What are you looking for in a Linux distro? Ease of Installation? Great looking Desktop? Ability to download more apps as needed? Ability to run select Windows apps right on your Linux desktop? Read the review here.
Xandros 2.5 Review – Why I Choose Xandros
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
From the Review “The Xandros boxed set is awesome! Great packaging job. Comes with a 300-page User Guide, an installation CD, an application CD, a mini getting started guide, and a Xandros sticker to cover that little “Intel inside” slot on the front of your PC case. I have never seen a distribution put so much attention to their box. Very impressive! 9/10.”
This used to be Corel Linux if I remember right? They kept the same Ideas. My Corel Linux 1.0 came with guides, and a small penguin toy. Corel Linux 2 came with an larger one that was inflated. All toys,aside it has always been my favorite linux version.
Gimme, I can not understand why they don`t have an open beta wich would have more people trying it out, more bugs to be fixed, more PR about the product etc.
I know I`ll give it a try when it comes out tho, but will it be good enough so I`ll get the pay version? we`ll have to wait and se, cause I can`t say yet since I don`t have the beta! hrrmff
In my eyes the most awsome box set is produced by SuSE. Their Linux manual is great. Probably the best in existance.
but it seems to me that some people might want to consider installing Debian.
Debians new installer cd is pretty awesome and will detect almost everything under the sun.
Of course a lot of manual tweaking has to done later, but once installed Debian will work and continue to work almost no matter what you throw at it.
IIRC Xandros is a modified Debian, so you might just be able to point Xandros at a Debian repository to have access to all applications..
Otherwise if you are a cheap skate and won’t buy Xandros you might want to try Knoppix, it’s a live cd, you can install it to a hd, and it’s Debian as well
Cheers
Michael
Quote: Linspire worked well for me and all of my software worked fine. The two hang-ups I had with Linspire was that 1) most of the programs found in the CNR (Click-n-Run Warehouse) were outdated or 2) I was forced to run as root, which is a huge security risk. To be fair, Linspire does allow you to set up individual user accounts, but just try to make everything work. Good luck… you’re going to need it. It’s next to impossible. The CNR and all software downloaded is pre-configured for the root user. End of Quote!
This Author a does not seem to know what he is talking about, first he says “I was forced to run as root”, then he says “Linspire does allow you to set up individual user accounts”! He also says it is a huge “Security Risk” which according to a recent test Linspire won hands down against Windows XP,Windows Sefver and Mac OSX. What gives, do these people even try Linspire before they spread fudd like this. I run as user, CNR works fine and it is no more difficult to do things as user than as root the same as in any other Linux Distro IMHO.
“according to a recent test Linspire won hands down against Windows XP,Windows Sefver and Mac OSX.”
Regarding XP it can be, but safer than OSX, that ist nonsense and this makes the whole text questionable.
“Regarding XP it can be, but safer than OSX, that ist nonsense and this makes the whole text questionable.”
Thats what the famous hacker Kevin Mitnick said after he had done various testings with Win, Mac, Linspire. I’m a Mac OS X Panther user myself, but information is information.
Tiger will be the best OS anyway!
OS X is very secure. ask a goverment offical, they will tell you they have to send the computer to CANADA to hack it for information if the user enables its security to high levels. And even then the Canadian mounties have huge problems.
On the subject of Xandros, If you looking for a great desktop buy a mac. if you are using intel, try something like UbuntuLinux.. easy install, and VERY well supported.
Well for everyone claiming “Use Ubuntu” I bit the bullet, a long time Xandros User at home, I finally after nearly a year (new record!) of running the Xandros Business Desktop on my pc, pulled the mobile rack out, Droped in a fresh 20 gig drive and install Ubuntu,
I’m not impressed… seriously,
Some of the things that I would expect from the OS, Things that X2BD gave me, aren’t easily available, no icons on the desktop, Plus I’m not a Gnome guy… more of a KDE guy, It just didn’t work for me, I’ll go back to it and check it out soon I figure… but It just didn’t feel right to me…
I recomend everyone install Xandros atleast once, and feel what a “Just works” distro is all about.
