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Xandros 2.5 Business Edition: A Windows Killer?
An anonymous reader writes "Flexbeta reviews Xandros Business Desktop 2.5 which is aimed directly at Microsoft Windows users who want to run a Linux Distribution within a mixed network, especially networks based around a Microsoft Windows Domain Controller or Active Directory Server. What makes this latest version of Xandros a Windows killer? Apart from the networking capabilities, Xandros also features drag and drop CD burning as well as Crossover Office 3, letting you run MS Office and Internet Explorer."
Look, Xandros is a nice end user distro, but that's about it. The true Windows replacements (killers is just childish) are those with name brand recognition and enterprise level support, namely Novells' SuSE and RedHat. No offense to users of other distros, but the 24/7, follow the sun support and consulting arms demanded by enterprise class clients are currently limited to the two I've mentioned.
Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws-Plato
I went to the Xandros site thinking "Hey! Another distro to try. Time to grab an ISO!" Sadly, the download section of their site is relagated to the "About" page and they charge for the download... Except for the "Open Circulation" edition which has few of the features advertised here (It doesn't even come with Mozilla and has crippled CD burning software) The only edition to have all of this "killer" tech is the business edition for a $129 download fee (you get some books and some closed source-ware too).
Given the price, this doesn't look so "killer" anymore. In fact, it looks a bit over-priced. I may fork over $100 for a nice SuSE boxed edition, but I still have the opportunity to run the full distro for free if I take the time to download it instead. If I'm forced to pay $129 for a distro, why not just go pick up XP Home? What, if any, is the incentive for people to switch then? To pay one greedy company over another? Has anyone tried the "Open Circulation" edition that thinks the full version would be worth the cash?
US Democracy:The best person for the job (among These pre-selected choices...)
Simply because XP Home won't be able to connect to the Active Directory and is not SMP-capable are two good reasons.
Also, you have not even considered what kinds of discounts would be given in volume. After all, do you know what it costs for even the Volume Licensing versions of Windows XP Professional?
Stop whining. The problem with Microsoft is not the price (which is currently rather low). For a business, the bigger problem is the abundance of viruses, worms, and spyware trojans. Not to mention that users can install a wide variety of unwanted apps on their work desktop, such as Kazaa, IM clients, Solitaire, and so on (this causes liability concerns and can reduce productivity). Linux is a lot easier to completely lock down. Keep in mind that a single computer that goes down costs a company hundreds of dollars (given that it typically takes 2-5 hours of sysadmin time to fix a Windows problem). That's not including lost productivity, which can easily quadruple that.
Also, if you are running an MS OS on many thousands of computers, you have no choice if MS suddenly decides to charge $1000 per copy per year for a business version of Windows. If they didn't have to compete with Linux and Mac, this would be a distinct possibility. At least Xandros has no way to lock you in, given that it's compatible with almost all other Linux distros.
" If I'm forced to pay $129 for a distro, why not just go pick up XP Home? What, if any, is the incentive for people to switch then?"
Well, it may sound like a troll, but 'its not windows' is a fair answer. There are certain companies that specifically want non-windows workstations(in part or in their entire enterprise).They don't mind paying money.
Besides, TCO of Windows, when including Office and subscriptions to AV software, can, in the right situation(not needing to retrain your staff if they are already knowledgable, for instance) can be much higher. It all depends on the company, the needs and the assets. Paying 130 bucks per seat for an OS, but saving X because it was Xandros and not Windows, can be well worth it.
Again, it all depends on the situation
now it doesn't matter what OS I'm running, I might as well just leave the screen door unlocked...
ok.. so heads you lose tails I win. right?