Test-Drive Linux

I understand that moving to a new OS is a scary experience if you are not used to that sort of thing. But fear not! Those who are just not ready to fully take the plunge ought to consider the power and simplicity of the bootable Knoppix CD. Simple and much more pleasant that installing a new OS over something that you knew that you were familiar with.

Some folks would rather endure a root canal than face the prospect of installing a new operating system, let alone one as geeky as Linux (news - web sites). The good news is you don’t have to actually install Linux to try it. Impossible, you say? Not if you’re using Knoppix, a Linux distribution that runs on a CD.

I won’t bore you with too many gory details of how Knoppix came to be, but the abridged version is that some German guy named Klaus Knopper wanted to know how bootable CDs worked under Linux. After a bunch of work, he created a whole distribution that fit onto a single CD.

After three years of development, Knoppix does all sorts of amazing things, including automatic hardware detection. And it can serve as an emergency rescue disc.
Booting Knoppix

Before you can use Knoppix, you need to download a CD image file (.iso) and burn it onto a disc. To get started, download the file. Be sure to grab the latest version; a new Knoppix.iso file appears monthly. The file names contain a version number followed by a date and the language, and look something like this: KNOPPIX_V3.3-2003-12-31-EN.iso. (Be sure to download a file with “EN” in the file name if you want the English version.)

Once you’ve downloaded the file, just burn it onto a CD, and you’re ready to use Knoppix.