http://www.osnews.com/story/9150/Review_Xandros_Desktop_3_Deluxe Exploring the Future of Computing en-us Copyright 2001-2009, David Adams adam+nospam@osnews.com Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:55:03 GMT http://www.osnews.com/images/osnews.gif http://www.osnews.com http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? I have to admit that the Xandros model of doing things puzzles me (specifically their heavy promotion of WINE to run Windows applications). I'll explain.

There are two ways you could approach a gradual migration from Windows to a Linux or UNIX based desktop. The first approach would be the use of open source applications (OpenOffice, Mozilla, GAIM) on Windows first, and using that to gradually move over into a more fully open source system.

The second method would be the usage of an emulator (such as WINE) to use Windows applications on Linux. This second approach seems to be the one that Xandros is using. Because applications are really the key, in my view, to the success of any platform, I think the first approach has several advantages.

-WINE is not the world's greatest performer... to say the least.

-Using WINE does not encourage the development of cross-platform open source applications!

-Using WINE can cause real problems when new versions of Windows based applications running on it come out, and become broken.

-Cross-platform open source applications bring benefits to everyone, not just Linux or UNIX users (ie. Firefox, OpenOffice).

I remember years ago when Corel released their Corel WordPerfect Office 2000 for Linux. It turned out to be a "frankenwine" application, and not a very good one at that. It was an example, in my opinion, of why Corel's Linux strategy failed, despite the fact that their desktop OS did have some real strengths (simplicity, based on Debian, etc.)

Lindows was origninally going to go this way as well, yet they wisely abandoned this course and instead promoted the use of open source applications. They even sponsored a few of their own (nVu comes to mind).

While I am also not a big fan of the fact that Xandros takes great pains to very closely mimic the Windows UI with their product, that is a matter of taste, and I can see how some companies may like that idea to reduce training costs. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 06:13:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? -Using WINE does not encourage the development of cross-platform open source applications!

Right. And when you develop a MYOB or Simply Accounting that runs natively, just let the world know. I'll buy it. But you think I shouldn't run Linux until then?
Not bloody likely. I'm downloading v3.0 right now, hoping it will work with my necessary Win32 apps. It's the only choice for millions of possible Xandros users, and that's the whole point. People need these things now, not 20 years into the fanciful future. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 06:36:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? The fact is, the current opensource applications are crap when compared to what is available on the Windows world. The fact remains, until Linux's base increases, software companies will continue to ignore it.

The only way to grow the base is encourage half-way solutions like wine to develop and allow users to continue to use the current crop of applications they have, and maybe at a later date, when the opensource replacement has improved or the vendor has released a Linux version, that person will migrate accross to a native application. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 06:42:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? hey Chris, thank you for your opinion on wine, thankfuly
that is all it is. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 06:49:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? OPPPPs thankfully. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 06:52:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? "My CD burner was picked up with the option to burn at 24x, which is also not always available, and burning a disc was never so easy."

What is the hard part ?? my slack,gentoo,freebsd detect the right cd burner speed .... never got any probleme.


"Xandros also mounted my NTFS drives for me"
Well take any linux distro and edit /etc/fstab ..it do the job.

"Xandros provides as useful a desktop on CD as Fedora does on four."
any example ??

" First off, there's no FTP client available that I could find" ....well.

"I don't think I'd run Xandros Desktop 3 on any of my servers"
xandros DESKTOP 3


They are many review on xandros desktop 3 , can we have only one review with the some real technical stuff not like it detecte my cd burner speed and other thing like that ???


Thank you. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 06:53:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? The filemanager/burner and Crossover- it does not have anything else... Mon, 13 Dec 2004 06:56:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? "Xandros provides as useful a desktop on CD as Fedora does on four."

apple and oranges. Yes, some people dont like the 4 CDs, however you have to consider how many configurations you can give to Fedora. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 07:04:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Whatta want to know? Most people are curious and want to know what they get OUT OF THE BOX. Slackware, Gentoo, and FreeBSD are NOT the distros Xandros is competing with, and the users of those three are probably NOT looking to buy Xandros.

Your answers are dead simple, and they don't address the selling points, which are that Xandros users don't want to edit /etc/fstab or download and compile apps. Furthermore, Xandros comes with Apache and MySQL. Those are SERVERS. I would not use this edition as a server. Is that not a fair comment?

