“Lindows 2.0 is like Baby Bear’s porridge–it’s just right. This new operating system isn’t too hardcore for the average user, and it’s nowhere near as expensive to buy and operate as Windows.” Read the article at ZDNet Australia.
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Eugenia Loli
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>>The download version costs just US$99,
>>and the full version will set you back US$129.
That looks like good money to me! With the Microsoft Case over in the States, I can see lots of OS players stepping up to the plate and challenging Microsoft in terms sticking with it’s anti-trust agreements. GTKmm will real in new developers for Linux as well.
PalmSource needs to step up to the plate and tap into that market with BeOS NOW! PalmOS 6.0 & BeOS 6.0 should be released within months of each other! There is absolutely no reason for them not to enter the market now.
Dear PalmSource, I will give you until the end of the first quarter of next year to announce a BeOS derived desktop OS. If you do not, I will uninstall BeOS from my desktop and switch to Linux 100% and say adieu to you and yours forever! You will have missed your opportunity of a life time.
ciao
yc
I thought I saw in a review somewhere that you need your original Win98 to run Lindows ?
Naahhh, I think all you need is Linux and some good Wine…
…and you’re good to go!
ciao
yc
The article is rather wishy washy, IMAO.
For instance, you’re led through several paragraphs of fluffy Lindows praise, when suddenly up comes a contradictory:
“In the meantime, if you’re looking for the full-on Linux experience, stick to Red Hat 8 or Mandrake 9.”
Before again being retracted with a “But…” *
This is what is known as “having two bob each way.”
An interesting comment in the article was:
Lindows traces its ancestry via Xandros to the Corel Linux Desktop, the first attempt at a commercial desktop.
I’ve never noted a Xandros mention previously (was I skimming badly?) Are there any further Xandros -> Lindows references around the traps? Both distros do seem to be pushing the “heavily customised” KDE 2.x.x tree.
I’m not anti-Lindows & wish them all the best as I will any company pushing an alternative OS. (It’d be great when they go to “release” and thus comply with the GPL, though…)
I would however, prefer a slightly less “fluffy” review of Lindows. There was too much sugar coating for my tastes, so this one seemed more like a glossy pamphlet pretending to be a legitimate review by throwing in an off-hand “might not be for you” comment.
Guess I better search the OSNews archives.
* It is an accepted rule of literature that “But” completely negates everything someone has just said. For example, “I like your new haircut, [i]but I would have done…”
“I thought I saw in a review somewhere that you need your original Win98 to run Lindows ?”
I believe wine lets you have use windows .dll’s off of your windows cd to increase the windows compatibility. You do not need a windows version to run lindows, or wine… but it helps.
We had a lengthy discussion about Lindows recently at PCLinuxOnline.com:
http://www.pclinuxonline.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid…
The way I see it, Lindows is a PR company that have taken another distribution (Xandros), modified it a little and added a fancy apt-based software installer. They have shown that they have no concern for people’s security, and their advertising to date has been highly misleading. In that case, why not use Xandros or Lycoris? Those distros have shown that you can have an easy-to-use GNU/Linux distro, while maintaining security and not trying to mislead the public.
Click-N-Run looks pretty, but functionally it isn’t very different from apt or urpmi (both of which have good GUI frontends). To top that off, they force you so pay for a subscription to use it. You’d might as well be using Mandrake (which includes all its software on CDs so you don’t have to download it) or Red Carpet Express (which costs money but is compatible with many distributions).
did they win that court case with MS over the name Lindows?
The whole review seems very biased IMO, almost as biased as the ET reviews. For example it says for a full Linux experience you should look at Redhat or Mandrake, but omitt SuSE which IMO is better than mandrak eif you use KDE and their GNOME is the fastest too.
I wish ther was a Redhat/SuSE/Xandros/Lindows super distribution, if tehy all joined UL it would be possible also.
