OS Options.

A friend of mine (MCSE) and I have been debating the validity of using an alternative operating system (read Linux). If it were up to him, everthing would be made by Microsoft. I'm not here to start a Microsoft vs. Linux debate, so please don't feel obligated to bash either one.
I am going to be trying out a flavor of Linux and my question is if anyone has any feedback as to which flavor I should be looking at and what other extras I should look into getting with it. :cool:
Thanks for any feedback in advance. :)

If you are new to Linux, I recommend Red Hat. It has RPM files that install like exe and it sure does make it alot eisier than trying to unzip a tar file and put everything in its correct place. I also like the gnome gui.

My second choice would be Mandrake. Mostly for the cool window shapes. :D

Mandrake is by far the easiest distro i've found. Of it redhat, slackware and corel, Mandrake 8.0 got the most informative installer and surprisngly good driver support out of the box. You can download the latest ISO and make a CD from <a href="http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/ftptmp/1016762520.7994b2f012b369258c712c9784fb7789.php" target="_blank">THIS</a> site. Red Hat isn't too far behind, but it's partitionless intstall (that allows you to dual boot without HDD re-partitoning) is a bit tricker than Mandrakes linux4win.

i found mandrake to be the easiest to do an install . <a href="http://www.mandrake-linux.com" target="_blank">Mandrake 8.2</a> is out. Redhat 7.2 now has a pretty good installer. I prefer KDE desktop rather tan gnome.

Mandrake

Mandrake is the easiest I have found for installation. Easy to set up and configure on the network. In fact 8.0 was a breeze to set up as a DHCP server and LAN Forward Router. My next project is registering a Domain and putting a website on it.

Impulse buyer. Look out. :D :D
From your posts I made my decision fairly quickly.
Mandrake 8.2 is on the way when they release it. I went ahead and got the PowerPack kit since I don't have a fast connection or the patience to download it. ;)
The next question is Gnome or KDE. They both look pretty cool.
I can't wait to start my foray into the world of Linux. After seeing so many forums with pro-MS people telling the ABMers (Anything But Microsoft) that if they don't like what MS does to use something else, I decided to see just how good something else is. Linux looks like the answer. ;)

you'll be pleasently surprised, however a quick piece of advice that helped me when it was given to me : try not to do things the way you would do them in windows. I know it sounds abvious but It took me months to "unlearn" windows habits to effectively use Linux (i drink from mandrake's cup) and once I did thing got a lot easier.

Have fun!