MandrakeMove is a Live CD distribution, or in other words, it does not need to be installed. It is an interesting concept, but not a new one, there are quite a few similar products, such as the famous Knoppix, SUSE Live, LindowsCD, Mempis, PCLinuxOS, Gnoppix and a few others.
Benefits
No more file compatibility problems for presentations: need to present an OpenOffice.org presentation with a Java applet in it which MS Office does not support? You no longer need to remove it, just use MandrakeMove.
- No setup required
- Simply boot from CD and everything is ready to go
- If you need to upgrade your MandrakeMove again all you need is to insert the new MandrakeMove (this is of course assuming, that Mandrake will continue developing this line of products)
- Software is unbreakable
- No viruses whatsoever, even if they manage to get on the hard drive of the computer, and the user is dumb enough to execute it, the virus can not harm his system because it can not modify the CD
- Odd configurations of any type, such as deletion of all icons will be solved in just a few seconds after a reboot
- Takes up no space on hard drive, in fact it does not require a hard drive, significantly reducing the price of a computer
- Portability: now you can have a solid Linux operating system anywhere
- If you have a USB thumbdrive you may even store your configuration on it along with your files so you can boot up and become productive faster
- You get what the developers intended
- Unlike a distribution where you pick and choose the components to install and where more configuration is needed, MandrakeMove is the exact image of what the developers intended because you have no chance to modify anything which could lead to dependency or integration problems
There are many cases where a system that runs off the CD would be ideal:
- Internet cafes: these places need great computers, cutting costs is a priority and not needing a hard drive, or any administration is a big plus
- Schools: again cutting costs is a major concern, and here this product shines; in addition it provides all the tools students need, and perhaps is a little too feature-packed (many administrators do not want students to be able to play games and MandrakeMove comes with a good selection of games and powerful multimedia capabilities)
- Demonstration purposes, show off your Linux system without touching any of the data
- As a recovery tool: you should definitely keep this handy, especially if you have computers running Windows 95, 98 or ME
- If you travel a lot and need to use computers on which you do not have all the software you need, this will definitely come in handy, especially in combination with a USB thumbdrive
Prices:
MandrakeMove $19.9
-NO USB KEY
MandrakeMove $69.9
+ USB key 128Mb
MandrakeMove $129
+ USB key 256Mb
MandrakeMove $ 269
+ USB key 512Mb
Now that we know the benefits of using such a product and some possible scenarios, let’s get down to the real review.
What it comes with
The boxed set of MandrakeMove comes with a bootable CD, a nice manual and a USB key (128 Mb or 256 depending on your choice), considering that a 128 MB USB key runs at about $50, the price seems right.
Also, for those that are confused, there are important differences between the Download Edition and Boxed Edition.
Most importantly, you cannot use a USB key with the download edition to store your data and it is missing commercial software such as Flash, Realplayer and Java, which because it is a CD distribution cannot be installed later.
Installation
Well this is a no-brainer, all you do is set your CD-ROM drive as bootable from the BIOS, wait for it to load, select the language, and just enter a user name and password, if all goes well, in a little more than a minute you should find the familiar KDE desktop. If you have a configuration saved on your USB thumbdrive you will be presented with your custom desktop.
So far it has worked on all 3 of my computers which are all build from scratch except an IBM Thinkpad laptop. Only problem I’ve had is with the wireless, but this seems to be the case for every distribution I tried on it. I’m especially impressed that it configured my Cannon S600 at bootup without any input from me.
Usage and Applications
I will admit it, I am not a Mandrake fan, I often found their distribution to be loosely integrated, and missing polish. This is why I was surprised to find that this is actually what I would have liked version 9.2 to be.
Usability wise this distribution is excellent, it seems to have backports of some usability fixes from KDE 3.2. For example the “actions” menu and the CD-ROM and trash menus are very clean and contain only what you need. Also the names of the CD-ROMs can be changed and are just simple “CD-ROM 1” or “CD-ROM 2” unlike in Mandrake 9.2 which would not allow you to change the name and would display the path to the CD-ROM.
Other than things which really aren’t in Mandrake’s Power to change, such as having Qt and GTK act the same, not just look the same, the Mandrake Menu is bad for usability for several reasons. First of all it contains duplicates, the “-> All Applications” menu is not necessary and should be eliminated in favor of having an “Extra” or “More” submenu in each section. Second of all, unlike the other Menu, the “-> All Applications” menu includes the real names of the applications instead of listing its use. Perhaps the best of both worlds would be to have the function of the application take place of the name, but to display its real name on mouse over or vice versa.
