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Rating: - Very good Linux distro
Pros: comes with a plethoria of applications, partition utility a masterpiece of design, easy to use.

Cons: Installation procedure and peripheral detection sometimes buggy.

PS : Power Pack is NOT the free Mandrake (now Mandriva) Linux distro and it does come with 6 cds. People who claim it came with 3 cds might not have had an official version and can't blame it on the company.

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Rating: - 3 disk version is a mistake
I got the 3 disk version for $5.98. Does not have the entire Mandrakelinux OS so was unable to load KDE. Big bummer. Then it hung up on the installation process and I had to reinstall Fedora Core 2. Money down the drain on this one. Maybe the six cd set works better but the 3 cd set was a total loss for me.

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Rating: - Excelent distro with a few glitches
I've installed Mandrake 10 and found it very easy to install alongside WinXP. The NTFS partition shrinking feature works, although it may be better to use a dedicated partitioning tool since Mandrake's is somehow limited. It has a lot of software included, but there are some basic things that need to be download, i.e. Flash player for the browsers. In summary, is good, not perfect. Easy enough to be installed by an average user, but not that easy to setup.

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Rating: - These are the install discs too!
While this premium linux distribution also comes with great documentation, it is really the six CDs packed with goodies you are paying for.

This set gives you everything you need to take a computer with an empty hard drive (or one that already has an operating system like Windows on it - it can peacefully co-exist) and install Mandrake Linux 10.0 quickly and easily. Mandrake 10 is not only the easiest and cheapest linux distribution out there, it is also one of the fastest (running the new 2.6 series kernel) and definately the one with the best community of users willing to help you get started, learn more, or become a guru! Visit mandrakeusers.org to see what I mean - if you have never tried linux out, these great folks will answer any question you may have.

I personally find linux easier than anything else, and this Mandrake easier than any other linux. It comes with tons of games, software, office suites, etc, so you really only need to make one purchase. You don't need to buy an anti-virus and firewall program, office program, CD burning software, etc separately because it's all included!

One more thing before I start my own install (seriously): You will never have to worry about e-mail worms or suspicious attachments ever again. Those do not affect linux, and after what you pay for a computer, you shouldn't have to worry about such stupidities.