[Mageia-discuss] New install on older machine

[TJ]

I just installed Mageia 1 from the DVD on my brother's computer - 
Biostar M7VIG Pro motherboard, Athlon XP 1500+ processor, 512 MB PC2100 
DDR RAM, nVidia FX5500 AGP 4x video card, Samsung B2030 monitor 
connected via VGA, Asus WL-138G V2 wireless card (Broadcom 4318 
chipset). The existing OS was Mandriva 2010.2. I did a clean install, 
not an update, leaving the drive with /home intact.

So far, so good. The install went smoothly, no problems. The monitor was 
correctly identified, and the correct resolution selected. After using 
the b43 firmware cutter to install the necessary firmware, all that was 
needed was to select the proper signal to make the wireless connection. 
After configuring the mirror list, the proprietary nVidia driver was 
installed, using MCC. Then, 619 updates were downloaded and installed, 
while I ate some lunch.

My brother's uses are modest - some websurfing (Facebook and Youtube), a 
bit of email, watch a DVD now and then. His hardware is enough for that 
kind of work, though he could probably use a video card with DVI output, 
and some more RAM. I installed the Flashplayer plugin, Oracle's Java 
version 7u2, Thunderbird, vlc, Kaffeine, and then the latest Adobe 
Reader and Google Earth for good measure. All seem to be working fine, 
though there wasn't much time for testing today once I had everything 
installed. More testing tomorrow, but so far I'd call it an unqualified 
success.

Just thought you'd like to know...

TJ