Linux - I Took Mandriva 2007, Kubuntu 6.10 and PCLinuxOS 2007 All Out For A Quick Spin

From this page, I am looking for the download links for the three distro’s. Can you point me to them/ Thank you for your attention to my request.

Hello David,

PCLinuxOS:
http://www.pclinuxos.com/news.php

Mandriva:
http://www.mandriva.com/download

Kubuntu
http://www.kubuntu.org/download.php

And another of my personal favorites to try - Freespire
http://freespire.org/

I hope this helps. Also doing a Google for any of these versions will also bring up other alternative sites to download from, just in case you run into a slow server.

Thanks for the great and SIMPLE review. Many reviews of Linux distros go on for pages and pages. While sometimes those details are crucial, I really appreciated your quick and gentle review. I am going to give PC Linux a second try now.

Cheers!

Hi Todd,
Thanks for the comments. Remember that PCLinuxOS 2007 is still in beta testing. And if you would, please share your thoughts after giving it a try. I really like it. And I am still using it on my test PC.

Regards, Ron

If you download TR3 Shortly it should be upgradeable to the final Version of PCLinuxOs

Look at the main page of PCLinuxos.com
for download links Soon

Great and simple review. I like it. I am wondering if this is due to the ease of this distros. They all seem rather simple to install and use. Things have certainly come a long way since I first saw Linux.

I too have tried all those you mentioned and, like you, I like PCLOS the best. Once I stumbled across it, I have never looked back.

Thanks again for a great little review.

Peace to you.

+OD

How do you download 4.4 GB .iso using IE 7.0 when the internet cache is limited to 1GB, and it downloads into there first.

I am stuck!!

Exterm,
Thanks for the info. I look forward to the final build.
Pat Stevens,
As a temporary solution try Using Firefox or Opera to get around this limitation.
I went to the Microsoft site to look for a answer to increase IE cache in version 7, but there was no clear defined answer. Is it possible to change the location where the file is downloaded to? I personally do not use IE 7. In fact because of the problems I was having with it, I went back to IE 6.
Maybe someone else who reads this may have a better work around to the problem.
Or you could try posting at: http://www.help.lockergnome.com and see if one of the residence experts may have a solution.
Regards, Ron

Odysseus,
Yes the install process for most Linux versions has been made very simple. Plus Live-CD has made it possible to try a distro. without disturbing your current setup.

I hope the mini-review helped.

Have you or anybody else tried running any games on these distros? How’s that working?

Only games I have tried thus far are the ones from KDE which worked fine.

Things have come a long way for Linux. I am currently in the process of migrating my company computers to Linux. It took a month or two to show the boss it was a good direction to go. Since the green flag, I have finished half of the systems. With access to FileMaker Pro 8.5, and to the CompanyWeb. I myself am not a big gamer, although I have had requests for certian Windows games to be installed. Which in turn lead me here: http://www.transgaming.com
With what I have seen with my own eyes, Linux is ready for Work or home. If anyone begs to differ, you can go away and hug your Windows virus..

f0w4rd.sl4sh,
Thanks for your comments and also the link you provided.

I’ve run Ubuntu 6.? from the CD, and it likes my (built in) NIC — the earlier one didn’t.

I’d like it to dual boot with my XP, but am a bit afraid of telling it to go ahead as I’ve read that it may format your HD. I have not seen a step by step — or what screens you get when you click on the install. I’ve also not had a whole lot of time to play with it.

Hello Stan,
May I recommend you post your question in the following forum, in the Linux section. I think you will find the answer you are looking for.

http://forums.scotsnewsletter.com/

Well wishes.

I have been fiddling with Linux on and off for years, and I have come full circle with it. I started with Red Hat, Mandrake, Ark, Xandros, PCLinuxOS and the easy distros. I eventually worked up to Debian, Slackware and Archlinux. After building a fully functioning, sleek and fast Archlinux system, I went back to PCLinuxOS.
Some may wonder why I am going back to an ‘easy’ distro from one of the harder, more advanced distros. The answer? While the harder distros (Debian, Slack, Gentoo, Arch) are completely customizable and powerful, and teach you a lot about Linux, they simply take too much time to fiddle with for me anymore.
While I do find it easier now to fumble through command line and conf files than I once did, I find the PCLinuxOS Control Center so much more intuitive and streamlined.
Customization to the ‘Nth’ degree, compiling kernels and packages and the like is just not desirable or practical to me anymore. I am very happy with PCLinuxOS and its straightforward and user-friendly approach, for which it should be applauded. Linux SHOULD be for everyone, for the common PC user, not just for computer science majors. Too many Linux distros and their users pride themselves on being highly technical. PCLOS, for one is aiming in the right direction- to put Linux on the desktop of the common PC user in a friendly, intuitive manner.

Hello Jay,
Your experience with Linux is similar to mine. And like you, I have opted for a simple version that works well.

Thanks for your comments, Ron

Great Review!

I tryed PCLinuxOS today…WOW! I just DL’ed the iso and burned it and away we goooo! I have been looking to (better deal) windose for a long time now, however most of the distro’s I have tried over the past years have been problematic to say the least.

PCLinuxOS 2007 is fantastic! It’s easy to setup (although I will have to go out and buy a printer that is linux compatable)and you can trick it out to easily look as good as that (other) new OS that is currently selling for around 200.00! Oh BTW this is free!

I really didn’t spend as much time with it as I would like but I did manage to setup my evga8800 video card and everything else worked right out of the box (minus the printer Canon MP150) does anyone know of any desktop wireless internet cards that will set up right out of box? Feed back would be great on that.