It’s been about a year since I last tried Linux and I’ve got a spare PC, so it’s about time I gave it another try. Can anyone recommend the easiest Linux to install and use? I want Windows like simplicity, with graphical configuration of my system rather than config editing. That includes easy GUI based network, firewall and samba configuration, something lacking in the last distribution I tried.
Linspire, Xandros or Lycoris are your best choice coming from Windows.
Xandros has many extra apps, it is not a base KDE
Plus it supports many things rihgt awa, Debian doesnt’t
I always used to think these comments were planted, but to be honest, I finally wore down and gave MEPIS a go. Fantastic. Maybe I just touched lucky, but all three computers I have put it on have worked.
I had misgivings about it’s functional, dull look and preferred the UI of Ubuntu (even though nothing worked), but that is a great, great distro. THe best I have seen yet. Going to give linspire a go a little later next week, but until then I can honestly say that MEPIS has quietly, unspectacularly, got it right for me.
Mandrake has all of the things you ask for.
Now, what about Mandrake 10.1 for a new user coming from Windows? How does it compare to, say, Xandros? The author says nothing about his experience with Mandrake. Thanks.
I don’t like companies like Xandros and Linspire, they don’t contribute that much to the open souce movement while using the software to build their distributions and sell it. No dime of the money they make goes to developers, not enough if they do. I’m not that much of a Red Hat fun, but at least they contribute to projects like gnome and they hired Alan Cox full time for the development of the kernel.
Second, the author is grossly misinformed about many issues, you want to use just enough software? sure, most other linux distributions offer a “Personal PC installation”, where just about what you need is install. I can’t see where it hurts anyway since you have 40 GB on your HP 543x. But probably you’re still remembering windows where more software installed = slower computer.
Mandrake: “too much under the hood”? what’s that supposed to mean? isn’t the point of an OS anyway is to hide complicated details?
You want some eye candy? have you looked at Fedora’s latest Gnome 2.8 screenshots?
Easy to update and install new software? have you looked at debian’s Synaptic? it’s available for fedora too and other distributions too. I
don’t think installing can get much easier.
Someone in the comments claimed that Ubuntu doesn’t have KDE, surprise, surprise: You can install it in a few clicks.
I can understand if you point out that you wanted to pay the price to help Linux, to that i say you’re paying the wrong buddies. Help the actual developers in projects like Gnome, Kde and apache foudation projects.
Of course a lot of manual tweaking has to done later, but once installed Debian will work and continue to work almost no matter what you throw at it.
Well, pretty much any Linux distro will run without a hitch once configured properly. But, the whole point of Xandros is that you don’t have to do all the manual tweaking. It installs in about 4 clicks and is ready to go. On the other hand, this ‘easy as pie’ setup has certain inherent limitations. The distro makers assumes that you’ll only be doing ‘xyz’ with your computer. But if you want to step outside the box and do more than ‘xyz’, then you’re back to plain ‘vanilla’ Linux and the headaches associated with it. For example, the last Xandros version I tried was v2.0 and while KDE apps looked great, there was no (AFAIK) built-in way to change/resize fonts in non-QT apps … and for many of these apps (esp Mozilla), the fonts were way too small. Another limitation is this:
IIRC Xandros is a modified Debian, so you might just be able to point Xandros at a Debian repository to have access to all applications..
You would think that would work, but when I tried to change apt sources, I got a nice little warning that said something to the tune of ‘installing software that’s not in our own Xandros repository could potentially fry the distro.’ And I found out quickly that they were right – trying to install the latest Firefox from another repository ended up breaking Mozilla.
So, like I said – it’s a great distro to start out with. Along with Linspire, it’s much more polished than the others and to a Windows user, it feels very familiar. But trying to remove the training wheels is a serious pain in the ass. It’s like having a castrated Windows box.
I was wondering if it is only me or everyone. I have to run as root to install almost every thing under linux too these days. Compiling it from source needs root access and so does package management tools like apt,rpm, urpmi. I switched to linux as one of the reasons was that a user does not needs to have root access for things like installing yahoo!!. But it seems to be changing I guess for the worse. This is across all distros. I hope they address it so that we can still install software as normal user rather than have access to root account always.
