MySQL ERROR 1045 Access Denied

I recently installed MySQL on Fedora13. Now, when I try to create a database, it denies me access. I tried resetting the password and it does not recognize my system root. I tried resetting password with an init-file containing:

UPDATE mysql.user SET Password=PASSWORD('MyNewPass') WHERE User='root';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

I tried uninstall and then reinstall and it is still not working.

I am new to Linux and not comfortable with the filesystem. Talk to me like I'm four.

Thank you, kindly.