Just imagine a distribution with Redhat’s great GNOME support and Fonts. Redhat’s unified desktop (should be a choice at startup for it though) and look/feel for GNOME. Now on top of that add tot his distribution the YAST installer and configuration tools with some prettier and more intelligent and userfriendly GUIS from Lindows/Redhat and Xandros. The perfect tool. Now imagine that the distribution was apt based like Xandros and Lindows. The distribution would also bea ble to resize NTFS patitions, thanks to Xandros and even run WIdnows programs thanks to Lindows/Xandros. It would also have true plug-n-play support from Xandros and the ebst netowrking ever created for Linux thanks to Xandros which also works out of the box. Imagine that this distribution had many of Xandros innovations, except it was running the upcoming KDE 3.1. It could also use Lindows great Click-n-Run except not for money. It would also include Lindows nice application that makes switching easier which autmoatically transfers your wallpaper, bookmarks etc, directly into your linux installtion. I can only imagine the possibilities.
If these companies joined UL, this would all be possible, especially since UL now will focus on the desktop as well. Imagien all the great things that they can come up with by merging their products, I’ll keep dreaming…
I never actually saw a formal resolution to that case – seems that the media hype just dropped off!
The last major article was about the Judge making points to the effect of ‘Windows is a generic word’ and throwing the whole Windows trademark in doubt.
Lotsa news sites had a field day on that… Then, nothing.
Whaddya expect? Not only was it from ZDNet, it was from ZDNet Australia!
I mean, what do they know? Just take a look at their Minister for IT.
Bloody Aussies. (Oh, bugger! What do you mean ‘OSNews logs your IP address as a FQDN?!)
yc, I’m getting a little too bored with the PalmSource crap. PalmSource WOULD NEVER RELEASE BEOS 6! If they do, they would do it at a time when BeOS 6 would be totally outdated. PalmSource has some serious problems of its own, with Microsoft just signing up their 29th hardware maker, PalmSource would be much better for the next few years taking back lost ground back from Microsoft instead of diverting their resources to BeOS.
Very biased indeed. Not only have they omitted SuSE, but Libranet, Slackware, Turbolinux, Gentoo, SOT Linux, Debian and dozens of others.
Really baaad!
More like a promotional piece rather than a review. My stand is similar to most people on PCOnlineLinux – it is a PR company. Nothing really different. In fact, any distribution can do what Lindows did, and make it even better and could beat Lindows hands down.
Personally, I would never run Windows. It doesn’t have all the things that attracts people to buy the latest version of Windows. Yet it doesn’t have anything people could be attracted to in Linux.
>> yc, I’m getting a little too bored with the PalmSource crap.
>> PalmSource WOULD NEVER RELEASE BEOS 6!
Sorry to hear you’re getting bored bubba!
I am not quite bored just yet.
>> PalmSource has some serious problems of its own, with
>> Microsoft just signing up their 29th hardware maker
Sometimes it’s not quantity but quality. MSFT has always had more licensees but PalmSource has always had the lion share of the market. Beside, OS 5 is out, OS 6 is well on it’s way etc… The engineers are good, they can do both!
>> PalmSource would be much better for the next few years taking
>> back lost ground back from Microsoft instead of diverting their
>> resources to BeOS.
I don’t think PalmSource can take back much ground from MSFT without a more comprehensive platform. Microsoft has the desktop and will keep using it to gain ground in the handheld. Palm should do the same with the handheld market, even if they have much less cash. The desktop OS market is suposedly open now, if not completely open.
Make no mistake, there is still a lot of money to be made in the desktop if you can get OEMs to ship your OS. Probably more than the handheld at this time. The barrier to entry is much less hard for PalmSource because they already have a very, very good OS. Using parts of it in HandHeld OS is not enough. They need to do more, much more!
ciao
yc
YC, your BeOS world domination plans are so repetitive and boring. Someone following up the BeOS scene for so long ought to know better – there aint nobody left in the first place who could crank out a “new” old BeOS version on behalf of Palm’s side, but I am 110% sure that in a 20 years time you will still lurk around some forum trying to talk people into believing that 5.0.4 is just about to be rolled out by Palm or whoever will own sources then…. that is very, very sad.
it is a PR company. Nothing really different. In fact, any distribution can do what Lindows did, and make it even better and could beat Lindows hands down.
If any distribution can do what Lindows did, why are they not doing it? Where are the usable, non-geek oriented, mass market, linux-distros-for-the-rest-of-us?
