[Crusher138]

It was prior to the latest release (Fedora 5) and I remember that one of our issues was that the version we had just bought on disk had already been updated and we had to do some initial downloading to bring it up to date. I was the project manager and was overseeing the employees doing the installs. All were experienced computer users, but none were professional techs. It was important to us to see how easy it was to install, so the users handled the install. These guys had worked with Macs and Windows machines and were pretty comfortable with installing software and hardware. Like I said, most of the install went well, but each machine had at least one issue. These computers were from Dell, Compaq, and Gateway. I suspect that proprietary hardware may have been to blame in most cases, but it was still an issue.

I would not feel comfortable recommending Linux to someone buying their first computer. Such a user would be more comfortable, in my opinion, with a Mac or Wintel.

[ShadowAce]

...he version we had just bought on disk had already been updated and we had to do some initial downloading to bring it up to date.

That's pretty typical. Even Windows has its patches that users should DL before using.

I suspect that proprietary hardware may have been to blame in most cases, but it was still an issue.

I suspect that as well from your description. I haven't been very happy with any of those brands. In fact, I've stayed away from Compaq since the day I couldn't re-install Windows from its own recovery disk due to hardware issues.

Based on commodity hardware, though, Red Hat (and Fedora) installs pretty much automatically. I've found that it's usually easier to install RH and Fedora than it is to install Windows.

[Echo Talon]

you should give Mepis 6.0 beta2 a try it should be out tomorrow. distrowatch.com, I'm using beta1 right and its really cool and easy and I'm a Linux noobie(sort of). I tried Linux a few years ago(RedHat and Mandrake) and gave it up because it was to hard, but it has improved a lot. Mepis is really nice its a live CD so you can test it out without installing it on your hard drive, if you like it, it has a very easy program to install and give you a bootloader to dual boot windows or Linux. I was skeptical until I tried it and played with it for awhile.

[VeniVidiVici]

I would not feel comfortable recommending Linux to someone buying their first computer. Such a user would be more comfortable, in my opinion, with a Mac or Wintel.

Nor would I. Installing some programs and their patches on Linux is a major hassle.