Arch Linux has been having hard lockups recently, so I decided to try out a new distro. I had a look at Distrowatch for a different distro to try. I'm very picky with my distros...here's what I said about each:

• Ubuntu - It's Gnome...
• openSUSE - Tried it, I don't really like the package management
• Fedora - Too Gnome orientated
• Mint - Gnome orientated
• PCLinuxOS - Way outdated
• Debian - No updater for KDE or Xfce - It's very Gnome dependent
• Mandriva - Tried it, way too slow and a resource hog
• Dreamlinux - Don't like the "Mac like" feel to it
• Sabayon - A whole DVD to download, and it's very bloated
• DSL - My computer's not that old!
• CentOS - Nope..
• Slackware - Too "hard" to work and takes a while to set up
• Kubuntu - Slow..
• Gentoo - A weekend compiling on a laptop? I don't think so
• Puppy - Again, no need for an ultra lightweight distro
• Arch - I'm switching from you (for now)
• MEPIS - Could have chosen this...
• FreeBSD - Same as Slackware
• Zenwalk - I actually installed this, and the package manager is absolutely horrible!
• KNOPPIX - Nope. It's a live CD not really made for installing
• gOS - Don't like the Myspace orientation
• sidux - Too hard to maintain

This went on for most of the list until I got to Pardus. I hadn't tried it out for quite a while, and I noticed that they had released a new version called "2008".

The installer

The installer is absolutely beautiful. Orange is a great colour to choose, as I think it is highly underrated as a colour scheme. Sure, Ubuntu uses it a little, but not as much as Pardus Personally I've gone with a green and orange theme, and it looks amazing

Anyway, the installer was very easy to understand, and didn't have any problems. The partitioner was very nice, and I like that you could add all of the users you wanted before the installation. The installation was pretty fast, probably a bit slower than Ubuntu though...

The desktop experience

Pardus includes a lot of home grown applications, such as PiSi, their package manager, and Tasma, their customized KDE control centre.

PiSi

Pardus didn't use APT or RPM with their distro. Instead they made their own package manager called PiSi. The GUI is very simple and easy to use, and is quite quick with installation. It has a "New packages" section, "Installed packages" section and an "Upgradable packages" section.

Migration assistant

Pardus includes a migration assistant, like Ubuntu does, to import your Windows files and settings from you Windows partition.

Network Manager

No, it isn't that horrible, buggy NetworkManager. The Pardus devs have even made their own network manager, somewhat similar to Mandriva's one. I could connect very easily (my wireless card's drivers are open source ) to my WPA encrypted wireless network.

Artwork

The orange artwork the Pardus devs have produced is absolutely beautiful. I set my wallpaper as their orange one, which goes very well with my green colour scheme. There is a gfxmenu for GRUB instead of an ugly black and white terminal like screen greeting you on bootup. The bootsplash theme is also very nice. The KDM theme isn't as nice as I thought it would be, but it's ok nevertheless.

sysinfo:/ for Konqueror

Pardus includes the popular sysinfo:/ KIO for Konqueror from openSUSE, and have given it a makeover. Personally I think it looks way better than the openSUSE one..

Kickoff menu

openSUSE's Kickoff menu is disabled by default, but I enabled it. It is a lot wider than on openSUSE for some reason, but still works as great

Applications included

Most of the necessary KDE apps are included, but they included Gnome MPlayer for some strange reason, and Kaffeine installed as well. There is OpenOffice.org included, and Kontact, KDE's PIM suite. Obviously, Amarok is included, and so is the KDE games and utilities suite. Their web browser of choice is Mozilla Firefox 3.

Conclusion

Pardus is a very good distro, and should really be much higher on the Distrowatch rankings. They really do know what beautiful is and includes a plethora of applications. I highly recommend this distro if you are just starting out using Linux or want to introduce Linux to someone else.

After a while...

Pardus worked out pretty well in the beginning, but after a while it started to get a bit unstable. I booted up and sometimes was greeted with a _ . Yes, no terminal or anything! I also got hard lockups randomly when I was working, which got a bit annoying. Don't really know why it was doing that though.

Screenshots (no review is complete without them )

Desktop: My customized Pardus desktopPiSi: Pardus' package managerTasma: KControl with some customizationKickoff menu: The somewhat wide Kickoff menusysinfo:/: The system information page in Konqueror