After being chided more than once by one of our
SIG leaders (who shall remain nameless) about how I am still
using the rather outdated Red Hat 8 on my laptop, I decided to
try something new. If you haunt the magazine section at the bookstore
like I do, looking for interesting reading, youve seen
the British magazine Linux Format. On my last trip to Borders,
I noticed a more technical version called Linux User & Developer.
Both magazines are a fun read, as they put a distinctly different
slant on the news and issues surrounding Linux and open source
software. What makes Linux Format stand out on the shelf is the
two or three CD-ROMs attached to each issue. Issue 39 of Linux
User & Developer (I guess they dont use months over
there) came with two full Linux desktop distributions. The one
that caught my eye, and got me to cough up the $11.99 price,
is the business-oriented Xandros Desktop OS 2.
Using StarOffice 7 on Xandros, I was able to open this very document from the server, continue writing and then save it back to the server just as if I were using Microsoft Word® on Windows. Now Im back on my other laptop running XP Pro to finish up. The Xandros CD includes Crossover Office which is supposed to let you run Microsoft Office on Linux. I havent tried that yet. The distribution does include a really cool version of classic solitaire, the only computer game I actually play, and this version plays way better than the Windows version. So is this distribution good enough to pay for? So far, I think so. There are several versions available on the Xandros web site (www.xandros.com) ranging from a free Open Circulation version (free when using a BitTorent download only) to $96.75 for the Business Edition, which is what is on the trial CD I installed. |
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