The best thing i like about mandriva is its customization and open source which has a lot to offer. I dislike that it is not as user friendly so you need to learn some linux commands if your going to use this OS. Try it out, it's worth it. I'm using it for my web server. It helps me get updates fast since it is one of the most stable Linux OSs around. I also love how easy it is to install applications as they are all in the repo. One thing I wish was easier is to find packages by name instead of looking through categories and subcategories. Also would be nice if there were more add-ons or different themes available. I am running an Apache2 webserver with php5 and mysql server.