This book is divided into 5 parts. We start off with Installing Mandrakelinux, where you will learn what you need to know before you actually install Mandrakelinux onto your system (see Chapter 1, Installation Warning, and Chapter 2, Before Installation); and how to correctly install and configure your Mandrakelinux distribution (Chapter 3, Installation with DrakX) by describing the preparation, installation and post-installation procedures.
The next part (Discover) is an introduction to Linux basics. We discuss the Linux paradigm by comparing it to other OSes in Chapter 4, Migrating to Linux from Windows®/Mac OS X®. In order to help new users, we wrote Chapter 5, Linux for Beginners. In it we describe the first steps a new user must master and we explain concepts such as “logging in and out”, security tips, and more.
The following chapter (Chapter 6, Where to Get Documentation) will guide you through a fairly exhaustive list of documentation sources which you can consult in order to attain a better Linux knowledge. A Mandrakelinux-specific section points to numerous in-house resources which you can find on the Net. We close this part by speaking about the popular KDE graphical environment (see Chapter 7, Using KDE).
In the next part (Using the Internet) we show you how to use two popular applications: the Mozilla browser (Chapter 8, Surfing with Mozilla) and the KMail mail client (Chapter 9, Writing E-mails with KMail).
The next part of this manual (Use) deals with everyday applications such as the Kontact groupware client (Chapter 10, The Kontact Client). Amongst other components, it includes a mail client, a calendar, a news utility, and it is possible to synchronize it with a groupware server such as Kolab. We also discuss the OpenOffice.org suite (see the section called “Word Processor”, and the section called “Spreadsheet”), file managers (the section called “Managing your Files”) and printers (the section called “Printing and Faxing from Applications”). We then tackle the world of multimedia by reviewing audio and movie applications (see the section called “Audio Applications”, and the section called “Movie Applications”), as well as CD burning (the section called “CD Burning”).
Finally we go through more technical aspects of the Mandrakelinux system (Advanced Uses):
the Mandrakelinux Control Center (the section called “What is in DrakConf”), which is your main graphical configuration tool;
package management with the Mandrakelinux Software Manager (Chapter 20, Rpmdrake: Package Management) which allows you to install or remove software packages;
as well as an often needed troubleshooting(Chapter 21, Troubleshooting) chapter where you will find tips and tricks if something goes wrong: needless to say, this chapter cannot be exhaustive.