First encounters of the SimplyMepis kind
It’s funny that my first encounter with SimplyMepis came as sort of an accident. I have been reading Preacherpen’s articles about Mepis, which is Debian based, for quite some time and had actually downloaded the new SimplyMepis 8 and burned my own CD. I hadn’t gotten around to trying it out until recently when I acquired an HP laptop that needed a new hard drive. After installing the new drive, I planned to install sidux on it because that was what I was using on my desktop. For some reason, the fonts were very large on the live CD of sidux and I could not navigate through the menus. Since I already had the CD of Mepis 8, I decided to see what it would do on the old laptop. It booted just fine and everything looked great, so I made the decision to install it on the drive.
As I was with sidux, I was impressed at the speed of the installation. Keep in mind that I have been using Windows up until about a year and a half ago and there is a lot of difference between Windows and any distro of Linux. As a side note, I was setting up a new Dell laptop for the daughter of a friend of mine this past weekend and it took longer to start Windows Vista for the first time than it did to do a complete install of Mepis 8. I can not imagine going back to something like that.
One of the things I first noticed about Mepis 8 is how it was set up, right out of the box. Everything just seemed to work and it was very pleasant to look at and more importantly, to use. Just a few adjustments of personal settings and it was ready to rock and roll. The laptop only has 512 MB of ram, but I am amazed at how fast it runs Mepis. I have worked on this laptop before, when it was running Windows XP and believe me, there is no comparison.
After the laptop was set up, I handed it over to my wife to play with and she had no trouble using the system. I just showed her where Firefox was and she went to town. It wasn’t long before she was telling me how well she liked it. She has been using sidux for a year and although she has had no trouble using it, she has never told me she liked it. In fact, there have been times when she mentioned she would like to have Windows XP back. Trust me, if Mepis can win her over, it’s a big accomplishment.
As the weekend moved on, I got the chance to play around with Mepis a bit myself and it wasn’t long before I found myself wondering how it would work on my desktop, which is consideraby faster than the laptop. Once I made the decision, it took about 15 minutes and I had Mepis 8 up and running on my desktop and it was smoking. As it did with the laptop, the installation went flawlessly and the system just seemed to work. My printer was even a breeze to install, much more so than in sidux.
This article is not about any troubles with sidux. I do not dislike sidux and could easily go back and use it again. Mepis 8 has just won me over and it has more to do with the feel of the distro than anything else. Combine that with the fact that it made a believer out of my wife and I am officially a Mepis Lover.
If you are considering making the move to Linux or are just looking for something new or different to try, you should give SimplyMepis 8 a shot. The official version uses KDE 3.5 as it’s desktop, but there is also a remastered version on the Mepis Lovers Forums that uses KDE 4.2. Either way, it’s a great Linux distro and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
I’ve been awaiting this post with anticipation, and you came through with flying colors. Let me just say how pleased I am with your decision to give Simply Mepis a try. As has already been discussed here and on my own blog, I’ve been a Simply Mepis user for several years now, and wouldn’t go back to M$ Windows for anything, unless I absolutely had no other choice.
You will find it’s an easy distro to use and maintain; Warren and the very helpful people at Mepis Lovers do an incredible job on so many levels.
Again, Larry, welcome to Mepis. Be looking for my post about the fundraiser we’re doing Saturday.
Ron’s last blog post..It’s a Boy!
Like I said, Ron, I owe it to you for convincing me to give it a try. This is not to say anything bad about sidux, but Mepis is simply easier for my wife to use, no pun intended.
One question I do have is about the name. I thought it was SimplyMepis, but you have it broken into two words, Simply Mepis. Which is correct?
oh man! you guys are talking some other language again. I’m going back under the table.
OneMom’s last blog post..Speculation
Aw come on, Kerry. Be a sport and stay out from under the table.
Honestly, if you would give something like Mepis 8 a try, you would not regret it. It blows Windows away.
Welcome to Mepis Larry, glad you took it for a spin and liked it.
To the best of my knowledge, Warren makes only one version of his distro, but licensing is where they differ.
MEPIS is the commercially supported product and users dialogue directly with Warren, SimplyMEPIS is version most of us use. There may be other differences, like customizations for different uses.
By the way, you missed AntiX, another Mepis remaster for older computers that uses the icewm desktop and now somebody is trying to make a gnome remaster. I do my own DVD respin, but do not make it public because I include items from the non-free branch.
Mike P
Mike,
I am still learning about Mepis, but one thing for sure, I like the system. Thanks for commenting and come again soon.
You got me; I think at one time it was broken out into two words, but even on Warren’s “mepis.org” site we see SimplyMepis. Now, don’t go getting all “I told you so” on me, or I won’t send you a sample of the pork roasts we’re doing Saturday! Remember, neither one of us has a license for “smellovision.”
I’ll agree with Mike P on what he said. AntiX is a great distro, and Danum has a Mepis remaster with KDE 4.2 on it, if you want to go that route. Personally, I don’t like Gnome, but some do, and that’s one of the great things about Linux – choice.
Ron’s last blog post..It’s a Boy!
You are right, Ron. There are so many choices in Linux, a user is bound to find something that will work for them. I have never regretted leaving Windows and moving to Linux.
You keep talking about those pork roasts and I am going to have to either FedEx myself down to Florida or have you FedEx one of them to Oklahoma.
nope, I like it under the table. As an Apple person, (and my husband’s IT person for his windows based computer), I would be afraid that I would kill his computer. As I mentioned over at Ron’s place, I have no clue about partitioning and all that stuff.
I might come out for some pork roast though!
OneMom’s last blog post..Speculation
Okay, Ron, you heard the woman. The only way she’s coming out from under the table is for some of that pork. Shoot, everyone in Washington is getting pork, so why shouldn’t we? But, I digress. Let’s see now, what was I talking about? Oh yeah, the table and the pork. Never mind, I think it’s about my bed time.
That’s relatively funny! That is, if you want to talk about your relatives that way.
BTW, I fixed a problem yesterday that had to do with WINE (not the drinking kind). It was a simple fix, and now my laptop is working just fine. Linux is the way to go (Kerry).
Ron’s last blog post..It’s a Boy!
“My printer was even a breeze to intall. . . ” you mention in your article. I’ve
just installed Mepis8, without incident, but haven’t been able to install my all-in-one HP printer. It works fine on the other partition, XP. Any suggestions?
I would suggest you visit the Mepis forums and ask your question there. I probably could help you sort it out, over time, but they are much more knowledgeable than am I on matters like this. You can find the link to the forums in my sidebar.