DELETED_3139

[cb_linus]

For a beginner most people seem to recommend Ubuntu or Suse at the moment, but Mandrake (now Mandriva) was the first distro that I guess I really got on with (it worked with my adsl modem relatively easy). I've had very few problems running 32bit apps from any 64bit distribution

 

[Rich43]

Ubuntu can install drivers with a simple gui utility if they are proprietary (not open source) (Easier than windows), otherwise they are all bundled with the OS.

IMO, Driver support has vastly gone up to the point it gives windows some competition.

 

[PhilGQ]

Mandrake was one of my earliest distroes too. Just be aware back then KDE had plenty of useful options and gnome was a bit lacking (at least in my opinion). Now Kde has so many options and settings it is almost impossible to find the one you want, while gnome has a good level of functionality v simplicity. I only say this because I believe Mandriva defaults to KDE. I suggest you use Gnome even if you preferred KDE back in the day!