The distribution itself comes on a single live CD which kicks off with a GRUB boot menu. The GRUB screen gives the user the ability to boot normally, into the live environment, into a console or via various safe modes, or to perform a media check. Additional menus along the bottom of the screen offer support for additional languages, screen resolutions and kernel options.
Booting into the live environment presents the user with a blue-themed KDE desktop. The root and guest account passwords are displayed at the top of the screen and the application menu is displayed in the classic KDE style. Icons on the desktop provide short-cuts to the command line, the user’s folders and the system’s installer. Along the taskbar are icons providing the user with links to various tools to configure the desktop and to configure the computer (more on the differences between those two shortly). There are also launchers to browse the user’s files and start the package manager.
The installer starts off by asking the user to partition their hard disk. The partition editor has an interesting approach to its job, where almost all the controls are either buttons or sliders. While this took a few moments for me to get used to, the layout will probably appeal to less experienced users. Once the disk has been divided up, the installer formats the drive and copies the necessary files over from the CD. This happened without any confirmation, taking me a bit by surprise as generally an installer will warn the user before wiping a partition. Once the copy process is complete, the installer asks the user to configure the boot loader. After configuring the boot loader, the installer locked up for a minute and, finally, showed me a screen asking me to “halt computer”.
The first time the computer boots into the new operating system, PCLinuxOS asks the user to set a password for the root account and then create a non-root user. The system then turns things over to a nicely themed login screen.
The distribution comes with a full application menu which includes an archiver, text editor, disc burner, and a full range of KDE games. Users are also treated to the GIMP, a document viewer, Firefox, Kmail, instant messengers, a torrent client, ImageMagick, personal organizer, a music player and video player. OpenOffice isn’t installed, but there is a tool included for retrieving and installing the office suite. It’s interesting to note that PCLinuxOS does not take the one application per task approach. For example, there are three image manipulation tools, three file browsers (if you include Konqueror) and multiple IM clients. While all of these apps work, some of them, such as the emelFM file manager, don’t have a modern, integrated look to them. PCLinuxOS is equipped to handle most audio and video codecs as well as Flash, giving users a full range of multimedia software without requiring additional downloads.
With all of the software PCLinuxOS comes with, besides KDE, it could be reasonably expected that the distribution would take up a large chuck of the computer’s resources. However, this isn’t the case. The distribution runs very well with 512MB of memory and continues to function smoothly with as little as 256MB of RAM. Additionally, PCLinuxOS takes up less than 3GB of disk space, making it suitable for a wide range of computers. During my experiment with PCLinuxOS, I used a generic desktop machine with a 2.5GHz CPU, 2GB of RAM and nVidia graphics card. I also used my HP laptop, which has a dual-core 2GHz CPU, 3GB of RAM and an Intel graphics card. To test how the distro would run with fewer resources, I installed it in a VirtualBox virtual environment. The distribution handled my hardware well. Everything worked as expected on my desktop machine. Hardware detection also worked very well on my laptop. The Intel wireless card was picked up, the touchpad was properly configured and video and sound both worked well. The only hiccup was with my Novatel mobile modem — the network manager was able to detect it, but required some tweaking to get the device working.
As mentioned previously, there are two prominent configuration tools: one labeled Configure Desktop and the other called Configure Computer. The Configure Desktop launcher opens the KDE System Settings application. From here, the user can configure all aspects of their desktop environment, tweaking the system to their preferences. Items range from desktop effects to the system time to network connections. The System Settings app also ties in some PCLinuxOS-specific settings, such as firewall configuration, package management, handling user accounts, sharing folders and auditing the system logs.
The other tool, labeled Configure Computer, is a link to the a re-branded Mandriva Control Center. From the Control Center the user can configure nearly every aspect of the system from managing user accounts, to installing packages, tweaking the firewall, sharing folders, managing disk partitions and setting up printers. As you can probably tell, there is a lot of over-lap between the two configuration tools and some of the System Settings modules connect directly to components from the Control Center. Both of these tools are very user-friendly and do a good job of guiding the user through categories to find the option they wish to change.
