Showing posts with label review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label review. Show all posts
Pinguy OS Distro Review
My favourite type of distros are Ubuntu based. For some time now I have been making a case for why you should be using Linux Mint. Even though I think Mint is fantastic, I still make it a point to try other distributions. I made a pit stop at Zorin 3 for a short while and even though it had many wonderful qualities it didnt quite knock Linux Mint out of my top spot.
I have now found my new favourite distro and it goes by the name of Pinguy OS. Pinguy OS started off as an Ubuntu 10.04 Minimal CD that was customized like no other to include a fantastic range of default applications, Gnome applets, Firefox addons, and theme.
The default software include -
Accessories:
Graphics:
Internet:
Office:
Sound & Video:
System Tools:
Other:
Including the Mint Menu...
and even Mint Update Manager.
Just like Mint, Pinguy OS includes all the multimedia codecs you will ever need, Adobe Flash, and Sun Java. In fact the only negative thing I have to say about Pinguys default software selection is that having Wine-Doors and Play On Linux both installed feels a little bit redundant. The default theme of the operating system largely resembles OSX (including a global menu bar at the top of the screen). There are two docky bars by default, one located at the bottom of the screen which houses your applications
and another down the left side of the screen which displays your main folders as well as any removable media. The Firefox that ships with Pinguy is heavily customized to include a fantastic selection of addons that add an array of features to the browser
(and Firefox on Pinguy feels much "snappier" than it does on Mint/Ubuntu).
One last feature I would like to note about Pinguy that I wish other distros would start adding is that the i686 (32bit) auto detects your system memory and if it sees more than 3 gigs of RAM it downloads and installs a PAE kernel for you. Meaning if you have more than 3 gigs of RAM on your system it will all accessible to you right away. The Pinguy installer also uses the internet to auto detect and setup your timezone and keyboard layout for you.
Next time you are looking to install Ubuntu on your own, or anyone elses system, you should seriously consider using Pinguy instead - if you do odds are you will be pleasantly surprised.
Read more »
I have now found my new favourite distro and it goes by the name of Pinguy OS. Pinguy OS started off as an Ubuntu 10.04 Minimal CD that was customized like no other to include a fantastic range of default applications, Gnome applets, Firefox addons, and theme.
The default software include -
Accessories:
- Activity Journal
- AllTray
- Catfish
- CoverChooser
- CoverGloobus
- Gloobus Preview
- GNOME Do
- Shutter
Graphics:
- gpicview
- pinta
- Rapid Photo Downloader
- Shotwell
- Simple Scan
Internet:
- Deluge
- Dropbox
- Empathy
- Firefox
- FrostWire
- Gwibber
- Thunderbird
- pms-linux
- Skype
- TED: Torrent Episode Downloader
Office:
- Adobe Reader 9
- OpenOffice
Sound & Video:
- Brasero
- DeVeDe
- GNOME MPlayer
- gtkpod
- HandBrake
- mvPod
- OpenShot
- Rhythmbox
- VLC 1.1.0
System Tools:
- Ailurus
- BleachBit
- GConf Cleaner
- VirtualBox
- hardinfo
- Ubuntu Tweak
- Wine
- Wine Doors
- PlayOnLinux
Other:
- Preload
- GDM2Setup
- gtkorphan
- BootUp-Manager (bum)
- MintMenu
- Webilder
- Sezen Applet
- Remastersys Backup
- gnome2-globalmenu
Including the Mint Menu...
and even Mint Update Manager.
