What OS is best?

[Freckled]

I am looking for the best free OS to install on my laptop.

Can anyone recommend something other than windows that is great to use on a home computer that works with such browsers as firefox or similar browsers?

Looking for easy setup and use.

 

[gooooogle]

Try Suse Linux home edition. Only one cd and the whole instalation process is supposed to be quite simple.

 

[GordyMac]

My dad found an OS once it fit on a floppy disk, was not big at all.. kinda cool.. I'll have to get the name of it later and show ya's..

 

[Anjay]

I'm not sure if you have already tried it, however you may want to take a look at Mandrake Linux 10 Official. I've heard it is pretty good, however am yet to try it myself.

 

[FatalSw1tch]

you could try XP Professional

 

[gooooogle]

Boooooooooooooooooo!
Down with XP!
Burn Bill on the stake!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

 

[Anjay]

FatalSw1tch, the topic starter asked for something free, and I highly doubt he wants to use warez.
Meaning the only real solution left is Linux... yet which distrobution is now the question.

 

[BlackStorm]

I have seen mandrake in action and it looks pretty good, although I had a lot of problems trying to install it on a home computer I have.
A number of problems kept coming up during the install and I got tired of trying after a while, especially since I was just testing it out.
If you aren't looking for a very complex OS, you could check out knoppix.
It is a linux OS that runs from CD and the whole OS fits on the one CD.
I have it here and it is actually pretty good, comes with a lot more than you would expect to be on the one CD and running from it.
No install needed so it is a quick easy option.

 

[Anjay]

If you aren't looking for a very complex OS, you could check out knoppix.

I've used Knoppix too, and it's pretty good. However, according to various people at LinuxQuestions, and other Linux gurus, it isn't the safest Linux distro available.

 

[BlackStorm]

I just used it on an unnetworked and un-interneted ( ) computer so it would have been safe enough.
Just downloaded and tried it to test it out, wanted to see what could be done when it didn't even need installed.
Was actually a lot more advanced than I thought it would be, quite a good little OS if you don't need to do too much and are only using it on occassion but I am sure another linux distro would be a lot better if you will be using it a lot, or even on a network/online.

 

[gooooogle]

I've used both knoppix and snøfrix (a Norwegian prodused variant of knoppix) and I'm pretty impressed by them both.

 

[Anjay]

I just used it on an unnetworked and un-interneted computer so it would have been safe enough.

Yes, it then of course was very safe. Many said it wasn't safe when used on the Internet; but of course if you didn't use it while on the net, it was very safe.

Was actually a lot more advanced than I thought it would be, quite a good little OS if you don't need to do too much and are only using it on occassion but I am sure another linux distro would be a lot better if you will be using it a lot, or even on a network/online.

Yes, it has a lot of nice programs - has everything you'd ever really need. However, some people complain it has a bit too much - it has a lot of different word programs, and some say maybe using one good one would be better, and it may also speed things up. Eitherway though, plenty of things to play around with - and it'll definitely make someone like Linux once they use it.
However, yes, if you do plan to use Linux while online, people recommend to get a different distro which you actually install, and which is a lot securer.