is dapper more user friendly?

[vlatko]

i tried various linux distros so far, got furthest with suse, and always came back to xp. my question is simple really, is dapper drake more user friendly, for a complete newbie, than breezy badger was?

appreciate your feedback.
thanks!

[analyticalman]

Re: is dapper more user friendly?

I think the simple answer to your question is "no" Dapper is more up to date with latest technology but fundamentally using it isn't much different to Breezy (in my opinion)

However, what do you mean by "user friendly" What do you want it to do? Fundamentally Linux in any form will represent a learning curve over Windows, just because its different.

Without answering this question its tough to know quite what you are looking for.

As you've asked this in a Kubuntu forum and therefore presumably use KDE then you could try Mepis. Or you could try Dapper in Gnome form (Ubuntu) or XFCE form (Xubuntu) as some people would assert that these desktop environments are simpler (and therefore maybe more user friendly) than KDE. However, if you want help with learning Linux using Kubuntu then this is a great place to post questions

[vlatko]

Re: is dapper more user friendly?

i thought so. well basically i'm looking for a fast and stable os. i want to be able to watch movies on dvd, divx, etc. (that was a pain in the ass with suse), listen to mp3's on my 5.1 surround sound, with all speakers working, before i had sound from 2 front speakers only. usual home pc stuff. what drove me away from ubuntu/kubuntu, and linux in general, was the inability to resolve those common problems.

[analyticalman]

Re: is dapper more user friendly?

Sigh... well - you can usually resolve all of those problems on any of the linux systems. but its difficult to pretend its as easy as Windows.

As you want Multimedia to work out of the box - Mepis is supposed to be easier. The other one to try is Linspire

[vlatko]

Re: is dapper more user friendly?

well i tried for a few days to resolve it on suse but i failed. those are things i like to take for granted so if i have to spend days troubleshooting them i eventually give up.
i think i'll give kubuntu a shot again. guys at the ubuntu forums told me about easy ubuntu, automatix which will supposedly help me out.
i know there is a learning curve, i'm ok with that, but some things one just wants to work out of the box, ie, surround sound and dvd playback

[OuchOfDeath]

Re: is dapper more user friendly?

Getting 5.1 surround sound in linux is a big problem. The thing is that a lot of sound cards (especially integrated) have surround sound, but it's only software surround sound. The drivers in Windows are capable of software 5.1, but in Linux the ALSA/OSS drivers aren't. So unless you have a card capable of hardware surround sound like a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 for example, then you'll only get 2.1 in Linux.

[vlatko]

Re: is dapper more user friendly?

didn't know that..i have a realtek ac '97 onboard card on my abit an8 sli motherboard.
i also have a old creative sound blaster live! card on my old pc, does it have hardware sound?

[OuchOfDeath]

Re: is dapper more user friendly?

Yeah it took me a while to figure out why i wasn't getting surround sound out of my realtek integrated card.
The sound blaster live! might have hardware 5.1, give it a try, but you should use it in your new pc anyway since it's better than integrated.

[vlatko]

Re: is dapper more user friendly?

i see.. well thanks for the info. though the integrated supports 7.1 surround, you reckon the live! card is better?

[OuchOfDeath]

Re: is dapper more user friendly?

The live! also supports 7.1. Even though it's somewhat old it's better than any integrated sound card, integrated sound puts a significant ammount of load on the cpu, using a dedicated sound card will improve performance in any app that makes use of sound. Also remember to turn off the integrated sound card in the bios once you add the live! to the computer.