Why is it that when someone deviates from the Geek world view, they attract a shedload of abuse from people like Rajan r?
The simple truth is, Linux is crossing over from the harcore geek domain to every day users, and the while the way that’s happening won’t please the zealots, it’s the only way it can happen.
Im impressed by Lindows.
They are doing it just right, making it simple and clean.
Its easy to install new software, if its in click’n’run, wich alot of software is.
I dont like the “always run as root” thing, and I hope they change that..
But other than that, keep the up the good work, and release the sources!!!!
(and im not yet fully convinced that lindows is not a ‘lets challenge microsoft and sue them when we fail’ company)
YC, your BeOS world domination plans are so repetitive and boring. Someone following up the BeOS scene for so long ought to know better – there aint nobody left in the first place who could crank out a “new” old BeOS version on behalf of Palm’s side, but I am 110% sure that in a 20 years time you will still lurk around some forum trying to talk people into believing that 5.0.4 is just about to be rolled out by Palm or whoever will own sources then…. that is very, very sad.
LOL, but otoh in 20 years we will hopefully all run a copy of OBOS r8 on our computers…
I think what you saw was that win4lin requires a copy of windows 98 to run on top of linux/lindows
If any distribution can do what Lindows did, why are they not doing it? Where are the usable, non-geek oriented, mass market, linux-distros-for-the-rest-of-us?
If you can’t handle Mandrake or Red Hat (I’ve successfully migrated several newbies to both), try Xandros or Lycoris. They are very easy to use, and they don’t have that PR stench. To beat MS you don’t have to become MS.
>> World domination Plans?
I am a BeOS fan and I will post about it for as long as I like.
At least I don’t hide behind an “Anonyous” ID when I post. I see it as act of cowardice. In the mean time keep feeling very, very sad for me.
ciao
yc
Just as a point of info, Lindows is producing a CD dial-up users can get from them that installs alot of libraries, etc. in order to ease the time problem of dial-up users trying to download large apps, like OpenOffice.org or Star Office. It’s incredible, but Lindows just keeps rolling along.
You are so naive… a piece of advice: life is to short to spend time on unsignificant matters. BeOS/OBOS/etc fall into this category now. At best, BeOS might have had a chance in the past but the opportunity if gone now. It is sad but it is the reality. Get over it and move on to more useful things.
Look, Lindows is based on Debian.
For an easy intro to Linux and Debian try Libranet.
Their installer is quite easy and their adminmenu is newbie freindly.
they have a good site and communtiy.
You can get the latest 2.7 for a nominal amount
or try their last version 2.0 which they make available
for free ftp.
A lot of the familiarity in all these newbie distros comes
from KDE which you get with all of them.
Thanks for the advice Pilou. I think it’s fairly good advice. But I think BeOS still has a chance. To say that it does not is to say that Winblows will always be only commercial OS on Intel PCs. I don’t believe that’s true at all.
Don’t worry about me in terms of wasting precious time, I’ll be just fine! In terms of moving on, I was never really stuck
I have pervasive multithreading built in 
so while I appear to Be stuck, I still do better than most! 
ciao
yc
I’ve always felt uneasy about Lindows and it is filled with PR. And, now that Lycoris has that Wal-Mart deal too, I can sleep in peace. But, Lindows PR is making some things happen. Robertson and his hype may turn out to leave Lindows as the biggest bomb since Microsoft Bob. But, remember, when Gates went to IBM and gave them his spiel, he had nothing, zilch. When Jobs hit the bricks to hype Apple, he had a logic board in a wooden box. Stranger things have happened 😉
I don’t see the logic in people whining about poeple using “Anonyous” names as you put it .. I mean how is that any different then the letters “yc” I mean thats just silly.
His name is not more anonymuos then yours. What a person says is far more important then a silly name. Plus, I happen to agree with the poeple annoyed with you, shouting about a dead operating system is silly too. I used beos… I thought it was a neat toy, and I liked it. But the things dead now…no one gets very far on a dead horse.. and kicking it and pushing it isn’t gonna help. I mean… you sound like those poeple who were OS/2 nuts. I liked os/2 used it… dropped it a while after it was dead long enough parts of it didn’t support the hardware, filesystems, and software I use. Beos now is going that route.. I still have a copy of beos somewere… but now that its going no were, I really don’t use it. I am not saying all this because I dont’ think you shoudl use it.. use whatever the hell you want. But also, sounding like a zealot with a screw loose isn’t going to get anyone to use the dead os, if anything.. it just annoys poeple.
