Melbourne PC User Group Linux distribution disks for first time users

The 4 disks listed below are great for first time users. They will boot to a linux desktop on your machine, sometimes asking a few simple questions along the way. You can then try out your chosen Linux desktop to get familiar with how it works.

When you are satisfied that all is well, you can click on the install icon on the desktop to install the distribution on your hard disk, which will give a significant lift in performance. As far as hardware is concerned, a computer with a 1GHz or better processor and preferably 512MB of RAM will be required.

	Live/Install CD	MEPLICD	Mepis - A desktop Linux distribution designed for both personal and business purposes. A live CD with optional hard disk installation, it has a KDE desktop with a good set of the most wanted applications. Well suited to those starting out with Linux.
	XFCE Live/Install CD or Universal Live/Install DVD	MINXLICD MINULIDVD	Mint - Linux Mint is an Ubuntu-based distribution whose goal is to provide a polished and usable distribution for first time users. The "Universal" DVD (approx 1.3GB) is available here which omits a few codecs for software patent reasons - you can, however, add many of them using the package manager after installation. The XFCE CD (Community Edition) features a different desktop which is very usable on less powerfull computers with 256MB RAM.
	Live/Install CD	PCLLICD	PCLinuxOS - a Live CD that includes the KDE desktop with a good selection of application programs including Openoffice, a web browser and email program, together with good range of multimedia applications ready to go. If you like the Live CD, you can install it on your hard disk drive for faster operation.
	Live/Install CD	UBULICD	Ubuntu - Ubuntu is a complete personal workstation Linux which installs the GNOME desktop. When installed, the user can download another desktop environment and use it while keeping GNOME as an option. Very popular as a beginners distribution, with essential software such as the Openoffice suite, Firefox browser and an email program. A basic set of multimedia codecs is installed with more are available via the package manager if required.