What is "technical stuff?" Can't you just get the specs from the release notes? Ask any question you have and I'll try to answer it for you. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 07:05:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? "Well take any linux distro and edit /etc/fstab ..it do the job."

that's pretty much the approach that'll keep linux down, preventing it from being a real competitor to windows.

you have to understand that not everyone wants to go around editing config files. not everyone even want to know they exist. doing things automagically or through a simple GUI is the way to go. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 07:05:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? >>The fact is, the current opensource applications are crap when compared to what is available on the Windows world.

Maybe you are right, but windows is crap compare to Linux/BSD/OSX even the os that runs in my brother's toy computer. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 07:06:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? "heavily modified Xandros File Manager"

Compared to what? Is there an unmodified Xandros File Manager somewhere?

"a gorgeous modified KDE"

Care to elaborate? Xandros 2.0 OCE had only what I would call slight KDE modifications. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 07:16:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Maybe you are right, but windows is crap compare to Linux/BSD/OSX even the os that runs in my brother's toy computer.

...and you obviously aren't old enough to work in the corporate world where the vast majority of apps companies use and need are windows dependent. Jeez. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 07:19:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? The real point of a distribution like Xandros is for those who _want_ to try an alternative to Windows in the Enterprise or in the home, so debating the merits of Windows vs. Linux is almost besides the point.

However, I think it is a fair question to debate the course taken by Xandros in meeting this need. Does the WINE approach offer the best way to migrate?

Or... do distributions like SuSE/NLD (Enterprise) and Lindows (Home) that concentrate (or focus) on the usage of cross-platform open source solutions make more sense?

The assertion that open source applications are crap is no longer valid in the year 2004. Some may be, but many are highly polished and very usable. Best of all, they are also very affordable! Mon, 13 Dec 2004 07:24:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? >>...and you obviously aren't old enough to work in the corporate world where the vast majority of apps companies use and need are windows dependent. Jeez.

And how do you know where the f.. I work. LOL. Because I work in IT is that I say it. You know how difficult my work with windows is. Kutia(Indian word) give me a break. I worked in a place where they use JDEdwards/PeopleSoft. Bad look the thing only works with Windows/SQL. (I think they moving to windows, they follow Oracle and SAP or die). Now, I made couple of departments change, in which they dont depend on windows. They dont call me. In fact, I go there to take a break from freaking windows machines. Now, is windows getting better, I guess. Bill must comeback to his old self and still software from other companies. We need that. LOL. Buy m.. f.. Redhat if necessary. LOL. Not but seriously this is a Xandros review. If they want to follow Windows that is a good approach. Any ways, at the end is about making money. But please, dont say stupid things about "the corporate environment." I can assure that I have been in the most oustandings IT departments period. Brookhaven National Lab, ATLAS Proyect, etc. http://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/Welcome.html
That is some real hardcore shit. That people will not use Windows not even if their lifes depend on it. I am being f.. with windows since 3.1. I have seem the m. f. evolve, and me loosing time with some stupid bugs. (I use to love a error screen saying : unknow error) what the f.....? How can a modern operating system give an error without explanations. These people must be out of their damn mind.

one Mon, 13 Dec 2004 07:41:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? >>...and you obviously aren't old enough to work in the corporate world where the vast majority of apps companies use and need are windows dependent. Jeez.

Yo Jeez, I mean Ken. I am in a stupid windows box now. Presario 2100. It is more loud than a hoe in a hore house. I put Gentoo on it, the b.. is quiet and cold like the other side of the pillow. So one more time, stick your windows box and corporate environment where the sun doesnt shine, and please dont try to flame with me again. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 07:45:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? "the OS fanatics", the "search for the torrent"...
I wouldn't mind a more respectful language: after all this site is called "OSnews" Mon, 13 Dec 2004 07:56:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? But to gain respect, you should give respect. Some people cross the line. I am sorry if some of my line offended anybody, I just was trying to be funny to the attacks without fundaments of that gentleman. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 07:59:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? I'd like to comment not on the OS, but on the review. I really respect osnews.com as a great source for updates regarding what's going on in the windows/mac/linux/etc world, and they have delivered admirably. However, recently, these reviews have seemed so non-technical, juvenile, immature, and poorly written. I feel like each review isn't a review... but a 12 year old trying to sell me on a certain distro.
-Kevin Mon, 13 Dec 2004 08:07:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Shame on you Japp. For both being abusive and using bad words in Indian language. You even make other Indians look bad. Grow up.

