well which is better?

The best one is which ever one you like best. :-) Really. They'll both give you a desktop, draw your windows, and look good doing it. I prefer Gnome, but IIRC most users prefer KDE. Whatever floats your boat.

<i>Knock Knock, Neo</i>

Another vote for gnome

Some day I'll be rich and famous for inventing a device that allows you to stab people in the face over the internet.

I switch between them. Right now I think Gnome is best, but with the soon to be released KDE it will probably have some nifty features. Gnome tends to be a little faster and no-frills and KDE is usually prettier and easier. They can of course be adjusted to look and feel nearly identical, and both have the same basic features.

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My new years resolution is 1280 x 1024

kde 3.2 KICKS ARSE! I was a gnome guy too until 3.2...now everything kicks in in about 5 seconds...it's graphically superior IMO to gnome. Plus, there are many more applications geared toward it. However, I really don't use xwindows much at all (preferring to stay command line with slackware)...so I don't get to explore as much as I'd like. I think though that after seeing gnome and kde...I'd have to stick with kde.

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<b>It is always brave to say what everyone thinks. </b> <i>Georges Duhamel</i>

TKS

Ok sorry to be a sick NEWB but i know NOTHING about linux, i just started chatting to a friend and he asked me if i would try linux cause it ROCKS he said. I said well i heard it was pretty complicating to use. He's been using Gentoo with KDE and he loves it. So i finally decided to give it a shot, My choice my friend thinks are chosing between GENTOO or Slackware those are what he used and he thinks there 2 of the best distros out. Are they? ok One thing im alittle confused on is the Desktop environments. From reading around i seen that KDE and GNOME are basically what every one is using. Im not really sure what these programs do. Are they in a sense KDE to linux as StyleXP is to windows? As far as adding eyecandy to your desktop what does it do? Also i know alot of people say Linux is hard and blah blah. What exactly is the hardpart? i mean i know you might have to do alittle more work to move files around or rename stuff or do you?

Any Help would be appreciated thanks a bunch.

Asus A7N8X Deluxe
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200gb WD 8mb cache..
Lian-Li PC-60
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AMD XP2800+
LeadTek GF4Ti4200 128mb
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1GB Corsair XMS PC3200

Those distros are OK, but if you know NOTHING about Linux, get your feet wet with Mandrake or something more user friendly first. There's quite a few distros to start with now... Knoppix has a lot of good noise around it. Gentoo and Slackware are relatively hard core and hands on.

KDE and Gnome are the biggest players in the desktop scene. They draw your windows, manage your desktop, provide libraries for applications to run with. It's much more than just a desktop, but that's the bit you see. They are individually themable (like StyleXP there?), but they are like the Windows Desktop is to Windows. In fact, to illustrate that, you can try LiteStep for Windows, and swap out your desktop shell for something quite different.

As for eyecandy, they can add the usual stuff. Transparency, fades, backgrounds, window decorations, pretty icons. Audio effects are there too. Browse <A HREF="http://art.gnome.org/" target="_new">http://art.gnome.org/</A> and <A HREF="http://kde-look.org/" target="_new">http://kde-look.org/</A> to get some ideas.

Honestly I don't know about the "hard part". If you dive into Slack or Gentoo there might be some head scratching over some configuration and what not, but more mainstream distros are generally pretty painless.


<i>Knock Knock, Neo</i>

Don't try slackware or gentoo to start off with. You'll end up part of the way through the install and have no idea what to do. You'll say "linux sucks" and go back to windows. It takes some work and knowledge about how linux works to get either distro up and running.

Mandrake and redhat are both very easy to get going with. If you can install a program in windows, you can install mandrake. At least do that first, then get an idea of what gnome and kde are, where linux puts its config files, how to install things etc, and then go on to something more hard core.

I use gentoo myself, and I had problems installing it the first few times too. This was after using mandrake, redhat, and suse before for quite a while. However, once it's up and running, gentoo is so much nicer to use IMO.

Some day I'll be rich and famous for inventing a device that allows you to stab people in the face over the internet.

Ok...new to linux?

Used to windows?


Only one recommendation for ya. Mepis Linux.

I just installed it on a spare machine of mine and it rawks. It is based on debian but is a cinch to install. It walks you through anything and the forum for mepis is active as hell. Give it a go. Mepis is by far the best windows like environ I have ever seen. I run slackware for my server and use Mepis for everything else. It's the coolest distro...and it is a live CD like knoppix so you can try it out and configure it BEFORE you install it on the hard disk. Enjoy!

