What Linux distro should I choose? (I don't want Ubuntu/Kubuntu....)
 

What Linux distro should I choose? I don't want Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Xubuntu as I've already tried them.

I want something simple for desktop use.

OpenSUSE. It's more refined, and Novell has done some great work fixing up OpenOffice, along with many other common tools - their KDE 3 desktop is sublime. Their packaging system sucks a bit of ass, but they're slowly moving towards a less stupid one.

Fedora 8 (or 9), using GNOME or KDE desktop

www.fedoraproject.org

So basically you wanted to be 100% restricted. NP they sell a linux distro that is made for people who should stick to windows.

Linspire formally

http://www.linspire.com/

:thumbsup Give OpenSUSE a try, version 11 really rocks. Pick KDE 3 for a fast stable desktop version during install. Personally I think KDE 4 has to become a little more stable before really using it on a production machine.

Good luck,
may the kernel be with you:thumbsup

Thanks, I'm burning OpenSUSE now.
:thumbsup

I also recommend OpenSUSE :) But I'm a Gnome guy ;)

Try fedora.

linux mint, suse, fedora..

there really isnt much difference in linux distros besides software packaging.. if you didnt like ubuntu you will be unhappy with all distros, ubuntu is about the top noobified distros for desktop use

I didn't mean that I wanted something more simple than Ubuntu, because it is simple to use. But I want to try other distros besides Ubuntu, but not the ones that are too hard where you have to edit a lot of files and so on.

We'll see if I like OpenSUSE. I'm installing it now.

OS X

I know, not technically the same thing but it's pretty nice!

go here take your pick
http://distrowatch.com/
this site describes the various distros, what software comes with it etc.

Agreed 100%. We have it on all of our machines and it works great. Easy to learn.:thumbsup

Another vote for Linux Mint. I have been trying it for a few days now and like it a lot.
It feels a lot "cleaner" than Ubuntu.
http://www.linuxmint.com/about.php

This one is really good. I installed it today and it had no problem to install drivers for my hardware (OpenSUSE didn't like my wireless network card).

And it looks really good too. I think I'll stick with this one for a while.

if they wanted to beat windows once and for all. Why don't they all get together and make one version that rocks. Instead of a 100 that are all for the most close but not there.

Because not everyone wants or needs that the same. THAT is the beauty of Linux.

i prefer freebsd

That's the smartest comment made in this thread.:2 cents::thumbsup

You geeks you :)

If running a server, absolutely. PcBSD blows. KDE blows.

GNOME FTW.

my congrats Mint is a good choice
i had no problems with my wifi card in opensuse and kde4, updates help

I tried to update but it didn't help anyway. I didn't find any "HOWTO" to follow for OpenSUSE 11 either. But I'm happy with Linux Mint now. :thumbsup

That's swell if you're running on 10 year old hardware.

FreeBSD 7 still can't handle i4082 emulation for very common BIOSes, so you can't even install it with a USB keyboard on various new machines. The Intel 3945 wireless driver may eventually work.. but, sorry, no WPA. Don't worry, there are unsupported and half tested kernel patches. But, hey, DRM doesn't work on Intel 945+, but you know your hardware's PCI identifier, right? You can always compile a custom kernel..

Sometimes, we just want to get our work done; we don't all get paid to do kernel development. :thumbsup

I think for a just out of the box experience freebsd might not be the right choice, lol. For Mint, I didn'ttry it, but it is Ubuntu based with the intention to get things working even easier and especially hardware and codecs issues should be handled even better than in Suse and Ubuntu. Keep us updated if you find any disadvantages in Mint. Perhaps this thread can convince me to go to Mint after all ;-)

I don't think Linux can beat Windows as the #1 choice for desktop users until the software developers start releasing their stuff for Linux as well.