Just finishing up a good two weeks of plowing through distros, getting ready to change my main hardware. These were all x64, and my trial was -
* get it/hopefully on USB * install it (all were clean installs on Lenovo workstations with NVidia graphics) * test hardware and connectivity, check NVidia support * install Chrome (if not already there,) Thunderbird and Virtualbox The contenders: * Ubuntu 13.04 * Mint 14 * Debian 7 * Fedora 18 * OpenSuse 12.1 * Mageia 3 Ubuntu: didn't need to test since I use it every dayMint: just a little clunky and ragged appearance-wise, and a little too retro
Debian: very tempting, but missed some hardware Fedora: just too weird, and package management sucked OpenSuse: my favorite install, but required a DVD and missed some hardwareMageia: this is it - elegant, useful and intuitive. I do believe this thing can beat Ubuntu.
Who knew? (OK, yes, I can think of one - Ed!) I am going to spend a lot more time with Mageia and see what else shakes out.
-- Studio - D Productions l o n g w i r e . c o m "When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other." Eric Hoffer