As for Windows hatred, you may have your reasons to hate Windows but it suddenly doesn't make it a bad choice for others. Also this is a fact that the choice of applications and their quality on Windows is far better than their counter parts on Linux.

Linux has some good command line tools but all of them work on windows as well using cygwin. Hell now you can even run KDE on windows and believe me its more responsive than on Linux, due to faster graphics in Windows.

Anyways, you are entitled to have your opinion but please don't be abusive or atleast don't associate your foul language with your Indian origin. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 08:12:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Regarding ftp client filezille runs without a problem with crossover. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 08:24:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? The level of civil discourse on this website is taking a sharp nosedive. Eugenia... it's getting pretty bad these days, which is a shame because you have put together a great site with many interesting articles and reviews.

I don't think the reviews are as bad as Kevin indicates, and even if they are not of professional quality, it doesn't matter, they can still be (or should be) discussed and debated in a friendly manner. You don't have to be an English major to be a nerd and review on OS on a site like this. I for one like the fact that pretty much anyone can post a review, it is one of the reasons I come here, its refreshing to get so many different perspectives.

The posts on this site are almost becoming unbearable however. They are slowly but surely ruining the reputation of this website and making it far less rewarding to participate. That is a shame. I wonder if a more aggressive form of moderation is needed? Weed out those who just want to cause trouble, or those who simply are unwilling to be civil or reasonable. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 08:25:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Tested head-on vs Ubuntu and Ubuntu comes out ahead in multimedia, ease of used, appearance, and speed.

Ubuntu is much preferred... Mon, 13 Dec 2004 08:26:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? With all the imho rather dumb comments I just wanted to say thanks for a nice review. As I'm always on the lookout for a nice noobfriendly distribution I have some questions though.

1. I've now heard a lot of praise for the Xandors filemanager, but I still haven't quite figured out what makes it so unique. What are it's main advantages to konqueror?

2. As I'm a cheap bastard and like to try things out before I recomend them to anyone, can someone give me an estimate about how long it will probably take befor the open circulation edition (is that's what it's called) will become available?

3. The reviewer mentioned problems with his wireless card that were due to a bug in Xandro's hotplug script. Now things like that happen, but what would be interesting is how Xandros reacts to bugs like these, did they already address the issue?

Finally, as someone already mentioned I don't think it's really fair to compare Fedora and Xandros as they have different goals and are targeted at different people, however I'm glad that there are now more and more distributions who's goal it is to give the user a great out of the box experience with a good default set of applications. Ubuntu, Mepis and Xandros come to mind. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 08:33:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Since Ubuntu is Gnome based I doubt it comes ahead in speed. I have installed and used both, Xandros is considerably faster since it is based on KDE. Maybe Ubuntu boots faster. Not sure.

In terms of look it depends on what you preference is. Xandros is more understated and professional looking.

Multimedia - Ubuntu is probably better to me as it has a real jukebox standard. Xandros may have other things Ubuntu does not.

Ease of use - you can't get much easier than Xandros so I don't really think it could come out ahead. Maybe a tie. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 08:43:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Does Xandros come with non-free multimedia enhancements such as mp3, flash, java, etc. pre-installed? If it does, than admittedly it will come out ahead of Ubuntu as a multimedia distribution.

However, in fairness to Ubuntu, of all of the free community based distributions I have tried, none were as easy to "enhance" with non-free multimedia support.

http://www.ubuntulinux.org/wiki/RestrictedFormats/view?searchterm=f...

That page has all of the directions you need.

My only problem with Ubuntu was that it was a little rough around the edges. I am eagerly anticipating the release of Warty Warthog however, and am generally very excited about the potential of Ubuntu. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 08:56:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? I realise that it is the author's personal opinion, but it beats me why he finds it so. As far as I can see, it simply uses the Plastik theme which is oh so common on KDE desktops. Now Fedora/Redhat is something else...they use the custom Bluecurve theme, plus a few awesome default desktop background pics. That is what that sets the distribution apart from the rest. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 09:05:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Note: If you have a laptop, check the forums to be CERTAIN that it will work with Xandros before buying. Else you will be in the same boat as myself and a ton of others, who have installation problems on laptops..
Bloody thing starts up, claims it's installing, then has the balls to turn around and look me in the eye and claims that it can't even find the CD! This, after it just booted from the CD!!
Some lucky bloke @ my LUG is going to get a free Xandros 3.