In closing if you tried of the SH*&%y performance of windose and would like to try linux then this is the distro for you…as far as I’m concerned MS OS’s will be a thing of the past very soon on my PC’s even my father is going to make the change next month when I build him a new PC!

Hi Lawrence,
Thanks for the comments. May I suggest you post your questions at the link below. There are a group of dedicated Linux users in this forum who are extremely knowledgeable and will be able to assist you.

http://forums.scotsnewsletter.com

All the best, Ron

Thank you RON!

One of the most attractive things about linux other that the obvious is the community base. For the most part its filled with people ready to help!

Hi Lawrence,
You are most welcome.

Well I have been using Mandriva’s stuff for about two years and went to a full time Linux user since june 2006. I have to say Im a proud user and I am happy to give windows the up-chuck. I have three systems st home and they all have linux on them. The only cross roads I have hit so far is trying to get my wireless working on the laptop. The Mandriva 2006 distro worked just fine but now its no good, and I have read that installing madwifi may damage your install. I dont want to even try to mess with kernel to get the wireless drivers running. I use my laptop quite a bit and it would be a shame to swith a distro for this reason - I like supporting Mandriva.

Anyone have any thoughts on this or know of an easier way to get wireless going?

Thanx all.

I installed VMware’s server and got with several Linux distros (Freespire, Xandros, Ubuntu, PCLOS, Mandriva, Knoppix, openSuse). I found significant differences between each of them - for example, Suse took over an hour to install and Mandriva seemed a bit simplistic in design. But in every instance MANY of my hardware peripherals were not supported - from printers to USB keys to TV cards - NO distro supported all my hardware. It bothers me that I can’t watch TV on any distro (my ATI TV Wonder is not linux friendly) or listen to music on some distros (I’m using onboard AC97 for pete’s sake!).

I installed Freespire on a partition to see how it would work on a HD - it had a problem with Firefox - FF busted over Tabs Mix Plus extension - uninstalling and reinstalling wouldn’t fix it. I also could not get the NTFS drives to show up - and it bugged me that in every forum I’d ask a question, I’d get say something like, “well, just install [name of program]” Hell, I had no idea how to install a program or what one would look like in an explorer (Conquerer?) window - so I dumped Freespire (though I liked the look and feel of it very much).

I then installed openSuse (and had several cups of coffee waiting for the install to complete - whew! And I though WinXP was a slow install…) I had no trouble with Firefox and any extension using openSuse - and it would read my NTFS partitions. But I spent a week reading forums, Googling, asking friends trying to get hardware issues fixed - but finally gave up in total frustration.

Windows XP is just SO much easier to use for me. And everything I do is Windows-centric. The only reason I’m interested in Linux at all is because there has been so much press about it catching up to Vista - and what a step backward Vista is - but Linux was definitely a step backward for me. Maybe I need to take a class in Linux Geek or something. The Linux distros I have tried have totally frustrated me.

Now, maybe if I were a college student who was only going to surf the net, write essays, and balance my checkbook, I would be happy with Linux. But as a retired guy running a home business dependent on my computer, I just can’t switch until Linux does 3 things:

1. Makes installing programs SIMPLE (no command line stuff and no hidden installation programs - I’m a Windows guy, okay - help me out!)
2. Linux stops using cryptic “words” like gnome (that’s a genetic thing, right?), KDE (Kids Don’t Eat?), su (that was my first cat’s name), and others like them that a Windows person like me finds totally bewildering.
3. Completely supports my hardware. It’s not enough that Linux CAN print to my All-in-One (although half the distros I tried didn’t even recognize my HP Officejet 6210) - I need to scan and fax, too. And my TV card - well, I could go on about how WinXP found and quickly set up my TV for me while Linux could not after MANY hours of very intense research.

Linux is ALMOST ready for prime time. But Windows is orders of magnitude ahead of it in the areas that count to me - ease of use, hardware and software compatibility, and support.

Having said that, I do believe as others have said here that Linux may some day overtake Windows as the desktop OS of choice. And from what I’ve seen and heard of Apple’s OS, the day could come soon that Windows will be one of those “has been” things like O/S2.

Hello Joseph,
Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us. It sounds like you did a very intensive trial on each distro.

If you are still are interested in trying another distro, wait until Kubuntu comes out with full support or click-n-run from Linspire. Hopefully this should be out soon.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Ron

I installed Kubuntu 6.06 as a dual boot on a Windows ME machine. I installed from a live cd after downloading, burning and running from the cd for awhile. It was very easy to install. There are things that I need to do that I can’t do with Kubuntu yet though.

1. Can not run legacy windows apps that I have purchased that have no equivalent in the Linux world (and aren’t even available for windows any more).

2. My printer scanner will print but not scan. It tries but just sits there saying “waiting to scan.” (any suggestions - HP Officejet Pro 11150C)

3. Would not play mp3’s directly from the browser. I had to download and go through a lot even to get them to play in Amarok. This is on a ME machine with full ability to play mp3’s when I boot ME.

There are so many hidden things that I have no help or documentation for that it is a wonder that I even got the things working I did get working and I have an IQ above 140.

Make it a lot easier guys for the non-geeks out there or you are doomed to a low percentage of users forever.

Of course I had trouble with the Mac Book Pro also.

Hello Scott.
May I recommend that you drop by Scot’s Newsletter forum, to their Linux Fanatics forum.There you will find a group of Linux experts who can assist you. What makes this group exceptional is that they take new comers to Linux under their wing and guide them step by step without critical comments nor expectations.

This is a forum so you will be required to register but it is free and painless.

http://forums.scotsnewsletter.com/

Hope this helps, Ron