Dear Friends,
I am really curious about the Knoppix cd, insofar as it is supposed to let the curious windows user figure out how linux works.
Okay, I found out from searching that Knoppix himself hates flash, but one needs to now how, for instance, easy it is to print an envelope in Open office. In Word, it's on a pull down menu, mailings>envelopes - I have yet to find it in Open Office. Then, I would like to know if it is going to be as hard to set up a printer in a real full installation.
In knoppix, the wizard runs, but the printer does not print. Likewise, I can see in the xsm browser the workgroup, and even look at files from the other computer, but the other computer, and therefore I take it, the printer, attached to that computer, does not see the linux laptop. Is this intentional, if so, why? If not, I am doing something stupid?
Also, since I can only see the other pc's "My DOcuments" in the xsm browser, the *.doc files do not open automatically with open office or kword, an one would like to know why. Obviously, the text reader that the browser assigns will not help, since the text it prints is binaries.
These are minor things, but without a flash plugin, a broswer is useless.
Another question on the experienced folk here, why can one not highlight a text and chose "copy" from a right click context menu in Konqueror?
One last silly question: why is there no support for 1400x1050 resolution? Or is there, and I cannot make it work?
No one objects if these things are supposed to be this way, but, for a new user, the lack of knowing whether this is inherent in the system, or user error is enough to put one off linux forever, and this surely cannot be the intention of the cd.
Is Konqueror better than IE? I cannot tell, since I am viewing it in a lower resolution, and have yet to figure out if there is a word processor based e-mail, or an outlook type organiser. Sure, Korgnaiser is great, but a heaving hitter like outlook, well, how many ttf fonts would I be able to download with one click to be able to one click on the reminder to send a lettre of reference to a student, with the instructions to "print out best quality, and sign my name" so that I never have to go to the post office.
The PC is supposed to save time, and this one lack makes me wonder. My lawyer sent me a brief the other day, to open, print out lettre quality, and send by messenger to the court. If running a linux box means I have to see people, go back to using paper docs, and cannot send attachments that every person on the planet can open and print, if need be, I would like to know this.
As is, the knoppix cd is a brilliant achievement, but the curious newbie cannot judge the appropriateness of linux from it, because I do not know if KDE always is the way it is, or is the way it is because the cd lacks space for every bell and whistle.
Likewise, it would be nice to know why I cannot boot with gnome as my desktop, even thought the screen says I can. I do not know if I am doing something wrong, or the run from the dvdplayer version is just different from the one I might have downloaded, had I the patience.(I bought mine from cheapbytes, by the way.)
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Particulary on outlook replacements and at drivers for laptops at high resolutions.

Very best to all, and many, many thanks for all the info from the forums.

Martin