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I'm currently writing a review on one of the easiest operating systems for luring (lol) users of Windows into Linux.

Freespire, known now as Linspire, is based on Debian. Linspire uses CNR, similar to apt-get, to get new packages. Advanced users can still use apt-get to install packages and updates.

I have tried both the GUI and an SSH session into a laptop and desktop running this system. Everything is very nicely laid out to Debian.

Webcams and most PNP (plug-n-play) devices are detected automatically, no awkward setups, and a lot of proprietary software now works on it, such as Adobe and Java...right out of the box.

The catch is, that Linspire costs $50 to download.

If you have a spare hard disk, computer, or partition, give Linspire a shot. If not, download the ISO and run it from a CD to test it.

I am seriously thinking about making this my dedicated OS for end users/desktops...while Debian remains for my production servers.

Thanks for the info Kris...glad to see your post as I haven't seen you around in a while. Hope all is well.

Yeah Everything's been going great! Been so busy with jobs and schooling lately. Hope all is well for you also.

You have an erroneous statement: Ubuntu is based on Debian.

Here's the linux distro timeline if yer interested: https://futurist.se/gldt/

Kumba, thanks for the site, I am going to had our cad guy plot that in grande size.

I have been working with Redhat since 1998, and it is amazing how many distros have been released since then

It's kind of like CLEC start-up's. A couple started back in the day, a lot of other start-up's spawned off of them, and then folded.

But it's pretty amazing that most of the mainstream distro's are some sort of descendant from Debian, Slackware, or Redhat.

Thanks Kumba, I fixed that Thanks for the link too.

The only Linux experience I have so far is with Ubuntu. I had a class in Linux last semester. It took a bit of learning for me because we did everything in command line. My friend just made a music server for our house with Ubuntu...it was very simple and it works great. Best of all it didn't cost anything!

The first Linux server I ever set up was Ubuntu...in command line. It was challenging and fun at the same time. Once I got the hang of it, I can use the GUI and make most of my changes through the command line. My favorite command? 'whereis'

I am a HUGE fan of Knoppix. Use KDE desktop to retain the familiarity of Windows. There's a "Knoppix Live" DVD which you can download and boot from so that you may test drive it without contaminating whatever O/S you're currently running.

It's scary how well this "on the fly" O/S can identify and load the appropriate drivers for such a variety of hardware. The KDE-Knoppix package makes Windows look like a clown. The code is not only open, but it's tight as well.