09 September 2006
Windows-like Linux as possible stepping stone
For those people who are not fully happy with Windows, but don't want to pay the extra for a Mac or think Linux is too difficult for them, there is an option.
Linspire works almost exactly like Windows minus the crashing and viruses. Americans interested in the product can find it pre-installed on computers in K-Mart, Walmart and Sears.
While many may think that without Windows they cannot do the same things they normally would, it's not true. Open Office provides many of the same functions as MS Office and can save to the doc format. Firefox and other web browsers work fine in Linux, Internet Explorer will not of course without extra software such as Crossoveroffice or Wine. Of course chatting, listening to music and working with pictures. Of course there's also support for wireless networking and plug-and-play ability. Also for those who like to create web-pages there is are publishing tools. Most importantly, especially for new users, is the video tutorials to teach users to use the system.
Linspire is a good step between Windows and mainstream Linux. It requires very little learning for Windows users and at the same time still gives users a taste of Linux.
One minor problem of the system though is that it doesn't by default create a non-root account for the users and users would have to use a very Linux looking interface from the KDE desktop to create a normal user account. Without doing this the system is left rather insecure due to its default of only having the users log in as root.
Linspire works almost exactly like Windows minus the crashing and viruses. Americans interested in the product can find it pre-installed on computers in K-Mart, Walmart and Sears.
While many may think that without Windows they cannot do the same things they normally would, it's not true. Open Office provides many of the same functions as MS Office and can save to the doc format. Firefox and other web browsers work fine in Linux, Internet Explorer will not of course without extra software such as Crossoveroffice or Wine. Of course chatting, listening to music and working with pictures. Of course there's also support for wireless networking and plug-and-play ability. Also for those who like to create web-pages there is are publishing tools. Most importantly, especially for new users, is the video tutorials to teach users to use the system.
Linspire is a good step between Windows and mainstream Linux. It requires very little learning for Windows users and at the same time still gives users a taste of Linux.
One minor problem of the system though is that it doesn't by default create a non-root account for the users and users would have to use a very Linux looking interface from the KDE desktop to create a normal user account. Without doing this the system is left rather insecure due to its default of only having the users log in as root.
Labels: desktop, linux, os, windows