PCLinuxOS uses the Synaptic package manager to manage the project’s RPM files. While this may seem an unusual combination, it generally works well. The distro comes armed with just shy of 12,000 packages in its repositories, insuring a wide range of popular software for its end-users.
As far as security is concerned, PCLinuxOS does well. The system requires the user set a root password and create a non-administrator account. I found no network services running by default and nothing to raise my concerns. By default, users’ home directories are left open, but that is easy changed by the users who wish more privacy.
The PCLinuxOS distribution is a good, solid operating system and there’s very little to fault here. The only problem I ran into was when I tried to set up my firewall before checking for software updates. The firewall needed a package called “shorewall”, which wasn’t included in the default install. Nor was the configuration tool able to find the package since I hadn’t refreshed my package list from the repository yet. Once I ran Synaptic, I was able to get back to configuring the firewall without further problems.
Obviously, this is a minor detail which I mention just to point out how little I found to complain about when using the distribution. However, I think it is worth noting that PCLinuxOS was originally based on Mandriva, a linage which regularly shines through, and it’s that connection which took some of the shine out of the PCLinuxOS experience for me.
Taken by itself the distro is a fine product. But when placed next to its parent, I find Mandriva casts a large shadow. If one compares the two projects’ websites side by side, or the GUI front-end to their package managers, or the documentation, or the pre-installed software, I find Mandriva’s is typically more polished and has a more integrated feel. Where I found PCLinuxOS really stood out from its parent was in performance. The operating system used less memory and ran noticeably faster on my hardware than the recent Mandriva 2010 release. I think PCLinuxOS is an ideal distribution for a wide range of machines with a full-featured desktop.
PCLinuxOS is my favourite distro. I am a great fan and supporter. Everything works out of the box. What else can I say?
Maybe I can add that Texstar is a genius
Edited 2010-04-19 23:37 UTC
I used PCLinuxOS for a couple of years before giving it up for a 64 bit OS, which I’ve used since. Maybe I missed something but nowhere did I see mention that PCLinuxOS 2010 is featured in both x86-32 and x86-64 variants. I’d switch back to PCLOS in a second if I could utilize the full potential of my quad core Phenom CPU and 8 GB of RAM. 🙂
There is only 32 bit version the moment. Texstar has already said 64 bit will follow sometime in the near future.
There is a kernel in the repository that can support up to 64GB of memory if you want to use PCLinuxOS with more than 4GB of memory.
There is a kernel that is configured to take advantage of AMD64/Opteron (K8) processors but this kernel is also configured to use up to 4GB of memory.
A kernel configured for both AMD64/Opteron (K8) processors and 64GB currently doesnt exist and i am sure one will be provided if there is a demand for it
Edited 2010-04-20 03:10 UTC
It should be mentioned, that they use the bf-scheduler in their standard kernel. On a amd64 system, performance seems vastly improved when dealing with several tasks at a time.
The Phoronix results show this in numbers.
Performancewise you probably get better results with an bfs kernel than with a system running in 64-bit.
http://ck.kolivas.org/patches/bfs/bfs-faq.txt
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=linux_distro_fou…
Thank you for mentioning the scheduler and the links. I had no idea how much of a difference it could make. I do want desktop performance, so I’ll change my plans from my last post and use this distro for my dual core instead of the 64bit. Hopefully the flash video will run better. Thanks also to all the comments here on 32bit vs 64bit.
I’ve been using PCLinuxOS 2010 with E17 (Enlightenment) the past few days and it’s the best implementation of E17 I’ve used. It’s very fast and I haven’t experienced a single crash. I do wish they had a 64 bit version, but I think I can overlook that until somebody releases a 64 bit distro that runs E17 as well. Regarding performance, the Phoronix test results on a 2010 beta version were impressive and that’s what convinced me to try it out.
Edited 2010-04-20 00:55 UTC
I heard it also runs Duke Nukem Forever quite well. Any truth to that?
Without wanting to get into a distro wazzing contest, your expectations are pretty low if you’re happy with a few days without crashing.
That’s funny because I was thinking the same thing while I was typing that statement. My low expectations are based on past experiences with E17. But, I think it has the potential to be the best window manager once it’s finalized, so I keep playing around with it.
