Picture
If you're a fan of KDE3 or just looking for a ridiculously fast OS for your laptop or desktop, you should give Porteus a try. I was shocked to see how full featured, aesthetically pleasing and familiar it was all while maintaining speed you never see from a live distro. In fact, I'll go out on a limb and call this the fastest operating system I've ever seen with a full featured desktop.

Although it is meant to be used as in a live environment, it is possible to install Porteus to your hard drive. I am currently in the process of trying the latest version and I will report back any problems/fixes. Thankfully, it looks like they've posted installation instructions and streamlined the process a bit with Porteus 1.1. Check out the YouTube video below from the official Porteus YouTube page.

Here is the official release announcement:
"The Porteus Community is pleased to announce the official and final release of Porteus Version 1.1. This release is available for both 32 and 64 bit editions and includes several bug fixes and some new features -- chief among them are a new graphical installer and a completely overhauled Porteus Package Manager, which now allows users to download hundreds of software packages with automatic dependency resolution through a clean GUI interface. Our goal is to make Porteus efficient, powerful, and flexible while remaining easy to use. Please come and join our 'Portable Linux Community' and help us to further enhance this great little operating system!"
 
You can download the 32-bit edition (featuring TDE) here: 
Download 32-bit Porteus
 
 
After what I would call the downfall of Ubuntu Desktop Edition at the hands of the Unity interface (and to a lesser extent Gnome Shell setbacks hitting other mainstream distros), the Linux community is left fragmented and I found myself needlessly burdened with the scramble to find a usable interface that lets me be productive and doesn't give me a colossal headache. If you're like me, you want an aesthetically pleasing OS that is fast and efficient but above all MAKES SENSE. To me, this is where LXDE and Lubuntu aim to fill that void. In fact, I would say that Lubuntu, with some minor tweaking, can be that everything OS that you're looking for. 

Here's how I made my Lubuntu 11.10 installation slide from "passable" to "OMFG IS THAT REALLY LUBUNTU?!?".

Lubuntu 11.10 Installation Guide