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<b>It is always brave to say what everyone thinks. </b> <i>Georges Duhamel</i>

TKS

Thanks for all your replys. Basically my good friend is very familiar with Gentoo and the other one i mentioned. I won't be installing it bymyself so that will be the good part. He will be there showing me how to setup the OS and get me to the desktop and get me going on some things. I just wanted to ask some questions on a few things so i can atleast read up on some commands and stuff like that so i can get moving alittle faster. My friend had to go on vacaton so i figure i just get things rolling by asking a few questions.

thanks again.
Rob

Asus A7N8X Deluxe
80gb Maxtor
200gb WD 8mb cache..
Lian-Li PC-60
LiteOn 52X/LiteOn 811s DVD-RW
AMD XP2800+
LeadTek GF4Ti4200 128mb
Hitachi CML174
1GB Corsair XMS PC3200

DAMN i just check out those sites... letds just say.. GOODBYE WINDOWS!!!!

ok just a few more questions. what will i be missing by going to linux? Any Awesome windows features i won't get the privledge to get at all? ALSO wow those Desktops, icons and fonts look AWESOME! for linux,

my current system

asus a7n8x, 2800+, 1GB, and 80 and 200gb harddrives with a cd-RW and dvdRW. As far as burning DVD's, chatting (aim, yahoo) webconferncing? voice chatting? dvd shrink on linux? I will have another main system, so if i CAN"T then not that big of a deal.

Thanks a bunch.
Rob

Asus A7N8X Deluxe
80gb Maxtor
200gb WD 8mb cache..
Lian-Li PC-60
LiteOn 52X/LiteOn 811s DVD-RW
AMD XP2800+
LeadTek GF4Ti4200 128mb
Hitachi CML174
1GB Corsair XMS PC3200

anthoer quick question..

Someone was telling me that you have to Compile the kernal? and this process takes 3HRS!!!!

also my cousin told me linux will run MINT on my setup compared to windows speed wise. 1gb mem xp2800+?

Asus A7N8X Deluxe
80gb Maxtor
200gb WD 8mb cache..
Lian-Li PC-60
LiteOn 52X/LiteOn 811s DVD-RW
AMD XP2800+
LeadTek GF4Ti4200 128mb
Hitachi CML174
1GB Corsair XMS PC3200

oh yeah sorry forgot to add.. When i do a freesh install of this OS... Do i load the ASUS driver CD? or i will have to get something for linux for my a7n8x motherboard?...... oh yeah and is there like a New hardware wizard? or i will have to manually install my cdrom drivers and all that stuff as well. THANKS ALOT GUYS

linus here i come!

Asus A7N8X Deluxe
80gb Maxtor
200gb WD 8mb cache..
Lian-Li PC-60
LiteOn 52X/LiteOn 811s DVD-RW
AMD XP2800+
LeadTek GF4Ti4200 128mb
Hitachi CML174
1GB Corsair XMS PC3200

A kernel compile does NOT take 3 hours unless you're on a slow system and are compiling a ton of modules as well. It depends on your distro as well. If you use mandrake, you definitely won't have to compile a kernel if you don't want to. Actually, almost all distros are like that. You only have to compile a kernel if you really want something special.

I've done a full 2 GB mandrake install in 30 minutes on a P3 450 before. On the other hand, I've also done a Gentoo stage 1 install (compile EVERYTHING from source) on an XP 3200+ and had it take 2 days.

Linux can generally do everything windows can with some effort. It's not as <next> <next> <yes> <finish> burn DVD as windows is however.

<A HREF="http://www.members.shaw.ca/gskamps/desktop.jpg" target="_new">Mandrake 7.0 running Gnome</A>
<A HREF="http://www.members.shaw.ca/gskamps/Screenshot.jpg" target="_new">Gentoo 1.4 running Gnome</A>

Some day I'll be rich and famous for inventing a device that allows you to stab people in the face over the internet.<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by silverpig on 03/05/04 04:38 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

Your distro should come with generic drivers to get you operational. After that you can download any updated drivers from the net.

If you use mandrake, there's harddrake which is sort of "new hardware wizard-ish" but not really. You will generally have to know what you have in your computer, get the drivers and install them manually. The nice thing is you don't have to reboot in order to use your new hardware. Just unloading the drivers, installing the new ones, and then loading the new ones will work for you. Kinda cool actually.

Some day I'll be rich and famous for inventing a device that allows you to stab people in the face over the internet.