So in reply to the "cheap" people waiting for Open Circulation edition: It's not being cheap, it's called PRAGMATISM. Don't buy it until you know it works. This is linux, remember. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 09:34:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? "2. As I'm a cheap bastard and like to try things out before I recomend them to anyone, can someone give me an estimate about how long it will probably take befor the open circulation edition (is that's what it's called) will become available?"

They say that it will be available in the Spring.
But did you read what they said? "the search for the torrent"... hint, hint...
I am not suggesting that you should downoad for free what you are supposed to pay, but I can understand people who want to try before they pay :-) Mon, 13 Dec 2004 09:50:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? My slack box only detected 4x, I had to set the real speed (32x) manually. YMMV of course. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 09:52:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Thanks, I know that I could probably easily find a torrent for it, but and this may sound stupid to some people, one thing I really enjoy about Linux and Open Source is that I normally don't have to resort to these kind of things to get a working system with all the software I need.

@testy: I don't know if you are reffering to me, but the cheap bastard was meant to be tongue in cheek. I agree with you though, I really would like to try it out first before I commit to buying it. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 10:04:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? >>"heavily modified" XFM...

This begs the question: What did Xandros modify to make XFM? Haven't they said it is a new application and, specifically, that it is not a modified Konqueror?

>>...let me run at 1280x1024, which most Linux distributions can't do...

This is an X function, not a Linux function. With the appropriate driver and and an appropriate XFree86/Xorg config file, if it works in one distribution it will work in all of them. Perhaps the author meant that he was relying on X to be optimally configured automatically based on hardware detection during the install. In my experience, that's rare. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 12:14:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? >I have to admit that the Xandros model of doing things puzzles me (specifically their heavy promotion of WINE to run Windows applications). I'll explain.

"heavy promotion" is an exaggeration. It's one of many features that Xandros promotes. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 12:36:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Reading the posts on just about every story always seems to come down to an almost religious fervor for or against certain platforms.

An operating system is a tool, people, let us not forget that. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 12:37:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? >Does Xandros come with non-free multimedia enhancements such as mp3, flash, java, etc. pre-installed? If it does, than admittedly it will come out ahead of Ubuntu as a multimedia distribution.

If you'd actually read the review before claiming that Ubuntu was better, you'd know the answer is yes. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 12:44:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? If you'd actually read the review before claiming that Ubuntu was better, you'd know the answer is yes.

I never claimed that Ubuntu was a superior multimedia distribution, in fact I was pretty much making the opposite assertion. I read the article, but my memory gets fuzzy when I am working nights and I didn't feel like reading it again.

None of the free community based distributions are good at multimedia out of the box due to licesnsing and patent issues. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 12:50:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? I've been a Xandros supported over their last 3 versions and I keep it installed in one the PCs at home.

Overall, I think Xandros is a good distro keeping in mind the average home/enterprise desktop user it is targeted but for the more than $80 of Deluxe Edition I expected a little bit more. I did not see many changes in version 2 and less seems to be changed for this new version. Many of the annoyances of version 1 continue on this:

- Fonts. Yes fonts continue being a issue. Fonts are very small for high resolutions display. This is espcially apparent on Laptop displays with resolutions up to 1400x1050. You can easily configure font size in KDE but with some applications (Mozilla) this will not work. Ditto for CrossOver.

- Xandros Networks: Sorry Xandros, XN is plain ugly. It has not changed an inch since version 1 (that was 2002!) Other tools like Linspire click-and-run are much more intutive and user oriented.

- Installation with Windows: My Windows partition become unrecognible by Partition Magic after installing Xandros. That never happen on version 1 or 2. I have to tweak with for a pair of hours in order to get things running again.

- Floppy Icon on Xandros Explorer. A floppy icon is shown in Xandros on every floppy-less laptop I have installed! When the incon is clicked Xandros Explorer hungs. Once you connect a floppy drive via USB, it becomes drive B:(!!)

- GTK applications are poor integrated into the KDE desktop; why is so hard to follow what Red Hat did with Bluecurve?

- Booting time. Why Xandros try to re-re-re-re-detect all my hardware all over again after every reboot?