The range of applications in Mandrake Move is great for its intended purpose, as everything for normal productivity tasks is included. Instant messaging, word-processing, web browsing, e-mail, time management etc.
There are a few notable absences though: there is no GNOME for example. However I think this is not bad at all, having two seems overkill for the purpose of this version of Mandrake and there really isn’t space for both anyway. Personally if I give this CD to one of my Windows friends to try I would only want them to have one, the best of breed desktop environment, not twm, or some other obscure window manager, that would only make more evident the poor integration of Linux software. What surprised me was the absence of Mozilla, it is the standard for Linux and still the best when it comes to rendering. For me it has not been a problem, Konqueror 3.1.4 has rendered all the websites I’ve tried very well except for empiresrts.com which hard some minor problems. There are some websites which Konqueror renders well that Mozilla does not, but in general Mozilla does a better job and I think it should have been included, there was enough space for it anyway. I do understand that it would make it easier for Explorer addicted Windows users and that the speed is unacceptable, but it should still be an option.
I have not yet let my friends try it, but I can report the reaction I got from using it in my school library. I quietly restarted the computer, made the CD-ROM bootable, and as I expected everything worked great. Unfortunately, the school administrators weren’t as happy as I was, and told me to close the program I was using. It took a while just to explain that it was another operating system and not a Windows program. After this, they were even more pissed off, and informed me that I have violated an important school rule: “Students may not install any new software on school computers…” I smiled at their ignorance and explained that this was not actually installed, another hard to grasp concept for them, but rather running entirely from the CD and memory. The configuration of the computer was exactly as before.
They did not believe me at first, that is why I had the manual with me to prove it and also they knew that the manual was really that of the CD I had just removed because they did not think me capable of making the CD design. After I proved my case, the tensions eased and they were actually very pleased and one of them asked me to borrow it. Not one had even heard of Linux, but they liked its possibilities and this incident gave me a chance to explain it to them, as well as the four other people which had gathered around us.
I do not know if they actually liked it or not, because I haven’t talked to the administrator yet, but at least I know now that they are considering Linux and the experience was fun anyway and I am now able to run the distribution whenever I please on library computers as long as I am the only one on the computer, they do not like people crowding on one computer. I guess they might think that I could view porn sites and they wouldn’t know because everyone would be blocking the view, as had happened earlier in the year.
Conclusion
MandrakeMove is a worthwhile product and by far the best in its class when it comes to ease of use, integration and overall polish. It has some small quirks here and there but nothing major, and to me it feels far more polished than 9.2 and is the first live CD that does Linux justice. I would like to mention though that I would have liked if it had an ability to do a hard drive install of the live CD.
I think this is a great Move for Mandrake, it is a good promotion for Mandrake because many Windows converts will be first introduced to Mandrake and as we all know, the first Linux distribution you try is an important factor in determining the one you will stay with. They have an excellent product, especially for a 1st release, but they need to do a better job promoting it and explaining why and when it is most useful.
Funny you mention that the “administrator” had never heard of Linux. I remember the first time I decided to try Linux back in the Red Hat 6.1 days, I remember going around to every techie/electronisc store I could find looking for a boxed version of it. Almost every person I talked to was like “What is that”. Staples had it in Stock but the people I aksed still didn’t know what it was or if they had it. Eventually a friend of mine who has a degree in CS and manages the store pointed me in the correct direction.
I would really like to see this polished desktop..
Konqueror 3.1 without Apple contributions was already very complete. But now with optimizations, all I can say is wow. Konqueror is _fast_. Render sites very well, and most of the bugs of beta stage are being ironed out. Now KHTML has two testing frameworks, one at apple and other at KDE cvs, to iron out remaining bugs during the point releases. And now that 3.2 is almost out there, everybody will be able to see how fast konq is.
The only thing left is a specialized browser task front end. Hmmmmmm. With KDE XML ui, isn’t that easy to do?
I have no use for a live cd distro, but I think that all commercial distros should have a seriously good one for demonstration purposes and to test hardware in shops (not that I think anyone would let you put a CD in a demonstration box in the UK anyway. A nice touch would to then be able to install the correctly configured distro to harddrive !
