The Linux ShÖÖtÖut (Part 2)

Xandros 1.0
The best of the lot
The Xandros installation procedure is very simple. It gives two modes of install: Express install and Custom install. Express install does not allow partitioning of the hard drive, but preserves existing Windows partitions. Custom install, on the other hand, lets the user partition the hard drive.

After logging in for the first time, a First Run Wizard allows the user to configure the network, printers, etc., in a very intuitive fashion. For example, to configure a printer using first run wizard, just select the type of printer (local or remote and give the relevant information in the steps that follow. if you do not configure a peripheral device, using the wizard, you can do so later using control centre.

Sharing files on a Windows network are also very easy. In the Control Center just go to Networking>Windows Networking, enter the name of your work group, and you’re done. You can now access the other computers on the network using the file manager by going to Home> Windows Network. Search for other computers on the network, by going to Find>Computers in the main menu.

The Xandros desktop is basically a variant of the K Desktop Environment (KDE). Many of the tools that are available via the Launch menu are standard KDE tools. For example, the Process Manager runs the kpm tool, and the Run Level Editor is nothing but the ksysv application with the -caption option.

Clicking on the Windows key on the keyboard brings up the Launch Menu just as it brings up the Start menu under Windows. Such small improvements make the user much more comfortable with the GUI environment.

Xandros are considerably faster then the other distributions and provides a very intuitive and easy to use GUI. It even supports active user switching, just as in Windows XP. The users can switch even if their applications are running on their respective desktops.

The Launch menu is very user friendly, and very similar to the Windows Start menu. All the applications are neatly classified and arranged under specific categories. Also, the quick start guide gives a comprehensive list of all the topics that might be of interest to the novice user.

However, the per-seat license can get a bit heavy on the pocket. Moreover, while the Crossover office is a useful tool for individuals keen on using MS Office tools on Linux, it would have been cheaper if Xandros had bundled cheaper emulators.

Lindows 3.0
Linux with Windows licensing
Lindows 3.0 has a very simple installation procedure and is also one of the fastest installations. This sounds really impressive till you actually boot for first time and realize that hardly any applications have been installed. This is primarily because of the Click-n-Run interface for installing and updating applications. The disk partitioning utility of Lindows is very easy to use and takes a different approach to all the other distributions. It does not display the partitions using the standard Linux convention of hd1, hd2, etc. Instead it uses very simple listing of all the primary, extended and logical partitions. This ensures that you are able to get around with partitioning even if you are not aware of Linux partition naming conventions.

Lindows provides all the fancies that are required to attract a Windows user. However, what really gets on your nerves is the limited number of applications that come along with installation CD. Even basic office utilities such as spreadsheet viewers and presentation tools are not included in the basic installation. The Click-n-Run Express install CD promises to reduce the download time of all the applications from the Click-n-Run warehouse located at the Lindows web site. The express CD installs many of these libraries that are needed for the applications to install properly.

The concept of downloading applications from the central repository might not be feasible for a home user as the time required is mind boggling. For example, the average download time for Star Office 6.0 listed at the Lindows site is seven and a half hours on a 56 kbps modem, about an hour for DSL modem, and 20 minutes for a T1 connection.

But before corporations with T1 lines think that it is feasible, we caution you about some licensing policies. The license for the Click-n-Run Warehouse is separate from that for the operating system and needs to be renewed every year. Moreover, a full membership of the (whatever that means), comes at an extra price. This feature can be easily bypassed by using the ‘apt-get’ installer that comes along with Debian Linux as Lindows is based on the Debian distribution.

What it all boils down to………
Before starting this comparison there was lot of apprehension about the very concept of comparing Linux distributions that are touted as Windows replacements. Isn’t that a cheap marketing gimmick? , I was asked; and I didn’t have an answer, then. But now, after completing the comparison, I have an answer – no it is not a marketing gimmick. The vendors responsible for developing these distributions have gone to great extents to make their offerings as user friendly as possible, while retaining the basic power and uniqueness of Linux.

In terms of Windows look-n-feel, usability and user friendliness, Xandros was slightly better than ELX Power Desktop 2.0. However, Xandros has complex licensing issues, and has to be bought, even for home use – it has a per-seat or per user licensing policy. ELX, however, is free to download for home and educational use. Thus, from the economic point of view ELX beats Xandros.

In spite of all these features there are a few troublesome areas that have to be addressed, such as hardware compatibility. Another area that looks worrying is the pricing and the licensing policies. In particular installing applications on Xandros and Lindows can be bypassed by using the freely available tools from the Debian Linux distribution, which effectively means that they don’t have to pay for the support provided by the respective vendors. This is also true for ELX. Apart from these annoyances all the Windows look-alike distributions gave good overall results.

Have more about other flavors of Linux i.e. Red Hat Linux 9.0, SuSE Linux Office Desktop and Mandrake Linux 9.1 in my next article (Part 3).