gOS install fails twice on $0 Laptop

gOS installed successfully on the Maxspeed Maxterm converted thin client -- yeah, it took all day -- but the install has failed twice so far on the $0 Laptop, the Gateway Solo 1450 that currently dual-boots Ubuntu 7.10 and Debian Etch 4.0.

It freezes during the early part of the install. So Ubuntu Gutsy installs fine, but the Gutsy-based gOS does not. I will try again in a few days.

My recent experience with gOS has taught me a few things:

-- There is no way to configure a network connection, except at the command line.
-- Very few apps come with gOS. The system is built around the Firefox browser and icons that serve as Web links to mostly Google-owned sites. The concept is simple and smart.
-- You can add as many Ubuntu apps as you want through Add/Delete Programs, Synaptic or apt.
-- I like the Enlightenment window manager; I'd like to test it against Xfce and Fluxbox at some point.
-- gOS is at release 1.0.1. It's nowhere near as polished as the Ubuntu system on which it's based. That means there's room for improvement.

gOS is a different Linux distribution, no doubt about it. Some would call it stripped down, others might say streamlined. But is it more appropriate for novice users? I'm not so sure. Is it a better choice than Ubuntu, Xubuntu or Debian? Again, I'm not sure.