The new download page looks promising, thanks. 
In the early 80’s, I had originally sampled Red Hat, Suse, PC-Linux, and a few others, but quickly found Mandrake to be the best option, and have stayed with it through Mandriva, and eventually to OpenMandriva… to me, the other distros may have individual bits of appeal, but none compare overall, especially regarding the things that really matter to me.
I have often made attempts to induce other less tech-savvy associates, as otherwise intelligent as they may be, to try OM, even burning DVDs and thumb drives to entice them to try it, thinking “If only you knew what you’re missing!…” Many cannot bring themselves to trust a live safe distribution enough to actually try it, if they can even grasp the concept at all. The ignorance is staggering at times, but I don’t give up.
One of the first books I ever read back in the early days of PC DOS on generating income with PCs said there are two categories of PC users: Power Users and Convenience Users. Power Users will give up convenience for power, and Convenience Users will give up power for convenience. It seems to me that Microsoft has aimed at the Convenience group, who have eventually become so exploited that they are willing to consider relinquishing some of that dwindling convenience in return for the promise of escaping with their lives, freedom, and wallets intact. This is actually a fantastic opportunity. I think anything that gets potential new users to step over the minimum inconvenience threshold to get a taste will be greatly rewarded.
Idea:
In the beginning of the cellular phone explosion, one entrepreneur opened a store showcasing all of the popular brands and models, offering to allow potential customers to try the phones of interest under power in the showroom, assisted by knowledgeable sales staff. It makes quite a difference when they have a clear preview of the experience before commitment.
Question:
How practical would it be to devise an optional spoon-fed walk-through flow-charted decision tree sequence of questions that would help determine the best download choice for each individual and recommend their initial selection for them? Maybe some kind of demo (interactive?) to acquaint them visually with the ramifications of their choices, perhaps as part of the structured questionnaire approach.
Nothing is guaranteed, and nothing is permanently set in stone, but a “Based on your answers to the questions and results compiled from accumulated experience feedback of prior and existing users, here is what we recommend…”
Of course, the feedback system is what will make this a viable alternative… we’d need to make a functional feedback system as part of the installation process, maybe like a deferred part of the “Welcome to OpenMandriva” screen that pops up after an installation, and maybe also occassionally thereafter, to check in with them, with an FAQ and suggestions function… nothing irritating (“Check box for “Do not automatically show this again.”) but available if they wished.
What if…
…OpenMandriva established itself as the premier “Go To” Linux distribution, not only for its across-the-board superiority of technical and design excellence…
…but also as the singular preferred choice to guide the incoming wave of new users to the most satisfying Linux experience possible with minimal discomfort and/or inconvenience immediately out of the box?
I think that would definitely be something worth aiming for!
Also: Favorite books of mine: “About Face” and “The Inmates Are Running The Asylum” by Alan Cooper on computer interface design considerations… both are insightful as well as extremely enjoyable. If you haven’t read them, I’d recommend them.
Thanks for all you do. We are all fortunate to have you and all the other dedicated individuals in service of the cause… and I happen to personally know so…