Mepis

Mepis is a Linux distro based on Debian and Ubuntu and is designed with home/business/office users in mind. It is more stable than Ubuntu and has more up to date drivers. It comes as a liveCD like Ubuntu so it can easily be tested without affecting the system. I'm going to give it a shot to see if it can solve my dual-monitor problem described in Ubuntu Post Install.

LiveCD Test Disappointing

My first impression is not too inspiring, it picked up the hardware less successfully than Ubuntu. It didn't give me access to the local hard disc which I would of thought to be very important for a live-cd. It didn't automatically detect and connect to the wireless network and didn't detect the available display modes of my external monitor so I don't have much hope of it being able to handle my dual monitor setup successfully. I may try again later, but it's off to a very disappointing start.

Second look continues to disappoint

I had another look at Mepis today with the specific aim of testing dual-monitor configuration on my laptop which is not working properly with Ubuntu. Mepis also is unable to achieve results in this department, and overall appears to be far more inaccessible to the user than Ubuntu. It's hardware integration mechanisms require a great deal of manual tweaking compared to Ubuntu.