Nothing new there, that’s what is possible with knoppix.
“…first live CD that does Linux justice.”
Let me disagree with that! It’s true that it’s far more polished than mandrake 9.2 & most of the others distro’s, but still, knoppix in one cd also is far more complete.
Another thing. I really doubt that MdkMove is able to recognize hardware as well as Knoppix!
The real advantage of MdkMove is the tight integration with the usb stick.
& for the fact that Knoppix is a one man project, vs Mandrake that is a company, i consider knoppix a winner for both quantity of packages, hardware regognition & gnome apps.
(sorry i do not mention mepis, slax, and other live cd but i never tried them)
for the fact that Knoppix is a one man project, vs Mandrake that is a company
MandrakeMove is a two men project (ie. there are only two guys from Mandrakesoft working specificially on MM)
So both do very good work with limited means
Let´s forget about distro wars.
“knoppix in one cd also is far more complete”
But I wouldn’t give Knoppix to a windows friend for them to learn. Knoppix is very good, probbably even a little better at hardware detection, but it lacks in consistency, polish and user friendliness. It feels patched together.
IN fact, I gave it to my brother to try a long time ago and he did not even figure out what to type at the prompt.
It may only have two people working on it, but it is based on 9.2 which I believe has had at least a hundred developers on it.
I’m surprised they were relieved when they discovered it was a bootable cd. My school, at least, has a policy of no bootable media. You could do a lot of damage with a bootable cd.
Also, are there any graphical network configuration tools (i.e. is the mandrake control center available)? This is a problem with Knoppix (and similar). They do not appear to have configuration tools for detected devices or configuration tools for adding devices not detected (or not detected correctly)
I’m surprised Mandrake removed usb drive synchronization functionality. I’ve never been a fan of cripple-ware.
-Elijah Buck
Konqueror 3.1 without Apple contributions was already very complete. But now with optimizations, all I can say is wow. Konqueror is _fast_. Render sites very well,
That’s my opinion too. I use it more than Mozilla now, specialy to read hotmail email and make the admin of mail. It’s the only browser under Linux/Unix that can be as usefull as Internet Explorer. Thanks to Apple and KHTML teams !
I still have to make Konqueror identify as IE on Mac to get the Javascript button and menus to work on hotmail but at least it works.
______________________
I would prefer Mandrake Move to Knoppix. I used Knopix and it wasn’t nothing closer to a Mandrake Desktop. But Knopix is also good for non-standard hardware (like laptops).
“I’m surprised they were relieved when they discovered it was a bootable cd. My school, at least, has a policy of no bootable media. You could do a lot of damage with a bootable cd.”
Oh, yes indeed!!
I tried out Mandrake Move last night on my own home Windows PC. Bootup time was about the same as Knoppix, just had to answer a few questions (actually had to add-user and such). Driver support is (as you may have guessed) very close to Knoppix, however it’s configuration of said hardware was a bit different (better, in my instance). My dual-head monitor was set as an extended desktop vs Knoppix’s mirrored. I found a few things a bit buggy however (namely MenuDrake and totem under certain circumstances). Most of these “quarks” were avaidable once you figured them out a bit.
Here’s a screenshot I took if anyone is curious (yeah, the resolution is super low, but that was default and I was too lazy to fix it):
http://www.lcfmag.com/pics/screen.jpg
Although I love Mandrake, I think I’ll stick with Knoppix as my livecd of choice.
Also, are there any graphical network configuration tools (i.e. is the mandrake control center available)?
Mandrake Control Center has the same network configuration tool as the normal Mandrake 9.2. I got my PPPoE network working in just a few seconds. It’s *very* user friendly.
And knoppix is based on debian, which probably has more developers than Mandrake. They are both pretty amazing for the number of people working on them.
smeat!
Mandrake Move has the full Mandrake Control Center in it.
smeat!
I thought one of features of MDKMove even though not so important is to be able to play cd/dvd on the same drive? I haven’t tried Knoppix lately but could one do that with Knoppix? No flame intended. Just curious.
After adding a user (is this really necessary for a livecd?!), “An error occurred:
Could not open /etc/pta/mlc.usb:
PHOTOSMART_P1000 for writing!”
And then refuses to continue. Color me unimpressed.
