Ubuntu Linux 5.10

Overview
Ubuntu Linux is a free distributions of the Linux Kernel + Gnu tools.
It is created in order to bring a stable and user friendly distro that everyone can use.

Getting the .iso
Ubuntu can be either downloaded from the Internet or shipped free of charge directily into your mailbox.I have chosen the combined DVD Release.This one holds the Installation Cd,The Live cd and some FOSS programs for Windows in a single DVD.Very-nice deal I must say.
Now let's get on with the installation

Installing the Distro
Ubuntu uses the standart Debian Installer that Sarge uses.
It's a text mode ,but it's not evil.It's very easy to use.
It also sets the grub bootloader for dual boot if you choose to keep your Windows OS.
Note: Ubuntu doesn't use a root user!It uses sudo instead of root and it
asks for the password of the first user created!

Booting
The first boot is very-slow ,becaues Ubuntu downloads some language-related stuff from the Internet and then sets up permission.Then a very-clean splash screen comes.When you log in you will notice that the menu layout is pretty good.There aren't 10 programs that do the same thing like in other distribution(SuSe) and the programs are chosen very-well.For web browsing there is Firefox, for Email there is Evolution and for installing applications there is an 'Add Applications' frontend for Synaptic that even a grandma can use.Everything works out of the box , except the nvidia drivers and some codecs.Fortunately the Ubuntu community has a wiki and Howto pages that will explain everything in less than 10 minutes.

Conclusion
Ubuntu is a first-class distributions.Despite a few missing things(codecs,nvidia drivers) , the distributions is flawless.It's my preferred distributions for Novice Linux Users .

Yes, I heard about this. Have you tried Kubuntu yet? Is there a \"breezy\" version of Kubuntu?

Awesome. I've been thinking about putting together a cheap system to experiment with Linux. I've never done anything with it before.... Do you think this would be a good place to start?

Yes it is a good decision.Ubuntu performs well on slower machines.It's faster than most distributions and it's not that bloated.And yes, there is a Kubuntu Breezy .

The desktop environment being used will have a larger effect on performance then the distribution.

The desktop environment being used has a very large impact on performance.

crap i said the wrong thing d'oh!

I downloaded the LiveCD and tried it out. Its pretty sweat. Has a great layout and everything, but before I decide on a distro, I am going to do some experimenting with some others. :P

i put opensuse 10.0 on my old chugger runs faster then windows 2000 and i like it better since i dont game on it. if there was a free linux that could run games i wouldent use windows XP