I have tried Linspire a number of times. I think for some people, it is fine. But I just cannot get over the fact that they attempt to get you into a root account by default. This is beyond stupid , folks, it just is. Anyway you try to slice it, this will continue to be a real problem for them.

Linspire (formerly known as LindowsOS) has consistently made an attractive, easy-to-install and easy-to-use GNU/Linux distribution. With the 2.6.10 Linux kernel and a recent build of X.org, Linspire has fixed some of the video driver problems I had with the 4.0 and 4.5 versions. As in previous releases, Linspire includes many proprietary add-ons “mainstream” desktop users enjoy, but in return it comes with proprietary strings attached.

Linspire Five-0 is a mildly improved edition of Debian-based Linspire. The interface and desktop are a little prettier than they were, CNR (Linspire’s Click N Run “software warehouse”) has a few more entries, and hardware support has gotten better. From a technical standpoint, there isn’t much wrong with Linspire 5.0 — it works well and as expected. [Read the rest]