- Suspend/Hibernate. These features don not work without tweaking a little bit with command line. Do Xandros expect their customers know how to configure ACPI and other power-savvy features on theier PCs?

- Many Wireless PCMCIA cards are still not being recognized by the OS. I know this is common proble in Linux proble due to hardware manufactures but I expected a little more from a distro of around $80.

- etc.

Please, do not get me wrong. I use Xandros almost everyday and still think it is the best Linux option for the average Microsoft user that wants to move from Windows, but I expected a more polished and evolved distritbution for a version 3 pay-per-download distro.

(Sorry for my poor English
David

David Mon, 13 Dec 2004 13:21:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? >I never claimed that Ubuntu was a superior multimedia distribution

You're right, I got you mixed up with another poster, my apologies.


Here's the bit I was referring too:

"Xandros includes tons of plugins by default, including many closed source licensed ones, like RealPlayer 10, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Flash Player 7, and Java 1.4x."

Include the various Windows plugins supported by Crossover and Xandros comes out pretty well under Multimedia. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 13:25:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? I don't think that it is fair to imply that Xandros has added this wonderful PPTP functionality when every other distro has had this functionality almost forever. Linux has been a capable PPTP SERVER! with PopTop for three years and clients have been available at least as far back as 1997 (um, EIGHT YEARS!) It took no less than fifteen seconds of searching for me to look up the dates on these tools. I don't think you should be writing articles about features if you don't bother to google "linux pptp" and look at the first page! There are a lot of people in the FOSS community who put a lot of work into making tools to make Linux and other systems flexible and powerful and it only takes a handful of writers not bothering to research topics to make the general non-Linux population BELIEVE that these tools really haven't existed. I personally have used PPTP on Linux for years... right out of the box with standard distros. Don't glorify Xandros for being eight years out of date.

What tool that Linux in the business users like me use everyday and have for years will we hear about next as a major breakthrough from some commercial distro? Mon, 13 Dec 2004 13:39:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? no thanks, i dont need to buy something i can get free (remember the GNU in front of Linux (GNU/Linux)), and wine/crossover is not needed since i switched my office to OpenOffice.org running satively on GNU/Linux... Mon, 13 Dec 2004 13:43:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? The first approach would be the use of open source applications (OpenOffice, Mozilla, GAIM) on Windows first, and using that to gradually move over into a more fully open source system .... I think the first approach has several advantages.

I would say this depends on the percentage of open source apps you are using. I mean, if you're planning to use 90% open source apps while using Windows apps only to fill a couple of voids, you're probably better off in Linux.
However, if the majority of apps you're using aren't well represented by open source, then it makes more sense to use Free software in Windows where you can.
Also, it must be noted that some open source apps (esp some of the GTK ones) don't run as well on Windows as they do in Linux, while some (such as Mozilla) do. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 15:14:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Just wanted to thank Chris Dunphy for the Ubuntu link, re. Restricted Apps. I know this thread is about Xandros, but I have absolutelly NO problems with UBUNTU. I actually love it.
Regards to all,
Serge Matovic
matovics@yahoo.com Mon, 13 Dec 2004 15:20:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Am I the only one who noticed the ABBA directory in the first screenshot? Mon, 13 Dec 2004 15:27:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Chris Dunphy wrote:
"None of the free community based distributions are good at multimedia out of the box due to licesnsing and patent issues."

Chris, try Mepis, it has ALL the plugins included, and they WORK, I tried them all.

Serge Matovic
matovics@yahoo.com Mon, 13 Dec 2004 15:33:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? I don't think you should be writing articles about features if you don't bother to google "linux pptp" and look at the first page!

Mr. Miller, if you had read the article, you'd see that Xandros includes a PPTP CLIENT, not server. This is key in connecting to Windows VPNs, which are very common. I don't need a PPTP server, which is what PopTop is. Note that if you search google for Linux pptp vpn client you'll get significantly fewer results. Now let's look at the "try it" link from http://pptpclient.sourceforge.net, the leading (as far as I can tell) PPTP client project.

# install MPPE support in your kernel, (if required)
# install MPPE support in PPP, (if required)
# install the PPTP client,
# configure the client,
# start the tunnel, and
# configure routing.

In Xandros, you'd notice, I just typed in an IP address and it connected. No fiddling with the kernel, no configuration, no tunnel, no routing. Just an IP and credentials. Considerably easier.