You don’t have to be root to compile sources. You need to be root to install software. That is the whole point of having two types of users.
But why do you want to install software as a user? unless you’re on a network where you are not allowed tro install software.
You can still use software from your home directory, installing software puts files in sensible directories where only root has permissions to modify.
I said the no KDE thing, and thats my bag, I don’t like Gnome’s layout, thats the great thing about linux, if I don’t like it, I don’t need it
And By Darius (IP: —.dmotorworks.com), try mulling around in backports.org, most everything there works perfectly in Xandros, I keep my Gaim and Mozilla/Firefox combo up to date with the backports and I’ve yet to blow up my computers.
Do you mean we can still use software without installing them, from home directory ? how ? I mean I use linux often on the network too and it is like I can not use anything without installing it and I can not install it coz I dont have permissions
A verry well written review. I really like Xandros as well, I plan to buy it when I get a job to replace Gentoo.
as Joujou says, this is exactly how the Unix security model is designed. It’s perfectly fine for you to build software as a normal user and keep and run it from your home directory. (I keep a /home/adamw/local directory expressly for this purpose). “Installing” software is not necessary to run it, it’s only necessary to make it available systemwide, which is something only root *should* be able to do (if you let normal users do it you make a mockery of the home / system divide). It would be impossible to design a comprehensive package management system that could be used as a normal user, as some packages just have to be in the system tree, and the point of a package manager is to be canonical. A sort of package-manager-lite for your home directory might be an interesting project, though, does anyone know of one that already exists?
it’s really very simple. Build the program you want to use (on most reasonable systems a normal user will have enough privileges to build stuff against the system headers), then just execute the binary that was built; it’ll often be in the top-level directory from which you called ‘make’, sometimes it might be in a subdirectory like /src or /bin or something. All ‘make install’ really does is install the binary and the libraries that were built to the appropriate systemwide location – /usr/local/bin and /usr/local/lib , probably – so other users can access them. It’s not needed to run the software.
hey Anmol Misra:
the whole point of a restricted root access is for protecting the integrity of the operating system, and it is one of msft’s window’s biggest weakness is that most windows users run as root/admin 100% of the time, if a user can install software and make system wide changes without entering a root password then a malicious website containing malicious content can too(ActiveX & IE vulnerabilities comes to mind)
but if YOU want to run your computer with root access all the time letting anyone that can penetrate your computer make system wide changes you go right ahead, but i think i will keep root restricted with a arcane password that is nearly impossible to crack…
I was not complaining about it. I was wondering if there was a way to use/run(not install) software without actually needing root permissions. Almost in all the software, whenever I tried to make/make install, it needs root access contary to what others say here. It may be I am doing something wrong. So I should just make and not make install ? and then use the binary ? is that what others were saying ?
“make install” will fail because it will most likely try to write to directories you don’t have permissions to modify.
“make” will do fine.
maceto2 wrote: Gimme, I can not understand why they don`t have an open beta wich would have more people trying it out, more bugs to be fixed
It is a beta product. It screwed up my LILO so bad that I not only couldn’t boot into Xandros; I couldn’t even boot into Windows. I used Knoppix to get on the internet and post on the Xandros Forums looking for help, but no one responded. I was able to “fix” it by reinstalling Xandros 2.0.
wtf?, try to click “Url Link: Xandros Web Site” at review page. (in firefox it directs you to microsoft.com), in IE – http 404. it’s not a joke
I don’t know if anybody else noticed, but the link in the artical to Xandros’s site redirects you to Microsoft instead.