Just like Mint, Pinguy OS includes all the multimedia codecs you will ever need, Adobe Flash, and Sun Java. In fact the only negative thing I have to say about Pinguys default software selection is that having Wine-Doors and Play On Linux both installed feels a little bit redundant. The default theme of the operating system largely resembles OSX (including a global menu bar at the top of the screen). There are two docky bars by default, one located at the bottom of the screen which houses your applications
and another down the left side of the screen which displays your main folders as well as any removable media. The Firefox that ships with Pinguy is heavily customized to include a fantastic selection of addons that add an array of features to the browser (and Firefox on Pinguy feels much "snappier" than it does on Mint/Ubuntu).One last feature I would like to note about Pinguy that I wish other distros would start adding is that the i686 (32bit) auto detects your system memory and if it sees more than 3 gigs of RAM it downloads and installs a PAE kernel for you. Meaning if you have more than 3 gigs of RAM on your system it will all accessible to you right away. The Pinguy installer also uses the internet to auto detect and setup your timezone and keyboard layout for you.
Next time you are looking to install Ubuntu on your own, or anyone elses system, you should seriously consider using Pinguy instead - if you do odds are you will be pleasantly surprised.
Zorin 3 Distro Review
I recently came across Zorin, an Ubuntu based distro that focuses on easing a Windows users transition to Linux by theming its interface to look like Microsofts operating system. Zorin 3 is built on top of the recently released Ubuntu 10.04 and by default it looks very close to Windows 7
Downloading:
Zorin offers three different free version downloads
Using the Live System:
Once you do a double take and realize that you are using a Linux LiveCD and not a Windows install you will see Zorins Ubuntu roots. The webrowser and email client are at the top on the menu, each of the different categories are listed below, next is the Ubuntu software center, then places, and finally system information. I had an issue with my mouse freezing up during the live session, upon pressing alt+f2 the mouse came to though.
Installing the system is almost identical to installing Ubuntu 10.04, in fact the only difference is the images the slide show displays while the system installs.
Look and Feel:
Zorins goal is to make a Windows user feel at home and it does a good job of this. Their is a custom gnome applet that emulates the Windows 7 taskbar fairly well
Each application appears as its icon on the task bar and having multiple instances of the same application open causes them to stack. When you hover your mouse of the icon you are presented with a preview of all the copies of the application you have open on your current desktop. I found this window preview works better than the default compiz preview. I say this for two reasons
Perhaps you are replacing Windows on an older computer that is running Windows XP not a worry using Zorins built in "look changer" you can make your desktop look like Windows XP (or normal Ubuntu desktop) with a single click
The default compiz configuration Zorin 3 has is fantastic! There is enough flare to keep most any user happy and I really like the default sounds that have been chosen for the operating system.
The only negative thing I have to say about the look of Zorin is that because the Windows 7 taskbar works best with a fatter taskbar (40 pixels by default) it makes the tray icons huge and they just look bad. Hopefully something will be done about this in a future version.
Default Software Selection:
One of the nice things about having a DVD installation is that Zorins creators did not have to limit their default software selection. Zorin 3 comes stock with all the normal Ubuntu software plus
Community:
The Zorin community is the weakest link in the distro. I posted a simple question on their message boards and it took nearly two days to get a response. This isnt really a deal breaker necessarily, because since Zorin is built on Ubuntu 10.04 for the most part you can get all the help you need from the Ubuntu Forums.
Final Thoughts:
Zorin is a fantastic distro and I think many Windows converts will feel at home using it when first making the transition to Linux.
Read more »
Downloading:
Zorin offers three different free version downloads
- 32bit Core
- 64bit Core
- Educational 32bit
- Gaming (10 euro)
- Multimedia (10 euro)
- Ultimate (15 euro)
Using the Live System:
Once you do a double take and realize that you are using a Linux LiveCD and not a Windows install you will see Zorins Ubuntu roots. The webrowser and email client are at the top on the menu, each of the different categories are listed below, next is the Ubuntu software center, then places, and finally system information. I had an issue with my mouse freezing up during the live session, upon pressing alt+f2 the mouse came to though.
Installing the system is almost identical to installing Ubuntu 10.04, in fact the only difference is the images the slide show displays while the system installs.