I'd suggest before you accuse people of somehow attacking open source and FOSS developers, you make sure you're talking about the right thing. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 15:45:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? you almost hit the nail on the head there.....

although, if someone was to set up his windows pc with 90% oss, he would need that 90% to be totally functional, and a better choice than what it was replacing. So there would be absolutely no point in using oss if a better alternative was available.

Now I am not the type of linux user that will tell everyone that if they want a linux program to "do something some way or another" then you need to code it yourself etc etc however... there is nothing to stop a normal user contacting the author and asking for a specific thing for the next version...

try it

they are all very much approachable. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 16:19:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? although, if someone was to set up his windows pc with 90% oss, he would need that 90% to be totally functional, and a better choice than what it was replacing. So there would be absolutely no point in using oss if a better alternative was available.

Right, but sometimes (not always) even if an open source app doesn't have all the bells and whistles of a commercial app, if it does everything you need, then it's fine. Take OpenOffice for example - doesn't do everything MS Office does, but it certainly meets the needs for a lot of people.

Now, I'm not saying that you shoudl ALWAYS use open source, but just because there's a more functional alternative that costs money, if it doesn't have any features that are useful to you, then free software is a perfect solution. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 16:24:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? see, now I am confused

every time I see a post from you on this site, you say that you will never use linux or oss because it has not got the specialised apps that you need....

you never tell us what these are....

but it sounds to me like you are going back on your word and using some oss

:) Mon, 13 Dec 2004 16:29:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? "However, I think it is a fair question to debate the course taken by Xandros in meeting this need. Does the WINE approach offer the best way to migrate?"

Well, until they come out with Photoshop (no, GIMP isn't good enough), Dreamweaver (no, Composer and Bluefish do no compare) Audition 1.5 (no, Audour and Audacity are not as good) WINE is the best alternative. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 16:51:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? The PPTP client was what got my notice right away. It's hard for me to understand why nobody (distro), to my knowledge has included this before. IMO, it's huge in getting people to move to Linux. Being in the IT industry, so many of our clients use VPN's, and already have a number of issues trying to get their Windows boxes to connect without problems (user error mostly). If I can supply them with a commercial distro, and yes, the only way it would fly is if it's commercial (not my requirement but theirs), that has an out of the box working vpn client . . . well that's a huge part of the battle right there.

Garret Mon, 13 Dec 2004 16:59:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? I have to say, I was looking forward to the latest version of xandros 3.0 but its not much better than 2.0
I new the limitations regarding web content that v2.0 had and went straight to a web page with some video & audio streams to see if it could cope with them but sadly not so. All I got was no response.
When are Xandros going to realise that if you want to lure people off M$ windows and provide a linux alternative, then it must be able use all the multi-media content available on the net. I currently use Mepis which will play most of the content that people currently use windows media player for but xandros is way behind mepis in this departmant.
Maybe the people at Xandros should take a close look at Mepis & maybe they might realise what they have to do as a minimum & then improve on it to make it worth paying money for.
Until they do something realistic, I'm sticking with Mepis & guess what? ITS FREE Mon, 13 Dec 2004 17:02:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Bloody thing starts up, claims it's installing, then has the balls to turn around and look me in the eye and claims that it can't even find the CD! This, after it just booted from the CD!!

I had the same thing happen to me on my iBook with Yellow Dog 2.3. I contacted Terra Soft, and they said that I'd have to wait for version 3.0, which DID install. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 17:31:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? every time I see a post from you on this site, you say that you will never use linux or oss

I said I wouldn't use Linux*, not necessarily OSS. I actually use a handful of OSS apps, Mozilla & Thunderbird being chief amoung them. (Although I will probably drop Mozilla when Opera 7.6 comes out, because the text-to-speech option is just killer .. yet one more thing that doesn't work in Linux.)

because it has not got the specialised apps that you need....

Well, in regards to Linux, it doesn't have some of the specialized apps I need, and I am not willing to give them up to jump ship.

you never tell us what these are....

If you were to go back and look at archives, I have mentioned them several times. But everytime I do, the general response is that 'But those are niche apps!' which just goes to show you that one size does not fit all. Linux may be perfect for some people but for me, it is not.