Its good, but I prefer PC/OS, http://www.pc-os.org, in terms of performance and everything running out of box. PCLinuxOS is good if you are looking for an RPM based distro.
As compared to Ubuntu, I have found PCLinuxOS better suited to encourage newbies to try out Linux. I have been using this distribution for several years now and it has always been stable and complete in terms of plugins etc.
I guess financial muscle of Canonical is forcing Ubuntu on us a the answer to all computer user’s problems whereas several other distributions are much better.
Sadly, the Linux online media is following the Pied Piper of Canonical
forcing?
In Australia there are monthly “download caps” for domestic users from most ISPs. My own ISP provides an array of file mirrors from which data can be downloaded without counting towards the download cap. This is called “unmetered content”.
For my ISP, there is this list of Linux distributions supported as un-metered content:
http://mirror.internode.on.net/pub/
I can download as much as I like from that list. PCLinuxOS is mentioned, but unfortunately, the mirror is empty. Ubunutu and Kubuntu are represented, as is Arch, Fedora, Mandriva OpenSuse, MEPIS, debian, slackware, etc, etc.
The lack of an un-metered PCLinuxOS repository mirror makes it an unsuitable choice for me, let alone the fact that there is no 64-bit version.
BTW: I make note that my ISP does support an un-metered mirror called “major geeks” for Windows files, but this mirror does not include Windows updates. Windows users are going to use up a fair amount of their cap just keeping one machine up to date, let alone a few of them sharing the one ISP account.
Forcing? I don’t see how one is forced.
Kubuntu Lucid is mirrored, and I know Kubuntu has copped a fair bit of criticism in the past, but this release seems to be very nice. Kubuntu Lucid will be an LTS release. Kubuntu’s repository has over 26,000 packages, whereas most of the other repositories (including PCLinuxOS) have only about 5,000 or so.
I did a quick check on the internode site. PCLinuxOS 2010 with all its variants is at:
http://mirror.internode.on.net/pub/pclinuxos/live-cd/english/previe…
Cheers.
That is the PCLinuxOS CD images. From these files you can burn a new LiveCD. You can boot that LiveCD, and you can then install PCLinuxOS.
I have already done all that recently when it was a beta.
Unfortunately, this will not help you with ongoing updates. You need a mirror of the repositories for that.
Cheers, though, and thanks for trying to be helpful.
PS: I have a tip for anyone installing a recent Linux distribution and hoping to use the open-source ATI graphics drivers … add a “nomodeset” parameter in grub to pass to the kernel on boot. This will disable KMS (kernel mode setting), and use UMS (user mode setting) instead. For some ATI cards this will add a second or two extra to the boot-up time, but there will be an improvement in the 3D graphics rendering and compositing of up to 60%.
This is a very worthwhile improvement when running a KDE4 distribution such as Kubuntu or PCLinuxOS.
PPS: Hold the phone … the Internode PCLinuxOS repository mirror (which is an apt mirror, except it uses RPM files) now (once again) seems to be populated:
http://mirror.internode.on.net/pub/pclinuxos/apt/pclinuxos/2010/
OK then, this might make it worth a trial. It is 32-bit, but that would still be great for my netbook.
Edited 2010-04-20 13:24 UTC
Nice to her the new version is out. I’ve been following the progress on Twitter. Over several years I’ve tried many Linux distros. The best performer for me has been Pclinuxos. I used Suse for a few years before, but the package manager was frustrating. I tried Mandriva, but there was always a bug that kept something from working right. I’ll use Pclinuxos as the main os for the 32bit desktop and laptop. For the dual core laptop, I may try Kubuntu 10.4 64bit when it comes out at the end of April. If it doesn’t work well I’ll use pclinuxos, which I know works every time.
you can download it
http://hazna.lt/blogengine/post/April-2010-Issue-of-The-NEW-PCLinux…
This 32bit OS is a rocket ship. It runs quicker than my Ubuntu 64 install. It is a keeper for me.
I think it is pretty much true that unless you are doing something that involves a lot of data or a lot of computation that just happens to require a lot of memory, you don’t need a 64 bit OS. These days, pretty much anyone doing scicence will do well to have access to at least one 64 bit system. The number of bits can either speed up or slow down certain computations, but typically not much either way.