Look and Feel:
Zorins goal is to make a Windows user feel at home and it does a good job of this. Their is a custom gnome applet that emulates the Windows 7 taskbar fairly well
Each application appears as its icon on the task bar and having multiple instances of the same application open causes them to stack. When you hover your mouse of the icon you are presented with a preview of all the copies of the application you have open on your current desktop. I found this window preview works better than the default compiz preview. I say this for two reasons- It doesnt get confused when I have applications open on multiple desktops
- You can mouse over a copy of the application and click on it to select the window
Perhaps you are replacing Windows on an older computer that is running Windows XP not a worry using Zorins built in "look changer" you can make your desktop look like Windows XP (or normal Ubuntu desktop) with a single click
The default compiz configuration Zorin 3 has is fantastic! There is enough flare to keep most any user happy and I really like the default sounds that have been chosen for the operating system.The only negative thing I have to say about the look of Zorin is that because the Windows 7 taskbar works best with a fatter taskbar (40 pixels by default) it makes the tray icons huge and they just look bad. Hopefully something will be done about this in a future version.
Default Software Selection:
One of the nice things about having a DVD installation is that Zorins creators did not have to limit their default software selection. Zorin 3 comes stock with all the normal Ubuntu software plus
- Openshot
- VLC
- Ubuntu Tweak
- GIMP
- Scribus
- Cheese
- Play on Linux
- Wine 1.1.42
- Adobe Flash
- All Multi-Media Codecs (excluding w32codecs)
Community:
The Zorin community is the weakest link in the distro. I posted a simple question on their message boards and it took nearly two days to get a response. This isnt really a deal breaker necessarily, because since Zorin is built on Ubuntu 10.04 for the most part you can get all the help you need from the Ubuntu Forums.
Final Thoughts:
Zorin is a fantastic distro and I think many Windows converts will feel at home using it when first making the transition to Linux.
Lubuntu 10 04 Distro Review
Lubuntu is working towards gaining an endorsement from Canonical and thus becoming an official Ubuntu derivative. Lubuntu is an LXDE version of Ubuntu just as Kubuntu is a KDE edition or Xubuntu is an XFCE variation. Since I just recently acquired my T101MT I was looking for a solid lightweight distro to run on that would still provide we with the power and flexibility I was used to from Ubuntu, thus it is only natural that I should choose an Ubuntu derivative.
Read more »
Downloading:
The first thing you will notice about Lubuntu is that unlike most distros that have to cram every megabyte they can into their LiveCDs, the Lubuntu ISO download is only 521 megs. The ISO loaded right up onto my USB drive thanks to unetbootin and I was soon installing Lubuntu on my tablet.
Installation:
The installation of Lubuntu is decently standard. It is the same installer Ubuntu uses. It provides the option to install along side an existing operating, using the entire drive, or setting up a custom layout - all using gParted. About ten minutes later I had Lubuntu up and running on my hardware (I love USB installations).
Also if you already have some form of *buntu 10.04 installed on your computer you can add an LXDE/Lubuntu install by installing the lubuntu-desktop package via apt.
Look and Feel:
Lubuntus default theme is a sleek looking blue that blends well with the Chromium and PCMan icons that are on the task bar by default. Those migrating to Lubuntu from Windows will also feel at home in the LXDE desktop due to the positioning of the main menu in the lower left and the tray icon in the lower right.
Lubuntu lacks the flair of Compiz or E17, but this is by design. Its goal is to be a fast, lightweight operating system.
Software:
I really like the default software the Lubuntu team has chosen to include. The first thing you will notice is that the stock webrowser is Chromium, this is a change I think we will be seeing a lot more in light-weight distros. Dont get me wrong - I like firefox, but compared to Chromium it is a snail at best (and a bit of a resource hog). Pidgin is the default messaging client, xchat is included for IRC usage, and transmission is there for all of your torrenting needs. In respect to office software Lubuntu ships with abiword for word processing and gnumeric for creating spreadsheets, a refreshing change from the bloated OpenOffice that ships with most distros by default. In terms of media Lubuntu comes stock with Gnome MPlayer (my favorite media player), Cheese Webcam booth, Aqualung, and Xfburn.
