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Mainstream Linux distro?

You'll get plenty of answers, but here's a few that come to mind...

Mandriva (Mandrake)
MEPIS
Xandros
Linspire
SUSE
PClinuxOS (my personal favorite....currently running it on my laptop)
 
At the moment, the closest might be Ubuntu, but they all honestly have a long way to go on the interface front before they can hit the mainstream, non-tech market (outside of very low cost wal-mart specials that necessitate cheap/free software). The ease of use simply isn't to the level of OSX/Windows. And certain key features are still missing or very weak (a prime example is the generally poor state of wifi on Linux - much hardware is unsupported and roaming networks is nowhere near as seemless as Windows). Linux has certainly been taking large strides forward, but it still has a long way to go before it becomes something that most people would be able to handle reasonably well (e.g. need to avoid the command line in 95% of the situations).
 
Xandros, MEPIS, and PCLinuxOS (has the easiest installation of ANY OS - it's WAY simpler and faster then even installing Windows).

I prefer Ubuntu, but it does require a little more tweaking (though it's easily done using online guides)
 
I've long felt that it's not so much a matter of making a distro easy to use, but getting driver support from hardware manufacturers. That's where Microsoft has had a big advantage in the desktop market. Everything that's made comes with Windows drivers. Linux drivers usually have to be develped separately, by the community.

Other than that, I think Linux is already ahead of Windows. Most major distros are easier to install (I'm reminded of this every time I reinstall Windows and have to install all my hardware drivers separately, going through countless reboots), and those with software updaters are much more useful than Windows Update because they'll update ALL software installed from their repository, which is usually most of the software installed on a Linux system. Debian-based distros are particularly good in that regard.
 
either novell or redhat simply becuase they have the largest support infrastructures in place, and clearest ties to the server marketplace. linux will only become mainstream once people become comfortable with it in the business world.
 
Originally posted by: Zelmo3
I've long felt that it's not so much a matter of making a distro easy to use, but getting driver support from hardware manufacturers. That's where Microsoft has had a big advantage in the desktop market. Everything that's made comes with Windows drivers. Linux drivers usually have to be develped separately, by the community.

Other than that, I think Linux is already ahead of Windows. Most major distros are easier to install (I'm reminded of this every time I reinstall Windows and have to install all my hardware drivers separately, going through countless reboots), and those with software updaters are much more useful than Windows Update because they'll update ALL software installed from their repository, which is usually most of the software installed on a Linux system. Debian-based distros are particularly good in that regard.
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But loading drivers into windows it a treat comparred to loading into linux

I have been reading on how to load nvidia drivers into linux and I can not begin to tell you just how frustrated I have become.

You have to alot more from the command lione and while for alot of the members of this board that is a big bonusfor your average user it is a royal pain in the ass.
 
But loading drivers into windows it a treat comparred to loading into linux
Click to expand...

Not that I agree, but it's rarely necessary anyway.

I have been reading on how to load nvidia drivers into linux and I can not begin to tell you just how frustrated I have become.
Click to expand...

Even if you install them by hand, all you have to do is run the file you download from nVidia and possibly edit 1 file. These days I believe most distributions either package them or make downloading and installing them an automated process anyway so I don't see the problem.
 
It depends on what facet of the mainstream market we are talking about. Pretty much any distro will work for the higher end of the mainstream these days(No CS degrees or serious formal training; but know a thing or two and are willing to mess with it a bit). Hardware support, especially in laptops, can still be a problem; but less than it was.
The bottom of the mainstream market is underpenetrated by Linux; but could actually be very well served by it. These are the users who buy a complete setup from Dell and just want to keep checking their email, looking at web pages, IMing, and possibly some light gaming, preferably as long as possible. They don't really install new software or hardware, and when they do they tend to buy cautiously. Obviously, this market would have a huge amount of trouble setting up Linux(not that they could install Windows, either) but they wouldn't have to. The people they buy the box from would install it, make sure the drivers work, add the basic suite of tools and games, etc. From this point on, Linux would actually be better, as it is much less likely than Windows to get horribly screwed up by viruses and spyware and general weirdness(especially if the default configuration was set to update itself from time to time, via Apt cronjob or similar). Here the distro wouldn't much matter. The manufacturer would probably just buy a mess of Redhat or Suse licences, or maybe hire a few in-house guys to knock together a branded version of Debian, or Gentoo or something. Which distro wouldn't much matter to the user; because they would never have to touch it. I'm actually rather suprised that this sort of thing isn't more common.
The real trouble spot for Linux in the mainstream is the middle of the market. The guy who sort of knows what he is doing; but doesn't have a geek's patience for mucking about with drivers. The one who is savvy enough to buy a shiney new video card; but not savvy enough to deal with getting it running under Linux. The one who buys peripherals from a variety of sources, which may or may not have driver support. These people are probably better served by Windows, which takes a touch of knowledge to secure; but is often easier to work with if you don't want to do unusual stuff and do know how to avoid getting infected by the usual internet malware.
 
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