MM booted to 800×600, which is pretty ugly on an xga laptop monitor. I changed the settings in the control panel, but you have to logoff for the changes to take effect. Logging off crashes the Xserver, leaving the only option to reboot. I guess they never thought someone would change screen resolutions?
Knoppix, on the other hand, was a very good experience.
I downloaded the MandrakeMove download edition last night when I first heard about it (I think from this site in a post). It wasn’t too shabby but I did run into problems with it, which are most likely my fault. Burnt the cd from another computer and then tried it on my main computer, after 3 reboots it finally booted into Mandrake. Then the mouse locked each time it got to the desktop
Unfortunately I couldn’t find a gpm service to stop and start and and I donut know how to stop and start the mouse service from X or KDE. But it looked really pretty!
>>But it looked really pretty
Eh, it looks like Windows 98 with shinier icons. I’ll be impressed when I finally see some linux distro come up with something new. Get rid of the desktop icons for example, they look trashy. Even Windows XP has them turned off by default.
The live CD’s are very useful. But as a network admin, I would have a hard time being comfortable with students rebooting computers and using their own operating systems. Introducing an unknown system onto a network is potentially a very large security risk.
“No setup required”
Oh, yes.
You still need some 10-15 minutes to get all connections done before you powerpoint away.
I still think Knoppix is a better distro with hardware detection because it found my NIC card & autoconfig it with dhcp while MandrakeMove has to be config after the initial login.
As for live CD, I personally Damn Small Linux is the perfect companion to an admin, compare to MankradeMove, Knoppix, Gnoppix, Suse, Gentoo or Morphix.
mdkmove, for mandrakesoft, is basically about two things – improving mandrake’s visibility and increasing revenue. mdksoft needs cash, and they’re very focussed on getting it. they need some differentiation for the box version in order to sell enough copies, and making it the usb key feature makes sense since it also lets ’em sell usb keys. the live distro wasn’t actually all that *hard* to make (a veteran mdk user got the idea to make a live distro based off mdk and knocked a rough version together in a week, which is I think what gave mdksoft the idea of doing an official one), so it’s a good idea from a cash point of view.
fyi, Mandrake anounced the live CD very early on (as a christmas surprise), before texstar started on the pclinuxos thing.
pclinuxos is made by the mklivecd script, which is a Mandrake package, its development was supported by Mandrake and was done on the cooker (but it was mainly developed by volunteers).
Mandrake allows its users to bottle their current installation into a livecd with just one command line.
I just booted MOVE on a SK41G Shuttle XPC. It loaded perfectly. Detected my network, my video card, everything. Pretty snappy, too, considering it’s running off the CD.
I think this combination would be a great way to show off Linux to potential newbies, no?
Though pretty skint of the package side and autodetection needs “allot” of work, slax has to have the nicest default kde desktop I have seen yet on any Linux distro…
I had a user that had a crazy hard drive with windows 2k. ex: You try and boot you get a bsod and then a reboot. You put the hard drive into another known good working pc as a secondary you get a bosd and a reboot. I had NEVER seen this before. I boot into the Mandrake Move CD both the hard drives from the pc with the known good pc and the known bsod hard drive get recognized and are accessible. I mounted a samba share and copied files for back up. Thank you Mandrake Move CD you rock!
My PC configuration: motherboard ASUS, videocard: ATI Radeon 9600 (not good for Linux). Knoppix started at least with VESA graphics, LindowsCD and Mandrake Move did not boot to any graphics mode (error – no screen fount – reboot or shut down ;-)). It means for my PC Knoppix had better HW detection.
>fyi, Mandrake anounced the live CD very early on (as a >christmas surprise), before texstar started on the pclinuxos >thing.
This is not true, tex started working on pclinuxos in October and had a private preview before word came about of Mandrake Move.
Most importantly, you cannot use a USB key with the download edition to store your data and it is missing commercial software such as Flash, Realplayer and Java, which because it is a CD distribution cannot be installed later.
While this is plain true for proprietary software (flash, realplayer, java), this is wrong for USB key.
The difference is:
– with commercial version of MandrakeMove, USB key is automatically detected, mounted so that /home files be on it, and so that modifications to system files on /etc are automagically saved on USB key so that they are available for next reboot on the same hardware
– with download version of MandrakeMove, USB key is automatically detected and mounted under /mnt/removable as with “traditional” Mandrake releases: you see that you CAN store your data on it
gc – mandrakesoft