Been using PCLinuxOS since 2007 and have found it to be an outstanding distro. I came from the the Slackware days beginning in 2000. I’m currently using PCLinuxOS 2009 and have had very few problems with it. The repositories works great, especially with when using the “pass server” … and yes I do support them at $50.00 an install. I have PCLinuxOS installed on several customer/friends computers as well, each supported financially in donations to Texstar. In each scenario, it has proved to be well thought out and works superb!
To Jesse Smith who wrote the review, let me say, (on a positive note) that the interview and OS overview was enjoyable in a way. However, I do not appreciate an “adversarial” attitude, which I picked up, in your questions to Texstar. They are offensive questions, and I say, “WHO CARES” about the larger issues that are the concerns about codecs and so forth. Every Linux distro has had to contend with this. Better to leave this issue to other blogs. I am sick to death of hearing from the “purist” Linux fanatics who continually plague the community with this and other driver issues such as using an “Nvidia” binary driver.
In Addition, “WHO CARES!” what distro Texstar builds his from … this is Linux and fully allows for this! Texstar and the ripper gang, as well as the community, have done an outstanding job in many respects, including the Magazine they publish that has been helpful to many people. Enjoy it for what it is and give encouragement for its development, is what I say.
Jesse, your idiotic comparisons, adversarial questions, and in general, obvious lack of respect, is why I do not visit OSnews much anymore. I just happen to catch this review, hoping that I would find something useful on OSnews. I see I haven’t missed much. And yes, the only reason why I “registered” is to post this comment. Have a nice day.
Tom
None of those questions were at all offensive; they were perfectly reasonable, and I detected no adversarial tone whatsoever. Do you live in some Texstar/PCLinuxOS/Lovefest-induced dreamworld where no one can ask the guy a reasonable question? I know you love your distro and all, but get a grip dude.
Noticed in a whole bunch of comments people not wanting to use PCLOS because of the lack of a 64bit option. The main difference between 32bit and 64bit for the vast majority of things is the 4gb memory cap. You need to be doing something very computationally intensive to see any significant performance between 32 and 64bit. So if you are a developer and constantly compiling, or an artist, and constantly rendering 3d movies, there is a big difference. For most other things, the difference is negligible.
OTOH, 64bit computing is clearly the way of the future. Since, unlike Windows, Linux has the source code for its drivers, there is almost no penalty for moving to a 64bit version. There are very few problems for running 64bit Linux.
Since 64bit computing is the way of the fututre, there should be no objection to users running it now, even if like me their systems have only 3GB RAM. Furthermore, if I run 64bit Linux, I form part of the demand for 64bit Linux, which is incentive for distributions to offer 64bit variants, and I thereby assure that 64bit Linux is ready whenever other Linux users may decide, or need, to switch.
…and unlike windows, chances are you will be in a world of hurt if you want to run both, unless it is a command line app (and covered by ia32libs). But thats not what I was talking about.
…unless you want to try out a 32bit only distribution. which is what the comment was about.
I don’t know about that. If you have a compelling need for 64bit, I would say hell yeah. If a distribution offers 64bit, then why not? But I would consider the distribution itself a way more important decision, then whether or not it offers a 64bit version.
There are other kernel builds available on PCLinuxOS 2010. The PAE kernel provides access up to 64 gigs of memory and the a64 kernel which is a 32-bit kernel optimized for an AMD 64.
Edited 2010-04-21 05:05 UTC
A mainstream distro using BFS?! O_O
If you’ve got slowish hardware, you need to give this a shot. On a fast modern PC, say, Core 2 or better, you won’t notice much of any difference from a mainline kernel with low-latency config settings. On now-aging P4s, Athlon XPs, or even older, though, or lowly little Atoms, BFS makes for a very nice boost in responsiveness.
I’ve used the KDE4 version, and it’s not a normal KDE 4. It’s almost like KDE 3.5, but with KDE 4 goodies added in. The default settings are geared towards usability much more than to show off KDE 4’s features.
If you liked PCLinuxOS in the past, but noticed it getting a bit ragged in ’08 and ’09, give 2010 a chance. Texstar is back to working his desktop distro maintaining magic.