For system tools the Lubuntu team has taken their pick of various gnome and xfce applications. From Gnome Lubuntu uses their sound applet, wifi applet, gdebi, and power manager. From xfce comes the task-manager and pyneighborhood (network browser).
In the means of terminal Lubuntu comes with LXTerminal. A nice extra that is included in Lubuntu by default is a copy and paste manager "parcellite"that is very similar to the KDE "klipper" tool. Im glad that this is included as klipper is typically one of the first things I install on any non-KDE distro I use. Parcellite is not loaded at startup though, you will find it under accessories in your menu. While not as powerful as Gnomes gedit, but sticking with the lightweight theme, Lubuntu comes with leafpad as the default text editor. Also in a default Lubuntu install for graphics editing is "mtPaint", a basic image editor.
Memory Footprint:
On my system with out any applications loaded Lubuntu is using just over 125megs of RAM. Not too shabby :)
Issues:
The only real "issue" I see with Lubuntu is the fact that the LXDE desktop does not support volume up/down/mute function keys on laptops by default. This is easily solved by mapping them using xbindkeys - but this is something most new user will not want to do.
Final Thoughts:
Lubuntu has come a long way from its first release with 9.10 just last year. This 10.04 release is a fantastic addition to the world of light weight Linux distros and just like the others in the *buntu family I have no doubt it will adopted by many for use on slower/older computers.
Netbook MeeGo a NoGo Review
Now I am all for trying new distros and netbooks are a place where I feel Linux truly outshines all other operating systems, so when a new netbook focused distro comes to maturity I always like to take it for a test drive. MeeGo, the joint operating system between Nokias Maemo and Intels Moblin, has been getting alot of hype recently in the Linux community and the world at large. I can understand why, personally I was very excited when MeeGo was first announced. Nokia and Intel are both very large names that bring substantial financial backing to the table, beyond this they are also allowing the Linux Foundation to manage the MeeGo project.
After having used the 1.0 release of MeeGo that is targeted for netbook devices I really must say: Im really not impressed.
Late last year I did a review of Intels Moblin Linux 2.0 and this MeeGo 1.0 release is so similar to Moblin that is really doesnt even feel like a different distro. Dont believe me? Well lets start with the interface, this first screen shot is Moblin 2.0:
This second screen shot is MeeGo 1.0:
See what I mean? Now dont get me wrong, I dont think MeeGo is a poor distro - in fact all the positive things I said about Moblin also still apply here. The only issue is most of the negative things also still apply.
Software:
MeeGo fails to ship with an Office Suite still and the software selection from their package manager is still decently limited. Two things that are improvements in MeeGo are the default webrowser and media player. For all your media needs Banshee is at your service. Banshee is a full featured, matured, media player with plenty of features that should keep most all users happy. In terms of webrowsing, MeeGo ships two different .img files - the first uses the open source Chromium as the stock browser, the second requires you to agree to an EULA as it uses Googles Chrome browser.
Customization:
Another nice addition is the ability to customize the top bar where you switch between your different applications and zones. A piece of customization that is still lacking however is the ability to change which messaging client is integrated with the operating system (empathy is alright, but I am a die hard pidgin user and prefer to use it whenever possible).
Socialization:
MeeGo still integrates well with twitter (just as Moblin did), but unlike the latest Ubuntu release (which has Gwibber), MeeGo still lacks Facebook integration. As I mentioned above empathy is still the default messaging client and it does support facebook chat by default.
Issues:
The only real issue I had with MeeGo was the fact that its network manager was unable to connect to my WPA encrypted network. It did connect to un-encrypted and WEP encrypted networks without a hitch though.