maybe…
./configure –prefix=/home/*user
no guarentees it will work…
Yeah, the author misspelled the URL (…)
in firefox if you misspel the url it searches google for the words in the url (anything before a forward slash)
Now go to google and search for the word “http”
I hope that made it clear…
Just a few points that make me question the author’s review skills and experience with software. The author of the article states he’s evaluated several Linux distributions but then says something that’s not true such as “SuSE – I did not try to install this. I did purchase the LiveCD and liked what I saw, but did not go this route.” Emphasis is on the words “purchase the LiveCD”. Sorry, but for those unaware Novell has never charged consumers for the LiveCD/DVD which is basically a fully-functional demo of the OS and some of the included software such as Open Office, KMail, etc. Then he says something foolish such as this “One thing to keep in mind which I did not originally know as a newbie Linux user… OpenOffice does the same thing as Office XP. For most purposes… a user could get away with using OpenOffice and no-one would know any better.” Okay so then why after saying the above comment go on about using Office XP on Codeweavers Cross Over Office? He could of simply stated that Codeweavers Cross Over Office now supports Office XP but a native Linux alternative would be to run Open Office or Star Office. Also failing to point out to readers that even though Cross Over Office is included with Xandros it is also available from Codeweavers separately.
Over all it seems the author attempts to make a fairly non-judgemental review but with some oversite and incorrect information makes him seem to readers as a newbie with no real frame of reference between the distributions.
“All ‘make install’ really does is install the binary and the libraries that were built to the appropriate systemwide location – /usr/local/bin and /usr/local/lib , probably – so other users can access them. It’s not needed to run the software.”
What part of “It’s not needed to run the software” did you not understand? Sheesh. YOU ONLY NEED TO RUN ‘MAKE’ TO BUILD THE SOFTWARE. You do NOT need to run make install.
Quote : «I had just erased nearly 150 spyware/adware programs from my Windows computer and previous to that had safely come through a virus attack losing some very important data. I was ready for a change.»
All I can say is WOW. How can someone let 150 spyware/adware run on his computer? No Anti-Virus? No Firewall? Nothing installed to help him protect his Windows PC?
And after this introduction, i’m supposed to learn something about Linux from him? I’m scared.
It will take more than Xandros to help him.
Xandros to license Click’n Run from Linspire.
He maybe telling the true when he said he bought the live cd. I have done that myself some time because I don’t have a fast download connection.
As for cross_office from codeweaver, it is true that you can do that but with xandros you get both the OS and crossoffice for about the price of crossoffice alone from codeweaver.
shows how much you know; anti-virus software does very, very little about spyware, which is why ad-aware and spybot exist, and firewalls are by no means a panacea. I have AVG with daily auto-updates, the XP firewall *as well as* our hardware firewall / router, ad-aware, spybot and Windows Update set to automatic update download *and* install on my partner’s PC, and it’s STILL full of crap every time I run ad-aware (usually every couple of days). why? cos he won’t bloody well stop running limewire and other dodgy p2p programs…
to be honest I think everyone should get one credit for having a stuffed-up Windows machine, because so much Windows stuff comes with spyware bundled into it these days, and when was the last time you actually *read* the EULA? two strikes and you’re out, though.
Have a look at ‘permissions’. You can login as ‘root’ or ‘su’ and set your ‘user’ account with sleightly more permissions to do and use more. Just don’t go hogwild or you’ll defeat the whole purpose of it all.
@grom
What in the world would make you think anyone would plant comments about Mepis on this or any other site? LOL
Nevertheless, Mepis is the best distro I have ever used. The funny thing is that I’d never heard of it until I followed a link leading to a glowing review on DesktopLinux.com from this very site a while back. I’ve been using Mepis ever since. Every single package I’ve installed has worked perfectly, just like the packages that come with the Mepis install.
I was using Ubuntu when I read about Mepis. Personally, I found Ubuntu lacking in many ways. But, hey if you like Ubuntu cool. It was just too bland and too much of a pain for me to be bothered with. It certainly isn’t going to be easy to get new users to switch from Windows to Ubuntu because things like having to install multimedia codecs and Java by hand is going to put them off real quick. After installing Mepis and playing around with it for a few minutes I ditched Ubuntu and haven’t looked back.
I use Opera as my browser of choice while using Windows and wanted the same for Linux. I downloaded the Linux .deb from the Opera website and installed Opera in Mepis which worked like a charm. All I had to do then was copy my bookmarks and my wand passwords from Windows Opera into my Linux version and I was instantly setup and ready to roll there as well.
