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PCLinuxOS
PCLinuxOS was founded in 2003 by developer Bill "Texstar" Reynolds. Originally based on Mandriva, it comes as a live CD with a hard drive installation utility. It uses the KDE desktop environment and Advanced Package Tool (APT), usually found in Debian-based distributions, to install RPM packages. The distro includes non-free codecs and utilities, and is a great option for Windows users seeking their first taste of Linux.
One of the distribution's distinguishing characteristics is its mklivecd utility, which takes a snapshot of a user's current installation and writes it to a live CD, which can be used for backup or to clone the system. Another is the PCLinuxOS Control Center management application.
The distribution runs only on 32-bit hardware -- no 64-bit version is in the works.
The project even has its own monthly "magazine" on its Web site.
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