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After reading a lot about Mandrake Linux and how easy it is for Ms Windows users to adapt to, I thought I would try it out since I was sick of the complexity of other distributions. After downloading this distribution weighing in at around 650 MB I set off to work installing it thinking my job would be very cryptic and overall not fun to do. How wrong I was.

Linux Mandrake 7.0 contains a new and enhanced graphical installer that makes the old 6.1 installer look like your system BIOS and was very intuitive making the Slick-Splash-Screen windows users like me feel a little more at home. It is also optimised for Pentium class x86 CPU's, which makes it a great choice for almost all PC users.

The install interface is brilliant, it displays all of the install routines set out in the left frame so you know exactly what is going to happen next. If you made a mistake you could simply click back with your mouse to the area you wish to go back over. The great thing about this distribution is that it is organised and coherent, meaning you won't get lost or stuck and hence you won't need to re-boot and start the process all over again.

Mandrake 7.0 also takes the strain out of partitioning and resizing your hard disks to accommodate Linux, by including a Partition Magic like hard disk tool. It is very easy to use and even has an auto distribute feature which sets the partition sizes to the recommended sizes and formats them for you giving you your boot sector, swap file and native Linux partitions.

Much praise is also in order for Mandrake concerning the options they give users pertaining security. Security levels can be set from paranoia to a blind guy running with a pair of scissors. The installation asks you want you want to use you box for as well, and selects the appropriate or most common applications in the process if you so choose. There is always the option to custom install which I recommend although the plethora of applications you have to choose from becomes quite daunting, and one miss click can undo what took you 10 minutes to decide. This is the first release however, so an update is expected soon.

Installation usually takes about 20 mins depending on what you select, for if you were to select all of the available applications and runtime files you would have to wait at least half an hour. During this time it shows you what is installing and the progress as well as overall estimation times which helps you know how long it will Really Be. Once the bulk has been installed it's then time to configure your Video Card using the XFree86 configuration tool. This is a great utility which detected my Ge-Force DDR straight away and gave the correct settings first time for my unknown 19-inch monitor.

You then have the choice to set up your network and dial up connections, your printer and set up anything on the PCI/ISA bus if you so desire. SCSI peripheral detection has been much improved also, Mandrake detected my SCSI card and 9 GB SCSI HDD without any problems.

Mandrake Linux 7.0 even gives you a choice to install a boot loader if you so wish. I preferred to make a start up disk but that's just my preference. The LILO configuration is now much easier to use than previously so no one will find it hard to do either.

My installation was flawless and I didn't receive any errors. That was a first for me.

Once up and running, Mandrake offers you a choice of desktop interfaces each with it's own benefits and hitches. I prefer Enlightenment however this GUI manager and Gnome, KDE take up 15mb of memory for themselves so only use them if you have lots of RAM. They all offer you endless customization so you can get the OS to look the way you want it too.

These three pics all link to much bigger ones..

From these images you can see how good Linux can look. With a bit of work you could have your own master piece without having to put up with ugly fixed toolbars or single desktops.

Mandrake 7.0 is also easier to configure whilst in Linux. The old LinuxConf has now been replaced by an excellent utility called DrakConf which integrates windows like hardware diagnostics and enables any settings to be easily modified. Mandrake even lets you see your windows partitions and access them whenever you wish, making file transfers such as pictures or downloads easy between OS's.

With Mandrake Linux this easy to install and use, I don't see why anyone who hasn't tried out Linux yet to pass this opportunity up. Documentation is very in depth for beginners and the OS is yours to customise. You choose what you want not what it can give you. Overall this OS is quicker than windows and now it is just as easy to install, supporting all kinds of new hardware from Aureal Vortex 1 and 2 soundcards to Ge-Force DDR video accelerators.

Give it a try, you might just like it - go here to find out more.

Some images courtesy of Mandrake Linux © 1999 All rights reserved.

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