Now, after all this off the subject talk of Beos because of some nutcase who can’t get over it, I have to say I am impressed with people trying to get an operating system enjoyed by computer enthusiests of a more technical background into a shape usable by the average user. I hope development for the opensource cummunity continues to do so and may inspire others to do a bit of work on this as well. I never was very interested in doing my own programming work and actually helping others until I came across opensource software and now with what I have seen it has inspired me a bit. Also I think anyone that compares anyone that works on an opensource project (ie. RedHat, Mandrake, etc..) to Microsoft needs to get their infomation from a more acurate source. I’d like to know other then some unexplained hard feelings towards them, why anyone says such things. They are two different animals. For one, you can’t go take a source copy of Windows and roll your own “distro” of it if you are unsatisfied with Microsofts version, but you can with any Linux distro (including the ones poeple who don’t know better compair to Microsoft).
Ok, I’ve said enough, I am sure yc will whine some more about more poeple telling him he is basically annoying.
Don’t worry, I just found humour in it.
Palm currenty has the lion share of the market, but its market presence is shrinking…. fast. You may think that all these licenses are useless, right? Wrong. Most of the licensees are new to the PDA market, only god knows how big they would grow. Plus, with Dell making Pocket PCs which would drive the prices down (and end up bring up the amount of users), I don’t think Palm’s future is that rosy.
OS 5 is not all that spectacular. It is just mainly a port to ARM. Big deal. OS 6 may be significant, but only God knows how significant (in case you forget, Microsoft isn’t stagnant).
Besides, getting OEM deals for Be OS 6 involve a lot of planning, a lot of marketing, a lot of resources, and a sheer great deal of luck. Plus, they would be completely distracted so not only Microsoft can horde off the threat by BeOS, they can gain even more market share in the PDA market.
If Palm manage to assert its dominance and create a growing stable revenue stream, go ahead, attack the desktop market. But they don’t have any dominance, and a stable revenue stream.
If any distribution can do what Lindows did, why are they not doing it? Where are the usable, non-geek oriented, mass market, linux-distros-for-the-rest-of-us?
Companies like Red Hat and SuSE couldn’t be bother about that market. They are bothered about a more inviting market, the corporate market. The last I check, there isn’t any use for always-root and CNR for the corporate market.
There are companies that are doing it almost like Lindows. Take for example, Lycoris and Xandros.
Besides, my point is that Lindows’ idea is not competitive. If it is successful, it takes its competitors barely minutes to clone it all. Which isn’t a terribly good thing. (Especially since some of its competitors could easily make something cheaper yet have more money to advertise it).
Why is it that when someone deviates from the Geek world view, they attract a shedload of abuse from people like Rajan r?
There isn’t a geek world view, maybe a greek world view, but not a geek one. I don’t hate Lindows. For example, I like Lindows’ menu layout the best. But like I said ago, it barely takes its competition minutes to copy it. So much for a competitive egde.
There are some issues I don’t agree at all. One of them is always-root. Having it erases one of the major reasons why consumers would move to Linux – security. Having always-root doesn’t make something easier to use. Otherwise why would Windows XP and Mac OS X don’t follow suit of Lindows?
There are ways to make a special account where it can install software and change certain setthings but can’t control the system fully. Mac OS X has done great in this regard.
The simple truth is, Linux is crossing over from the harcore geek domain to every day users, and the while the way that’s happening won’t please the zealots, it’s the only way it can happen.
I really don’t mind Lindows as a idea. But I don’t think a dumb-down Linux would have any consumer appeal as all Linux’s superiorities are erased almost entirely.
Besides, why would a every day user want Lindows? If you are unable to answer that – then you would see my point.
l like to know what is difference between lindows and linux?
l like to know what is difference between lindows and windows ?