[CentOS] new user - with questions

Sat Feb 21 03:32:42 UTC 2009
Michael Klinosky <mpk2 at enter.net>

Hello.
I've been using Fedora since about the FC6 era, for home use. I don't
like the 6 month upgrade (or re-install) concept, and I don't need the
latest & greatest versions of apps. So, CentOS sounds enticing.

But, I have some questions. I found 2 centos websites (primary and 
wiki), and checked the forum - but couldn't find answers to these concerns.

Is CentOS basically like Fedora? (Well, except for the updates every 6
months!) As in 'look & feel', underlying operations, etc. (Btw, I know 
about removing upstream branding.)

Any caveats? Meaning, does it use the same repositories that Fedora
does? Are there any major or significant differences?

I should just go for the most recent package (5.2) - yes? About how old 
are the apps? (A few months?)

How are application updates handled? 5.2 has firefox-3.0-0.beta5.6.el5. 
I saw (on the Firefox website) that 3.0.6 is out. Will an app update get 
that version, or something just a bit older? (btw, I know about 
backporting.)

Does centos use Plymouth? I have a somewhat recent computer (about 3 
years old) that has an intel chipset (which Plymouth can't handle yet, 
and so it needs xdriver=vesa during install).

Michael, in Pennsylvania (USA)