Another Xandros 2.0 Deluxe Review

JimLynch writes in about his review: "If we had to define Xandros 2.0 with one word, we'd pick 'usable.' This time around, the folks at Xandros have refined their product significantly and come up with something that makes Linux quite comfortable and easy to use, even if you're a total newbie to the OS. Obviously the Gentoo crowd won't be interested in this distro, but Windows users who haven't used Linux before or have had bad experiences with other distros will particularly enjoy this release. The time to begin the desktop migration to Linux might very well have arrived with Xandros 2.0." An earlier review was also favorable.

Comments

Best Desktop Linux Released To Date

[reallocate]

I've been using Xandros Desltop 2.0 for a few weeks, coming to it after several years with a number of other distributions.

It is, indeed, a slick piece of work. Installed as advertised. Detected and offered the correct drivers for all of my periperals, including my printer. Saved me the trouble of chasing down and installing some Mozilla plugins. Crossover works as advertised. The tweaks to KDE are well done and present a professional image.

The standard install does not deposit the usual retinue of servers and development tools on your drive (most are available on the 2nd CD or via download). That makes sense for the market Xandros is targetting. (Makes sense for me, too. On my home desktop box, I don't need 'em.)

If Xandros targeted the geek market, included the usual geek software, rewrote their manual, and changed their advertising to downplay the Windows thing, this distribution would be seen by geeks as the best desktop Linux released to date. Most geeks won't look at it that way, but they'll be wrong.

Re:Changeover time?

[no longer myself]

Running win32 apps under Linux is one of those areas where YMMVS (Your Mileage May Vary Significantly). The compatibility layer known as Wine works differently from distro to distro, and from win32 app to win32 app. You even have different versions of Wine that support certain sets of apps, and other that don't. Wine(x) is far from perfect, so don't go in expecting it to be a deus ex machina. Unless you're trying to port your game collection over, Linux really does have just about all the apps you need natively. You'd be surprised at how nicely the "important" stuff runs. I *highly* recommend getting a second PC ($200 at Walmart) and resolving to try Linux for a solid 6 months before making any real judgements. If you think you know all about Linux because you tried it for a few weeks, and you just don't like the way it feels, then you really don't know what you're talking about. It's not Windows, and we all know it.

I myself still use a few old win32 apps out of sheer complacency, but they don't run flawlessly, and switching to Linux is definitely an uphill battle. Unless you already have a bunch of geeky Linux friends, you can probably expect not to make any either... But Linux has it's own rewards for those who stick with it.

You'll just have to find out for yourself. Good luck, and may Linus be with you! ;-)