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I'll bet you've got an ATI video card, just like me. ATI's been a real problem for Linux... they still keep their damned hardware secret, and it's a PITA to write drivers for them. I'll also bet you tried to install Ubuntu Feisty. It was possible to install Feisty on a 9400 with an ATI card, but it took a hack during the install. Gusty Gibbon installed on my 9400 with an ATI card out-of-the-box. I would recommend that you try it again. Definitely go for the x64 version, IMO. Then, be sure to do 'sudo apt-get upgrade', since Gusty Gibbon is a bit unstable out-of-the-box. Also, check out Automatix after the install, and assuming you're like most /.-ers, you'll want to install some additional packages. Check out the Perfect Server page for some good advice on upgrades.

Dell laptops have been poor for Linux in the past, but not as bad as Compaq and HP. Dell's problem is the configurability, as you say. HP and Compaq had no excuse. However, I hear good things for Linux are in the works, especially now that Dell ships Ubuntu on some models. We hackers can whine all we want, but ATI loves to ignore us. Apparently Dell whined, and ATI is listening, though I have yet to see ATI lift one damned finger, other than to issue a press release. They claim they've seen the light. HP apparently took notice, as well, and may start testing their laptops for Linux compatibility.

I haven't seen one for the differences between Windows and Gnome, ubuntuguide.org was a great place for me when I was starting out. In addition, Automatix is a wonderful tool to install all of the proprietary formats, players, etc. Linux isn't for everybody, but I think that if more people gave it a chance, they would find out that it isn't as scary as a lot of reviewers make it. Walt's review was balanced, but it was also wrong on some accounts (e.g. not being able to adjust the mouse touchpad sensitivity). I cannot totally agree with his experiences, either, as I have had 100% success in dealing with external devices such as iPods. I have been able to rescue a few iPods that were Mac-formatted with Ubuntu, something that I wouldn't want to try on an XP machine.

The review wasn't as comical as some reviews have been. (Who can put Window's Add/Remove programs on the same level as Ubuntu's Add/Install programs?!?), but there was very little content to go with the fluff. I don't think this article really tells us anything we don't know, or really helps sway new computer buyers one way or another.

AUD-DVD codecs (NON-FREE Audio and DVD codecs) (Installation of this option is illegal in the United States of America)

Red Hat wants money for everything. This is fundamentally different than Ubuntu, which truly gives you the software to use.

I wonder how long it takes until Red Hat earns a support tier to match stuff like Automatix, which does a nice job of installing commercial software easily, such as Hamachi, Eclipse, DVD & MP3 codecs, etc.

It is if you use Automatix.

Ah but you still have to install Automatix and how many people new to Linux will be able to install it without giving up?

It is if you use Automatix.

Yes. All you need is a flash player. See here.

If you're using Ubuntu, check out Automatix for lots of goodies, including flash.

Flash and Linux don't generally get along too well, so YMMV, but I've been enjoying tv-links.co.uk for quite a while now :).

I want to add that Xubuntu makes for a great clean desktop also. I am running dapper on my 350mhz Bondi IMac and do not miss OS9 at all.
 
i386 users have an even better choice in that they can run automatix2 on their Ubuntu and have one of the finest multimedia boxes around.

Well you should have listened to all those people that scream "Don't do it, it sucks ass and will break updates!" when anyone mentions Automatix. However, Ubuntu users have formed an Automatix rescue team that AFAIK took care to test and fix the update scenarios that this pile of shit fucks up. I guess it should just work. In any case, read:
http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/upgrading
http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/releasenotes/704

In case of trouble ask here http://www.getautomatix.com/forum/

I would recommend going back to Ubuntu Edgy (or try the KDE version, Kubuntu, my favorite) and run automatix (http://www.getautomatix.com/) to get the esoteric stuff. I would also recommend buying (yes actually pay for software!) a subscription to Cedega (http://www.transgaming.com/) for your windows gaming needs. It's not expensive and it has worked great on several of the windows games that I had lying around from before.

I just downloaded SUSE and I'm getting ready to play around with installing a Linux distro on my pc. However, with the new MS deal, I'm debating using this distro. What would be the recommended distro by Slashdotters? Ubuntu? This will be my first Linux installation and I want to use it for 1) getting more familiar with Linux. 2) development machine for web applications.

Ubuntu is well worth a go. It's probably the easiest and quickest distro to install and get up and running. Also, get Automatix to install codecs and apps that aren't included in the Ubuntu base distribution.

