I run SL5 almost exclusively on my machines, but I recommend Ubuntu
for the newbies that I work with.   The latest version, Hardy Heron
8.04LTS (long term support) is out, and I booted it from a live CD.

8.04 is built on the latest Gnome and the latest 7.3 X.org .  The new
X.org fixes some pesky problems that cropped up when Linux moved to
HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer), like recognizing hotplug video
devices such as computer projectors.  The Radeon chipset on my
Thinkpad T30 requires a reboot to recognize a projector with the
X.org 7.1.1 (12 May 2006) that comes with the Scientific Linux 5.0 .

5.1 and 5.2(beta) also run 7.1.X X.org, right?

This leads to a prediction question - involving crystal balls and
tea leaves, perhaps.  How likely is it that T.U.V. EL 5.3 (and thus
SL5.3) will upgrade to X.org 7.3?  

If that is not likely to happen before EL6, what kind of pain is it
to make a local upgrade to X.org 7.3 and maintain it outside of the
automated update process?

Keith

-- 
Keith Lofstrom          [log in to unmask]         Voice (503)-520-1993
KLIC --- Keith Lofstrom Integrated Circuits --- "Your Ideas in Silicon"
Design Contracting in Bipolar and CMOS - Analog, Digital, and Scan ICs