I would not hesitate to recommend Mepis to anyone. If you haven’t tried Mepis you really don’t know what you’re missing. It is an excellent distro, and the best I’ve seen yet but don’t take my word for it, try it for yourself.
Again for anyone interested, here is the link I originally followed from this site. This review is what sold me on giving Mepis a try, and I can assure you that I’m very happy I did.
Mepis comes with pretty much everything the average user would ever need on install. However there are a few additional recommended apps to be found in this review, plus there is a wealth of other goodies to be had out there in the Debian world.
http://www.desktoplinux.com/articles/AT3135712364.html
Other links:
http://www.mepis.org
http://www.mepislovers.com/
“because things like having to install multimedia codecs and Java by hand is going to put them off real quick”
You have to install Java by hand on Windows, too; Microsoft isn’t legally allowed to distribute its JVM with Windows any more. You often end up installing multimedia codecs, too – RealPlayer, QuickTime, DivX Player, anything ringing a bell yet?
“You have to install Java by hand on Windows, too; Microsoft isn’t legally allowed to distribute its JVM with Windows any more. You often end up installing multimedia codecs, too – RealPlayer, QuickTime, DivX Player, anything ringing a bell yet?”
Yes you do have to install some of these things in Windows… but “by hand???” C’mon, your kidding right? 😮
Nevertheless…
Your comparison and argument are both old, worn out and completely irrelevant regardless of how much you, I or anyone else would wish otherwise.
Nevertheless…
What exactly is involved in installing these things in Windows?
Hmm… let’s see. The user either double clicks on a downloaded executable or clicks a link on a website and the items in question automatically install themselves, don’t they? This is not true for Ubuntu or any distro for that matter which doesn’t come with them installed like Mepis for example, now is it?
Now for example, let’s visit the Ubuntu pages and read the instructions on installing these things “by hand.” When we start reading we find there are no links to click on, no executables to download and double click and that none of these things automatically install themselves, right? Instead we find installation instructions that are going to look like gibberish to the average Windows user!
The average Windows user is completely and hopelessly lost If it doesn’t install via one of the above mentioned ways or install off a CD! 😮
Now let’s imagine an average Windows user decides to give Ubuntu a try. 😮
First of all, if they manage to get through the installation process they will soon realize they don’t have any multimedia or Java support and that they are going to have to install it. Those who even bother to investigate what they are going to have to do in order to install these things are going to pass out and drop to the floor when they get one look at the instructions on installing these things “by hand.” It is going to scare the living hell out of them, they are going to freak out and most if not all will go back to Windows so fast it will make your head spin. 😮
As you well know, most people don’t understand Windows and they certainly don’t have a clue about doing things like this. The Java installation instructions alone would be enough to make your average Windows user run screaming from the room. 😮
In stark contrast to the above scenario and since no one uses MicroSoft’s Java anymore because it is outdated and no longer supported, your average Windows user need only make a trip to the Sun website and click on a link to install the latest version of Java, change their Java settings in the control panel as per the instructions on the site and they are ready to go. Right?
I’m sorry but your comparison just doesn’t wash. There is no comparison between having to install these things in Windows versus Ubuntu or any distro that doesn’t come with them pre-installed. When will people come out of the fog and realize this simple fact? 😮
As much as I despise Windows, I have never had to install a multimedia codec or Java “by hand” in my entire life! I think your definition of “by hand” needs to be seriously revised. 😮
Is there anything ringing a bell with you yet? Hopefully, that fog is starting to clear and reality is beginning to set in!
I am fully aware of the reasons why these things are not included in most distros so let’s not rehash all of that. 😮
Nevertheless, that does not change the cold hard fact that having to install things like this and the manner in which they have to be installed in most Linux distros is the biggest reason why the larger percentage (i.e. 97% +) of Windows users will never even give Linux a try, much less leave Windows for Linux! :0
They simply do not understand things like this, it is beyond their capability and most will never be willing or able to learn anything different. They don’t understand Windows to begin with, however Windows makes it very easy and simple for them to do the very things we are discussing here while most Linux distros do not. Sadly, those are the cold hard facts like it or not! 😮
Has somebody experiences with these things under Xandros ?
