Newbie installation: any autodetection of devices?

[Johann Spies <jspies@sun.ac.za>]

I am working at the Information Technology department of our university.
The mangement has invited me introduce them to Linux.  They are Windows
users and knows computers very well.

So I decided to let them install Debian from our local ftp-server for a
start.  I am preparing for this, but find it not so easy to do.

Last year or early this year I installed Stormix and was impressed with
the ease of installation.  It was about the easiest installation of any
operating system I have done - MSDOS excluded.  I thought that Debian
might follow the same approach, but do not see any of this in the
installation process from woody's base disks.

A few remarks and questions:

1. There was no detection of the network card as I had with the Stormix
installation.  Is there some way to autodetect the network card?

2. Stormix could detect my mouse.  During the Debian's gpm and X11
installation I have to supply the device and mouse type.  Difficult for
newbies coming from a Windows environment.  

3. The configuration of X11 is a nightmare on the Woody installation
process.  Again there was no autodetection of the hardware.  I see in
Dwarfs-debian-guide he refers to anXious, but I could not find any
program or file with that name in Woody.  Again Stormix could do the
detection of the video card and list options for different monitors in
the installation process.  I have not seen this with the woody
installation. 

  I know I can go and edit the configuration files in /etc/X11/  (and
  experiment with different configurations for a few hours) but how
  will I convince a Windows user about Debian when in my tutorial they
  have to do all this?  Especially as some of them have already
  experimented with Mandrake which does all this with the ease of
  Windows.

So my question about the installation of X11 for newbies: Is there an
easy way of doing it - like the autodetection of the video card and a
list of monitors to choose from?

4. The installation of Woody up to the tasksel screen is quite easy and
I want to congratulate the people who developed the installation disks.
Debian's apt-get is the man reason why I use Debian and want to show
Debian to the other people.  

5. I have 5 x 3 hour sessions to introduce them to Linux.  I would like to
hear from the people on this list on what they think are te most
important things to give attention to.

Regards.

Johann.
-- 
Johann Spies          Telefoon: 021-808 4036
Informasietegnologie, Universiteit van Stellenbosch

     "The earth is the LORD'S, and the fullness thereof; the
      world, and they that dwell therein."       Psalms 24:1