I don't know if anyone has tested this out or what... but I have looked at many many reviews and I think Xandros (a linux distrobution) may rock.. and rock hard! It seems to be centered around KDE, which is a must for me (some times I flux it), it has an easy packaging system (they supply many custom packages for their os that uses a "one click" download/install approach.. I think), it uses Code Weaver's Office Wine (to run windows apps natively under linux), and (going by every review I've seen) it detects and configures all of your hardware... external drives (even usb), modems (even a bunch of winmodems!), sound card, printer with out any problems. I have tried finding bad reviews about Xandros. The worst I found was that it detected a printer as a different version... wich was easily fixed.

Has anyone ran their 2.5 distro? I want to hear more reviews.

These are a few things that are holding me off it:
1) it uses cw office wine 3.0.1. They came out with 4.0 a couple of weeks ago.
2) if I wait for the next release it may come with more KDE updates
3) it is based on the 2.4 kernel. This is great... but 2.6 is hitting a .10 stable pretty soon and it may be time to take it more seriously.
4) I hear there is a font issue with GTK (think gnome) fonts if you have insaine resolutions. I don't think this would be a problem for me... but still.

The Delux Edition costs under 100$. I am so goosed up about it that I may even pay for this linux distro! (will still pirate what ever windows software I'll run.. err.. I mean.. pirating is baaad). I also need better hardware before I even think about buying software that costs more than my desktop

Can you tell me why this baby doesn't rock? The only people this would not be for are hardcore linux massicasts that run console web browsers, edit xconfig init files by hand with vim, and masterbate to ascii anime porn. (_*_) (_*_) <- here are some boobs for you guys.

I guess if you want a distro that

1) costs money
2) is not freely distributable
3) uses old packages
4) and basically takes every advantage linux has and throws it in the toilet in order to pretend to be windows 98

then xandros may be for you

I'd have to say that Ubuntu doesn't suck.

Ubuntu is actually what I use now. Highly recomended.

1) Xandros costs money just like Mandrake costs money, like Redhat costs money, like Suse costs money.... etc.
2) Yes it is. You can distribute their free version... just like any other Linux OS.
3) You mean like Redhat and Slackware? Yes it does... to keep the OS stable.
4) I guess I don't understand what advantages it takes away... you mean the advantage of learning how to work for hours looking for and installing the correct drivers? Please explain. Before you do, however, make sure it makes sense since every point you make thus far has either been completely spurious or uninformed.

deez nuts.

its past the time to start taking 2.6 seriously, i dont know how any modern distro could still be 2.4 only

Is it.. 2.6 had some nasty problems with NTFS a few sub versions ago (could kill your windows partition if you dual booted). I agree it should be more widely excepted now. I don't know when Xandros 2.5 was released. It probably comes with 2.6 as a choice... just like Slackware. Slack currently defaults to 2.4 but gives you the 2.6 option. I am sure it runs a version of 2.4.24 which was probably the best default kernel at the time it was released. But this is always the case. When a disto comes out they have to go through a freeze period... blah blah blah. Like I said... I am waiting for the next version to hit.

l8r,
Brandito

PS: I believe installing the latest kernel is very easy using Xandros Network which is its package download/install tool. I have not looked into this so I will shut up about it... but it is an idea.

Wow, welcome to 2004. Almost every distro does this. Xandros does not have any black magic that makes it detect devices better. If anything, it is worse at hardware detection because it uses an older kernel.



It uses debian packages, because it is based on debian. The bad thing is that their package repository has very few packages. It is exactly like every other debian distro, except that it has less packages.



I have no problem with paying money for a distro, but it is a factor to consider.



Last time I heard it used KDE 2. This is not a server os, Up-to-date software is important, though the 2.4 kernel is fine.

If KDE+Debian is your thing, you might want to look into mepis.

got any more info on the ntfs problem? afaik, 2.6's ntfs implementation is the best yet. and yeah, it takes a while before new versions are accepted... but i think pretty much every major distro went 2.6 several versions ago.

looking through the available apps, it seems you've gotta get at least deluxe for it to be worth a damn. xandros may be a good distro for a basic desktop system, but it looks to me like it would suck for any linux enthusiast.

I am running a system based on Unix right now and it is a joy to use and is in fact far more user-freindly.

Learn more at http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/unix/

A new user tutorial would help convert many people to linux, if they've never seen or used anything other than windows, they are going to look for what is familiar to them under windows. That, and to help out the clueless computer users who don't know where to begin.

M$ keeps spreading FUD about linux with it's TCO reports, saying it costs more to train people to use linux. If that's the case, offer it for free.

Xandros' website sux. I can't find any info I want on it.
KDE 2.4 is pretty old. I am getting a little fed up with KDE too. They are suppose to have a group that is going to clean up its interface... but so far that group has aparently done nothing. It is still bloated and disorganized. Hmmmm... Gnome is clean... but I just don't like it for some reason.

You would also think that every distrobution correctly detects device drivers. I have learned the sad trueth the hardway. Slack pretty much sucks at this... this I know. Mandrake, the version I used (10), could detect the easy stuff. Mandrake could also detect USB stuff on install though. I was happy about that.

I looked into mepis a little bit. Looked nice. I was thinking Xandros would be good for replacing the RedHat OS's in the unix lab... just because you can develope all of your class applications, it would look a little nicer, and you can open word documents successfully. I think it would be an easier transition for most people. (a side rave about the unix lab: why so many sun boxes? It would not bother me if they didn't suck so badly. What class uses them?)

Mee.. the ntfs problem had to do with bootloader issues and somehow tied it with 2.6. I don't remember a source.

OSX is cool. I don't like paying a lot for mac hardware to run it though. If it ran on 80x86 I would probably use it. The only other thing i wish it would do is contain each application in a window. Other than that... I think it is cool... at least what I have seen.

elyk, I think linux is going to start coming up in the os world in about 10 years because most CS students are coding under that environment. The more people that become proficient under linux, the less it will cost to train people. That is my theory.

the sun boxen in EE are used in CpE courses. If you want a nix box for programming, go to CS.

bootloader issues? which bootloader? andhow can it be a problem with both the bootloader and the 2.6 kernel? they are 2 very separate entities. oh well, doesnt really have much to do with the discussion.

OSX? yeah its cool, but until it runs on x86 hardware theres really no point in discussing it.


elyk:
new user tutorial? for light users (those who just do email, web surfing, mp3 playing), linux is just as easy or easier to use than windows. the ones who have problems are the windows "power users" who expect to be equally adept at using linux within a few days. for those users, there is already PLENTY of documentation on the net.

Mee, I was talking about the sun boxes (blades) in the CS Lab.

care to explain why?

It's amazing what coldplug/hotplug and udev have done, along with the 2.6 kernel, almost any distro using those 3 things can't go wrong with detecting hardware anymore. I was able to use my usb bluetooth adapter as soon as I connected it, same goes for a sony dsc-p93, microtek scanmaker x6, and a $15 usb wifi adapter off ebay.... gphoto2, kdebluetooth are good too. seriously, you can't go wrong with using those 3 things. I use gentoo for the record.

Word/Excel 2003 finally can save documents in xml format!!! and koffice reads them w/o a glitch. I don't save anything in .doc or .xls anymore, .xml is awesome, thank you open standards. hopefully, it's a matter of time before xml becomes the default for MS Office, and then all the crappy reverse engineering that OO.org has done will be useless.

qt4/kde4 are supposed to be smaller, and better in a lot of ways... we'll have to wait and see. apple has shown you can use unix and make it user friendly enough, even for artists, it might take a couple years before we can get that kind of user friendlyness for linux/kde.