While nearly everyone in his right mind is enjoying this beautiful day, I decided to try out a new Linux distribution -- Mepis Linux.

The cool thing about this one is that the CD will work as a demo OS, and then -- only if you decide you like it, you can choose to install it on your hard drive.

I have extra hard drives lying about, so it's simple to install at home, then switch hard drives whenever I feel like switching OS's. But this Mepis configured itself THREE TIMES now on three different computers (I installed it on the hard drive of one), and without a hitch allowed me to fire up the Konqueror web browser.

Most remarkably, it works like a charm on my laptop, with no configuration at all! If you know anything about Linux, you'll know what a bitch it can be to install it on so many laptops. (My laptop is a Dell Latitude C600, in case any geeks are reading.)

I didn't install it on the laptop permanently but I am running it right now from the CD!

I think I'll post this and enjoy the Spring!

UPDATE: While I am at home now (doing this update using the Mepis Linux OS I installed earlier) , the above was written entirely from the CD, which means I wouldn't even need a hard drive. I was at Starbucks when I did it -- and while it was configuring it immediately recognized and configured the mini pci WiFi adapter. All I had to do once it booted up was open the Konqueror browser.

Impressive!