Or is there also the install-story like on most linux-distris (command-line using, config-files edit etc) ?
Thanks in advance.
If you would like to give Linux a try, what you need to do is try a distro that has a live CD which will allow you to boot your machine into Linux and run the operating system entirely from CD without having to install it. Doing this will allow you to see if your hardware is going to be recognized, etc. If you like what you see, then you can install it.
I have never tried Xandros, so I can’t answer your questions about it. However, I use and can highly recommend Mepis. As far as I’m concerned it is the best best distro I have ever tried and I’ve tried several. All of my hardware was recognized, more than likey yours will be as well.
There is an excellent review of Mepis which can be found here, , and I highly recommend that you read it all.
http://www.desktoplinux.com/articles/AT3135712364.html
The Mepis site here:
http://www.mepis.org
And, excellent community support here:
http://www.mepislovers.com/
Anyway, if I were you I’d download the latest Mepis ISO which is 2004.04 from the link below and boot your machine off the CD which will give you the full OS to try out without having to install anything. You have nothing to lose other than burning one CD and downloading the ISO. However you will have a lot to see and play with!
ftp://ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/distributions/mepis/released/
I downloaded Xandros OCE in OCT and I have to say it is the easiest to use and best version of Linux I have used so far. I put it on a dual boot win98 and i use it more than I do Windows. I have used Mandrake 7.0, 8.0, and 9.0 and also Suse and at the time those were the most user friendly versions of linux at the time and I probably used them no longer than a week, but I am still using Xandros daily for 2 months, now thats saying something.
For the earlier person who complained about not liking Xandros and similar Linux distros, I have a few simple words, dont buy them or use them. I dont understand why the hardcore Linux folks want to call companies like Lycoris, Xandros, or Linspire microsoft wannabes or sellouts because they have an easy to use commercial Linux distro, you know sometimes there is nothing wrong with mainstreaming something. If Linux isnt mainstreamed to be a desktop OS like Windows, then Microsoft wins. Why should it matter what distro someone uses. Personally, if tweaking and configuring is your thing, then have at it, but people who have just migrated from Windows just want something that is easy to use and that works out of the box. Granted you arent going to have that with any OS 100% of the time. I am willing to pay for a Linux distro that works as opposed to a free version that maybe a big headache to compile, configure, etc. To come with a Linux distro like that you have to pay people for their time and efforts and also to keep the company alive so that they can continue sometimes people like money in return, which I have no problem with.
Xandros, does have an free open circulation edition, you are aware of that right joujou?it works just fine, its the version of Xandros that I praised above.
Well said!
You are right about the die hards. Sadly, it has always been this way! The die hards claim they want people to use Linux, but then again do they really?
They expect the average Windows user who doesn’t even understand Windows to begin with to delve into things that are simply beyond their comprehension in order for them to be able to use Linux. This is the biggest reason why more people don’t use Linux at all IMHO. These people will never be able to use any version of Linux until someone makes it easy for them to use like Windows does. If they have to pay to get away from Windows and wish to so, then so be it as far as I’m concerned.
If Lycoris, Xandros, or Linspire can make it easy for these people to make that transition I say more power to them, because anyone you can pull out of Windows hell by whatever means is a win!
Again I will mention Mepis. It is free, plus it’s easier to use than any distro I have ever tried. I think the same would apply for newbies as well. Once Mepis is installed you are pretty much set up and ready to roll. Of course, they always have the option of trying the OS by booting it from the live CD before they actually install anything.
Yes, Xandros does offer an open circulation edition, however they do not make it very easy for people to get at all. It is not on any of the Linux distro download sites, however it really needs to be!
Instead you either have to pay $10.00 to download if from their site or spend days downloading it with Bit Torrent to truly get it for free! How many of the average Windows users we are discussing here actually use Bit Torrent or even know what it is? Not too many IMH0. 😮
I think the Xandros people should really consider putting the free version on the numerous distro download sites like the one I linked to in my previous post regarding Mepis, thus making it much easier for people to get a copy and try it out! Their apparent unwillingness to do so is a huge mistake IMHO! :/