Hi,
I saw in the last few weeks discussion about newer distros switching to systemd, and some persons here says they would use another distro to avoid systemd at all.
PCLinuxOS doesn't use systemd and have recent kernel, now at 3.16.xx, and it still has HAL, so it might be a good alternative for users who prefer classic startup sysvinit systems. Texstar, the one at the head of PCLinuxOS also said that he will stay away of systemd for as long as he is not forced to use it.
By the way, I will release in the next few days the new version of my PCLinuxOS non-official TDE remaster. It will still be based on super stable TDE 3.5.13.2, with the PCLinuxOS better than average user friendliness and hardware support, plus updated graphic style and less fat. Stay tuned! :)
Thank you!
-Alexandre