Ok, I am fed up to the back teeth with the bollox I have to go through with Microshaft. Every time they "improve" something lately they crash the stuff or make it shittier than before.

I am fed up having to constantly monitor my hardware for OS failures, I simply do not have the time and this was one of the main reasons for getting rid of the farm a couple of years back.

I know Linux versions have come a long way since then, so what i am looking for is a Linux version that works "out of the box" I do not have the knowledge to go reprogramming it, nor the time or inclination. The machines will ONLY run the OS and SETI, this main machine will remain a windows machine due to software and accessory constraints etc. The OS chosen must run BOINC, support various Mobo manufacturers, such as Elite, Abit, Asus and ASRock, further i have two HP machines that would require this OS, so it has to be compatible with HP hardware (tall order I suspect).

It does not have to be free, but i don't want to break the bank either, further, I have a myriad of machines, I do not want the bollox of buying multiple licences so it has to be able to be installed and run on multiple machines.

This is urgent teamsters, I have three machines down thanks to the latest Microsoft "security" update, despite disabling auto update and the only way to get them back is a complete reinstall as there are damaged files in the boot sectors.

Bear in mind I use a Netgear switch so this must also be supported, but I suspect that is not an issue.

Thanks in advance..

Jim

You might want to try Ubuntu http://www.ubuntu.com/ I ordered several CD's from them (free of charge) and it has worked on each machine I've fired it up on so far. they also have a 64bit version available.

Red Hat would also be a good choice or Mandrake

I've worked with these three and they all have out of the box solutions that work pretty well. I think the only changes I've ever had to make with playing around with these is for odd ball network cards I was running at the time of test. They all tend to support the mainstream cards without any re-configuration.

Stick a fork in me! I'm done! I'm slidding in with both feet, a cold beer in one hand, a hot blonde on the other and yelling "YeeHaw! What a ride!"

Gents..many thanks for the feedback, all very much appreciated. I have ordered a Version of Redhat and of Mandrake on CD so I can test it, and I have downloaded all 700MB of Ubuntu 7.09. I only need to burn it to a CD so that i can give it a whirl. One thing I liked about Ubuntu is that Dell and a couple of other manufacturers have started to ship the OS with some of their machines and all say they have not had to make any changes for operation..major plus.. I know that it works with all Dell and HP machines made in the last 5 years, so I am OK there and it also works with the mainboards I have and every driver is covered..these are major pluses.

However I will not make a decision as to a permanent OS until I have recieved the others and done a proper evaluation of all three. Now all we need is for Berkeley to be unborked!!