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Test-Drive a Linux Desktop From Windows

Posted by timothy on from the hey-lookit dept.

debiansid writes "The Open Soucre Region Stuttgart is now offering a free demo of the Linux Desktop to users through their web browsers. They had earlier launched a German version before which received more than 100,000 responses, after which they decided to launch an English version. The website requires you to download and run an exe - it does not install anything on to the hard drive. The demo system is Debian based with a v2.4 kernel and KDE."

6 of 27 comments (clear)

  1. NoMachine? by Mad_Rain · · Score: 3, Informative

    My question is " How is this different from NoMachine's NX Server?"

    NoMachine and their NX server also allows you to testdrive a linux desktop on windows, over a remote connection. I found my FreeNX server usable even over dial-up, and could show my parents what my linux desktop looked like, and think it might be a useful migration step for some users. It's even bundled with Knoppix.

    --
    "What do you think?" "I think 'What, do you think?!'"
    1. Re:NoMachine? by advocate_one · · Score: 3, Informative
      My question is " How is this different from NoMachine's NX Server?"

      It's far worse... it uses a heck of a lot of bandwidth compared to NX... (It was maxing out my downstream on this broadband connection 130KBytes/s). It would be impossible to use it over dialup...

      --
      Donald 'Duck' Dunn: We had a band powerful enough to turn goat piss into gasoline.
  2. Test Driving Linux by Erore · · Score: 2, Informative

    I'm increasingly seeing the words, "Test Driving" associated with Linux. I think it is all the live CDs out there, as well as these web accessible desktops. Ways to try out Linux without installing anything.

    O'Reilly even has a new book called Test Driving Linux: From Windows to Linux in 60 Seconds that appears to be written for people trying out a Linux desktop for the first time. It uses the Mandrake Move live CD as the basis for the book, and practically everything covered in the book can be done using the live CD. That is why it only covers KDE.

    Though the book lacks an installation chapter (one isn't needed when using a live CD) it provides coverage of all the other typical desktop chores like web browsing, file management, email, OpenOffice.org, and even GnuCash for money management. It is the only introductory book that I have seen that goes into great detail on how to accomplish tasks or use interesting features of the programs. Most other introductory Linux books gloss over how you actually work with the program.

  3. Just a remote connection... by dolmen.fr · · Score: 3, Informative

    This is just a remote connection to a Linux server using the Secure Global Desktop Enterprise Edition from Tarantella.

    Is it a coincidence that Sun just announced yesterday they are buying Tarentella?

  4. A better alternative - DamnSmall Linux and QEMU by pcause · · Score: 2, Informative

    There is a Linux distribution called DamnSmallLinux which is a Knoppix derivative, takes only 50Mb and can be booted from CD, installed on a USB key, your hard drive, etc. One of the cool things they do is include QEMU and a "bat" file so you can boot DamnSmall in QEMU and be running Linux as a process under Windows. I have a Pentium M 1.7Ghz system and it runs pretty well.

  5. Re:Is this terminal service by TelJanin · · Score: 2, Informative

    This is standard X11 forwarding. Any Linux distro can do it.