From LQWiki

BeatrIX

BeatrIX is streamlined Live CD distribution derived from Ubuntu and Knoppix.

From Knoppix it inherits the very good hardware recognition, from Ubuntu the ease of use, but it doesn't stop there. Most applications used have been shrunk and optimized for as little resource use as possible, making the system compact and fast, and the desktop and menu have been carefully adapted to help new users, especially new Linux users, to get to know and handle the system quickly.

Being of Debian origin, you'll find apt-get and Synaptic to enhance the system according to your needs once you've got it installed on you hard disc. Anyway, since you get a very specialized system, don't expect modifications to be as easy and straightforward as they are on other Debian based systems. The rather radical approach has cost the distribution some of its compatibility. Experienced users will find updating possible, though (BeatrIX is set to use Ubuntu Warty repositories, but of course you can try to use others).

All things considered, BeatrIX strives to live up to its motto "Small, simple, elegant" in a truely remarkable way - it runs on most machines right out of the box (or using some simple cheat codes - the Knoppix ones mainly), and even though it's a bit dated by now and by no means bug free, it proves a very useful distribution to carry around with you on a mini CD.