*Ok, maybe I would use it if I needed a server for something, but not as my primary desktop OS. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 17:35:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? fair enough

and I am not one of these linux muppets who keep banging on that everyone should switch

if you happy with what you got, then fine. use it and enjoy it Mon, 13 Dec 2004 18:20:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? " (Although I will probably drop Mozilla when Opera 7.6 comes out, because the text-to-speech option is just killer "

no. its not Mon, 13 Dec 2004 20:16:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? no. its not

Make a dealw ith you .. I'll trade your vision for mine and see if you still feel the same way Mon, 13 Dec 2004 20:31:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Based on the many good reviews of Xandros, I downloaded and installed the OC version. Sure, it's only version 2 but it is awesome; not because it has features nobody else has and not because it works with all hardware (no video drivers for a VIA Epia board). It is awesome because it has that "just works" feeling. It is a polished desktop; simple and refined. It is easy for you to find your way around. It is easy to configure. Xandros Networks is really nice for adding/updating apps.

Basically, it's a great tool. You install it and forget about it. For those that love to tweak, this is not for you; try gentoo. For those, like me, who just want to install and use, this is a great distribution. Your mileage may vary but this is best one that I've run across. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 20:46:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Is your CD drive integrated into the laptop or is it an external one? I have the same issue installing *any* Linux on my laptop because it uses an external PCMCIA CD drive. There's a valid technical reason; you have to switch drive access methods during the install of an operating system. Booting from a drive, the drive is handled by the BIOS. Then the install procedure loads a proper kernel and that attempts to find the drive itself. This is where the drive gets lost. On my laptop I can pass certain parameters to the kernel that tell it where to find the drive, and then installation will proceed; I expect there may be a similar fix for yours, if you're in the same situation. (I hope the Xandros installer has a method for passing arbitrary options to the boot kernel...) Mon, 13 Dec 2004 23:08:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? As I mentioned in the other Xandros thread, drakvpn (vpn client wizard) has been in Mandrake since February this year, so v10.0 and 10.1. For 10.2 the interface will be cleaned some more and it will be integrated into the control centre. Mon, 13 Dec 2004 23:24:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? nice flamers here


Note: If you have a laptop, check the forums to be CERTAIN that it will work with Xandros before buying. Else you will be in the same boat as myself and a ton of others, who have installation problems on laptops..
Bloody thing starts up, claims it's installing, then has the balls to turn around and look me in the eye and claims that it can't even find the CD! This, after it just booted from the CD!!
Some lucky bloke @ my LUG is going to get a free Xandros 3.


By any chance, does your laptop use an external USB CD drive? If so, pass the parameter "bootusb2" to the kernel. I had to do that to install Kanotix - worked like a charm.

Regards,
DB Tue, 14 Dec 2004 00:57:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Xandros is the only distro I have tried that can easily load a driver for a winmodem and I have tried most of the popular ones. Within 15 to 20 minutes from starting the install to browsing the internet. What more can you ask? Tue, 14 Dec 2004 13:34:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? the video card settings are greyed out in the control panel, and my external firewire drive isn't being recognized. On the plus side: it sees & mounts my NTFS partition on the other hard drive.

While overall the look and feel are good, and it is pleasing in many asthetic ways, functionally this release sucks. I've been a user since version 1, and every release since then has been a downgrade. I'm not happy with X3, I'm not going to hunt around for libs, drivers, etc for stuff that worked just fine in all previous xandros versions. And I'm replacing X3 with my old standby: mandrake. Tue, 14 Dec 2004 14:31:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Another useless review.. Tue, 14 Dec 2004 15:09:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Not only did Xandros 3.0 see my wireless WPC-11 card, it allowed me to log on to my work's Novell file server. All I did was create a directory to mount it in "network", then I typed

$ ncpmount -S servername /mnt/Accounts -U username -P password /home/user/network

into the console. No configuration needed. Tue, 14 Dec 2004 16:00:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? What was the big deal about it? I have it running on my Ubuntu box and tunnel into work frequently (as a matter of fact I am tunneled into work right now...)

Mike Tue, 14 Dec 2004 16:44:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? ...I don't think I will download and try it, but it does look nice and sounds reasonably functional and easy to use. Tue, 14 Dec 2004 16:47:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? If the writer could contact us at support@xandros.com we'd be interested to know of the bug you've found with hotplug.

As of yet, its not been reported to us (i believe anyway) Tue, 14 Dec 2004 19:09:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? If I recall, XFM can be used as an ftp client. I don't use it as such, but I recall it being possible. Tue, 14 Dec 2004 19:59:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? I use XFM as an FTP client on my Xandros 2.0 OCE system and it works great. I use it every day to maintain my web sites and I see no reason to move to another FTP app.