I would suggest using EasyUbuntu post-installation to install the various non-free packages that make Linux nicer to use. You can be sure that your friends and relatives won't want to keep using Linux very long if they don't have Flash, Java, WMV codecs, etc installed. EasyUbuntu makes it not look like doing this is an ugly hack.

Automatix is also a good choice, but I've heard some stories about people having problems with it not backing up their config files and such.

Ok, I know I'm going to get flamed to all hell for this; but, it needs to be said.

http://www.getautomatix.com/

There, I did it, commence with the flames.

I'll address a few of them preemptively:

No, it doesn't use force-yes.

No, you won't learn how to manually configure your box if you use this, nor will you really know what was done.
                  Hint: 99% of users don't CARE, or WANT to do/know these things

The Ubuntu forums are the best community support I've ever seen.

System + Ubuntu + Automatix = Box that does more than your average home system, with an intuitive GUI that is in most ways identical to Windows.

It's not for geeks, but hey, if the world was all geeks we'd already be running Linux everywhere.

Unfortunately, Xubuntu Eft seems to have a bug upgrading from Dapper, at least with the with the update-manager. I'm not sure if using the aptitude/apt-get method works any better. I believe you can burn the image to a CD and insert it and Xubuntu will ask you if you want to upgrade. Or you can probably mount the iso and add it to your repository to upgrade, as per an earlier post in this discussion.

Luckily Automatix seems to be ready for Eft, even if EasyUbuntu's site is down at the moment.

Though I really didn't agree with their lack of respect for the GPL at first, it seems that Automatix is now in the right track. And I must admit that their product is really good and very helpful, both for newbies and veterans installing bunches of 6.(06/10): http://www.getautomatix.com/ Installing java, flash, dvd, mp3 support as well as skype or googleearth is as easy as using synaptic.

Let me say that if I could go into a store right now and buy a reasonably priced copy of OX X that would run on a plain PC, I would be running OS X at the moment (Yes, I understand that running on *any* hardware would make OS X less stable, but I would be willing to take the risk...and huge amounts of people would rather pay more for Apple's hardware and stability, and I wish Apple could see that and make us both happy).

But since that isn't going to happen, I'm really considering going to Ubuntu because I think MS is just going insane with Vista.

Actually, you can get OS X to run natively on a PC. You just need to ask yourself if its worth the trouble. I'd think you're better off just getting a Mac mini.

As the above mention, he doesn't think Ubuntu is too far behind OS X. I would be interested in hearing others thoughts on this?

There's no doubt that Mac is more polished and more user-friendly. But Ubuntu is a complete, polished, intuitive, full-featured environment. Provided you're not using non-standard hardware, pretty much everything works straight out of the box with very little tweaking.

In fact, Ubuntu on my laptop handles the various power-saving modes (sleep, hibernation) flawlessly and with no special configuration, whereas Windows XP would sometimes sleep, sometimes not, and refuse to come out of hibernation if and when it hibernated (which often had little bearing on how, or even if, it was configured to hibernate).

Much in contrast to a Windows install, the Ubuntu install is fast, easy, intuitive, contains all the software you'll need, doesn't require multiple reboots and separate installation (with more reboots) for installing software and device drivers, and doesn't require yet further instalalation and reboots for OS and software updates.

Last time I had to reinstall Windows after a drive failure it took over three hours and no fewer than 10 reboots to get the system installed (reboot), upgraded (reboot), upgraded to SP2 (reboot), updated again (reboot), install/update drivers (reboot), install Office XP (reboot), update to Office 2003 (reboot), security and other Office updates (reboot), more Windows updates since I now had Office installed (reboot), etc. Installing other necessary software required more reboots.

My last Ubuntu install (incidentally, my first) took all of 45 minutes start-to finish with OS and all software installed and upgraded. Much simpler than any other Linux I've installed (FC3, FC4, RHEL, Mandriva, SuSE) and in a completely different league than Microsoft.

But don't take my word. Try it out for yourself. Installation is even easier with Automatix for adding bits that aren't in the core Ubuntu distribution like all the multimedia codecs and various packages that don't meet Ubuntu's strict libre-only policy.

Looks like it'd be a nice starting point for people wanting to get into Linux. But, personally, I still prefer (http://xubuntu.org/) xUbuntu along with Automatix (http://getautomatix.com/).

Try Automatix"

Automatix is kindof a filler for the things that [K]ubuntu doesn't do. It'll install the codecs, mplayer, other video players, and other software fairly easy.

All I had to do for my setup was edit the sources.list and add Automatix's server to that, then make sure the automatix key was recognized, run an update, and an install. After that, Automatix is installed and codec installation is as easy as clicking on a check box.