Well again I am totally impressed at how well this distro performs. The install simply could not have been any easier. I originally tried to install Xubuntu. The live CD booted but the desktop just could not load. I kind of expected that as the system only has 256mb of memory. Then I popped in the puppy linux live cd. Within minutes the desktop was loaded and ready to run. My friend could not believe how fast it booted. He said when he used to turn the computer on in the morning he would go take a shower and get some coffee and by the time he was done with that XP would just about be finished loading. This system was so slow he could not even play solitaire. Dragging the cards took minutes!
Puppy was lightning quick off of the live cd and I explained that that boot was a little slower than normal because it was of the cd. After showing him the web browser, Abi Word (my personal fave word processor), and how to mount his wife's iPod, he was sold. We went ahead with the install. This was slightly confusing for me as I assumed that the box icon on the desktop that said install would install the system, like in *ubuntu. Actually this is the package manager it appears. After a quick look in the menu I found the Universal Installer. After a few clicks we were ready to run gparted. I set up the fs as ext3 and began the install. We sat down to eat some burgers and steaks (my payment, which I never request, but always gladly receive) and about halfway through dinner I got up to check on the progress. It was ready for a reboot. After removing the live cd I rebooted, picked my keyboard layout, and about 35-45 seconds later we were staring at the desktop. I set up his network interface, and since he had never had a computer fast enough to truly browse the web, I pointed him to some of my favorite sites like last.fm , pandora , and pixeljam. All told I would have to say this was one of the easiest computer rescues I have performed. No backups, no confusing install process, no hours of waiting (like with the XP reinstall), hell I didn't even have to crack the case open to put in more ram! If you have a seriously underpowered PC I would HIGHLY recommend Puppy Linux 4.0. It's a bit on the ugly side but it performs quite well and as we all know, it's what on the inside that counts!
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