BTW, I guess I am the target audience 'cause I really like Xandros. It meets all of my needs, and whether it is missing some niche app or not, it should be more widely known and used by the rest of us. Tue, 14 Dec 2004 20:59:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? Why is it, that every time a user friendly Linux distro like Xandros, Lycoris, or Lindows is reviewed there are always some people that don't like the Windows style GUI of these distros? I have a question for critics like say thats like that? Do you want Microsoft to continue to be dominant? In order for this to happen Linux is going to have be user friendly and easy to use, esp if you want the average Window user to migrate to Linux, its just that simple. There is nothing wrong with this "mainstreaming" approach, but yet some of you act like doing this is selling out.

Let me explain something, most Windows user have ZERO experience with Linux, so why not encourage them to migrate to a user friendly distro like Xandros, where everything works right out of the box (relatively speaking of course)? Is it fair to ask to go to something like SlackWare where there is a amount of configuring and tweaking, which would be a daunting task?

Xandros is one of best versions of Linux I have ever used bar none, in my humble opinion, it is definitely the easiest to install programs with. The only downside to Xandros OCE 2.0 is a lot of the open source programs that run on other distros like Red Hat, Suse, or even Debian apps dont always run on Xandros and some of the have to be compiled to run on Xandros, but with a little bit of searching and access to the user forums and you can run almost all of the main streaming video protocols for Windows ie, Windows media stuff, quicktime, realplayer, etc and they are enough of other types of programs that at least allowed me to do almost everything I have done in Windows to be done in Xandros.

Also, while Xandros may be easy to use that doesnt mean you cant learn things about Linux. I have learn a lot about Linux ie, using the terminal, using the command line even with Xandros. So, might it be logical to assume that some Xandros users may possibly migrate to other more techinal "hands on" versions of Linux? You dont feed steak to a baby do you? You gotta start with milk first and then in a few years the baby will be able to eat solid foods, which mainly my point to the more experienced Linux who are critical of distros like Xandros, Lycoris, or Lindows. Tue, 14 Dec 2004 22:12:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? What I read is simply unbelieveble. Here is the author with a well written review, that covers pretty much well what defines Xandros. And there, I read comments that just don't make any sense with regards to the review itself and with regards to their very own topics. What is the point that Mandrake had this one option in February? Or that Fedora has the Bluecurve theme. The point here is to describe and review what Xandros 3 is. Some of you act like kids, it's amazing.

Xandros is a very well done distribution that is designed for desktop use. In that respect, I does a wonderful job. Xandros File Manager is a huge step when compared to Konqueror, which I have used very often. Konqueror is also great, but it very well sucks when time comes to deal with networking (let it be NSF or Windows networking). Xandros File Manager does not reinvent the wheel, but the excellent implementations of Samba into it make things a whole lot easier, in a way that Konqueror doesn't. Burning data onto CDs or DVDs directly from the FIle Manager, without having to use K3B (which is by the way a very neat software) is very handy. Those are a few of the strengths of the File Manager. It can also be used as an ftp client.

You don't care for CrossOver (wine), just get the standard edition. Why hitting the nail on a company that just offers an option that, after 2 previous versions, seems to be still enough on demand. A comment on the "ugliness" of Xandros Networks: this is ridiculous, it's not ugly, and it's not beautiful either. It's a package manager! What do you do? Sit on your chair and look at a package manager all day or what? Wed, 15 Dec 2004 01:33:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? The point is that the previous review of Xandros incorrectly stated that it was the *first* distribution to include a VPN wizard, and someone in this thread repeated the same, incorrect assertion. Wed, 15 Dec 2004 05:07:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? I didn't say it was the first. I said "I don't know what took Linux so long to get this..."

I haven't used Mandrake 10+ (very faithful user of 9.1 though), but the client in Xandros is A+. Wed, 15 Dec 2004 18:10:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments http://osnews.com/thread? http://osnews.com/thread? it just isn't. I have heard this distro has killed several people, because it randomly makes the computer spit freon fire.

there where already 2 casualties in north carolina, and 7 in floriday. It was on slashdot, so it must be true Thu, 16 Dec 2004 14:41:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Anonymous) Comments