Usage:
The MeeGo desktop, just like the Moblin desktop, is snappy and responsive (just as much as lightweight desktop environments such as LXDE or E17). The operating system boots slightly faster than Ubuntu 10.04 does on my hardware (7 seconds versus 9 seconds). Over all MeeGo makes for a great "webrowsing" operating system, but for anything beyond this I would recommend something else.
Final Thoughts:
One of the reasons I was so excited about MeeGo was because it was the merging of Moblin with Maemo. I have been using Maemo on my N900 for over six months and I must say, I cant find a trace of Maemo anywhere in the MeeGo 1.0 release. Now, perhaps there is some of the Maemo core hiding behind the scenes in the MeeGo code, but personally I am just hoping Moblin did not simply swallow up Maemo.
Honestly while I am hopping the MeeGo project takes off (especially as a competitor to Android), at the same time I have to wonder what this could do to the public opinion of what Linux is. I say this because the way MeeGo is designed it does not feel like a full blown operating system as distros like Ubuntu or Fedora do (or Windows does). I would hate to see the general opinion of Linux become the idea that the operating system is limited to netbooks and hand held devices and not for "real" work/computers
Read more »
After having used the 1.0 release of MeeGo that is targeted for netbook devices I really must say: Im really not impressed.
Late last year I did a review of Intels Moblin Linux 2.0 and this MeeGo 1.0 release is so similar to Moblin that is really doesnt even feel like a different distro. Dont believe me? Well lets start with the interface, this first screen shot is Moblin 2.0:
This second screen shot is MeeGo 1.0:See what I mean? Now dont get me wrong, I dont think MeeGo is a poor distro - in fact all the positive things I said about Moblin also still apply here. The only issue is most of the negative things also still apply.
Software:
MeeGo fails to ship with an Office Suite still and the software selection from their package manager is still decently limited. Two things that are improvements in MeeGo are the default webrowser and media player. For all your media needs Banshee is at your service. Banshee is a full featured, matured, media player with plenty of features that should keep most all users happy. In terms of webrowsing, MeeGo ships two different .img files - the first uses the open source Chromium as the stock browser, the second requires you to agree to an EULA as it uses Googles Chrome browser.
Customization:
Another nice addition is the ability to customize the top bar where you switch between your different applications and zones. A piece of customization that is still lacking however is the ability to change which messaging client is integrated with the operating system (empathy is alright, but I am a die hard pidgin user and prefer to use it whenever possible).
Socialization:
MeeGo still integrates well with twitter (just as Moblin did), but unlike the latest Ubuntu release (which has Gwibber), MeeGo still lacks Facebook integration. As I mentioned above empathy is still the default messaging client and it does support facebook chat by default.
Issues:
The only real issue I had with MeeGo was the fact that its network manager was unable to connect to my WPA encrypted network. It did connect to un-encrypted and WEP encrypted networks without a hitch though.
Usage:
The MeeGo desktop, just like the Moblin desktop, is snappy and responsive (just as much as lightweight desktop environments such as LXDE or E17). The operating system boots slightly faster than Ubuntu 10.04 does on my hardware (7 seconds versus 9 seconds). Over all MeeGo makes for a great "webrowsing" operating system, but for anything beyond this I would recommend something else.
Final Thoughts:
One of the reasons I was so excited about MeeGo was because it was the merging of Moblin with Maemo. I have been using Maemo on my N900 for over six months and I must say, I cant find a trace of Maemo anywhere in the MeeGo 1.0 release. Now, perhaps there is some of the Maemo core hiding behind the scenes in the MeeGo code, but personally I am just hoping Moblin did not simply swallow up Maemo.
Honestly while I am hopping the MeeGo project takes off (especially as a competitor to Android), at the same time I have to wonder what this could do to the public opinion of what Linux is. I say this because the way MeeGo is designed it does not feel like a full blown operating system as distros like Ubuntu or Fedora do (or Windows does). I would hate to see the general opinion of Linux become the idea that the operating system is limited to netbooks and hand held devices and not for "real" work/computers
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