software from trusted web-sites, be prepared for a fight. I never had this problem with Red Hat, and I think any software included should work as some as its installed. This is a major problem the guys at Mandrake Soft need to work on. Likewise, the version of Java, though functional, is out dated, and should have been at release time, and is not even Sun Java but a thrid party version. It only good up to Java 1.2 so that many Java 2 features simply don't work. Other than that, the only major problem has been printing. That always seems to be a difficult thing to set up in Linux. The Printerdrake program solves most of the problem, and makes the original setup easy -- I've done a lot of printing here. However, its also buggy and breaks easily -- I've lost my printing capabilities several times and getting them back has often been a major and stressful chore -- currently I have no printing and am now at a loss what to do. This may be a dangerour switch if printing is am important use for your PC. Note, though, that creating PDF files is very easy and does not require Acrobat.
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