.
Things I liked:
Reasonably fast server brings in 937 Mb iso in 10-15 min.
Universal LiveUSB installer easily makes LiveUSB.
ALL my laptop hardware recognized and drivers provided
....except for internal closed-source wifi.
Easily sets up open-source external wifi.
Xfce desktop neat, intuitive & responsive.
Uses Ubuntu whisker menu and includes a LibreMenu menu editor.
Network mgr working well, given wifi drivers.
FF is 25; LO is 4.2; amd64 kernel is 3.13.
Boots to browser on-line in ~60 sec; shut-down < 5 sec.
GUI makes it easy to disable my touchpad which disrupts typing.
Things I didn't like:
Inefficient choices in initial 937 Mb base configuration.
937 Mb iso doesn't include closed-source ttf-mscorefonts, Broadcom drivers & flash;
....also doesn't include open-source LibreOffice, Geany & tzdata.
Configuring 2 Gb of persistence took a really long time.
LibreOffice took a long time to bring in as well.
*Apt-get needed to install tzdata; ntp updates desktop to local time on reboot.
Mousepad editor poorer than leafpad, much poorer than gedit IMO.
Bug 1: whisker menu editor doesn't save (or properly display) liveUSB favorites;
....Mint 16 doesn't have this problem with favorites panel display
Bug 2: does not recognize closed-source drivers brought in
....nor indicate correct status of devices using closed-source drivers.
LibreMenu requires a wholesale upgrade of gtk+ and python3 infrastructure.
Things I don't understand:
Why screensaver set only to blank screen.
Why Ubuntu Software Center rather than Synaptic.
*Maybe because I didn't understand Ubuntu Software Center usage as root.
ALLEN BRADLEY 281G-F12S-10B-RRG-CBG /C AMORSTART MODULE 280G-FS-10-RG STK 2911
$332.50
(1) Intel Core i7-4790 3.60GHz - SR1QF - Processor - CPU
$33.00
AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D Gaming Processor - 12 Core And 24 Threads - 5.60 GHz Max Boo
$329.99
AMD Ryzen 5 Pro 3400G 3.7Ghz 4-Core Socket AM4 CPU Processor YD340BC5M4MFH
$56.48
Intel Core i7-14700KF Unlocked Desktop Processor
$420.22
AMD Ryzen 7 7700x Processor (5.4 GHz, 8 Cores, LGA 1718/Socket AM5) Box -...
$180.00
AMD Ryzen 5 4500 6-Core 3.6GHz Socket AM4 65W CPU Desktop Processor
$77.77
Intel Xeon E5-2697A V4 2.6GHz CPU Processor 16-Core Socket LGA2011 SR2K1
$39.99
Intel Core i7-7700 3.60GHz Quad-Core CPU
$41.66
Intel Core i5-8500 3.00GHz SR3XE Socket 1151 6 Core CPU Processor
$55.00