As promised this is reporting back on installing Linux for an MP, it also relates to the thread about Linux friendly retailers.
This afternoon / evening I finished setting the computer up and introduced the MP to using it.
I ran a risk and installed Mandrake 10.0 community edition. Main software chosen KDE, Ximian's Evolution, Mozilla and OpenOffice.org. The install of Mandrake 10.0 went very smoothly (from disk 1 no less). But I later went back and decided to install Gnome - that was a mess. So far the only problem in KDE that I have encountered is setting up file associations.
I purchased new computer parts from The Computer Broker. At their recommendation I purchased a more expensive case as it was supposed to be quieter - if that was quiet I would hate to hear noisy! There was no reset switch. There was no power cable included (on returning to the store I did get one). Their recommended motherboard on powerdown didn't. I mentioned this to an assistant in the shop and was told it was a bios setting. Either I am really thick (entirely possible) or there was no such setting. I felt fobbed off on returning to the shop.
On an ATX power supply, Power Management must be enabled in the bios settings. If power management is disabled the power supply will not shut down automatically.
