We also felt the dependency checking was handled well, especially with an eye to how new users would deal with it. The informational messages were in plain English as opposed to the occasionally hostile squawkings some package management systems will deliver. The Software Catalog is a portal-style page that offers links to reviews and a search tool. Though not officially supported for installation, Mandrake is a search option. Via the Software Catalog, Nautilus does dependency checking and makes sure all needed packages are downloaded and installed.
Nautilus allows the user to simply enter the root password to install packages.