Review Of Linspire 5.0

We would like to thank Linspire for providing us with a copy of Linspire 5.0 for review.

First off let me just state that this distro is very easy to use hard disk install /dual boot setup was easy as pie is to eat.

We feel this is a good distro with some bad points to it .

Test system:

• AMD 1.4 gig Athy
• 512 meg ram
• Geforce FX 5700 256 meg
• Liteon Combo drive(review pending/in testing)
• Lg burner to install then removed
• maxtor 80gig drive
• Olympus d390 digital camera
• onboard sound via ac97

System Requirements:

• PC with 800 MHz or higher processor**
• 128 MB of RAM (256 MB or higher recommended for best performance)**
• Hard drive with 4 GB free space**
• SVGA or higher resolution and monitor* (3-D graphics accelerator card for some games, screen savers, etc.)
• CD-ROM or DVD drive, Keyboard & Mouse
• Linspire-compatible sound card and speakers or headphones**
• Linspire-compatible 56 Kbps hardware modem, cable modem, or DSL modem** Ethernet card for Internet/LAN connectivity**

Install:

The install is rather slow feeling(slower then XP) .

The Linspire Website says 10min or less at the least 10min.

But besides this very uneventful.

It detected our Liteon externel combo drive as well as our Ultra Mini disk (after it was installed to disk ) .

All other hardware was auto detected and install went right on through.

As with the distros I have here(ProMephis,SimplyMephis,Klax) though I had to install from a internal ide cd-rom they don't load up with support to install from usb.

Windows Xp and the 911 cd all boot from the Liteon Combo drive with out a hitch.

Liteon is working on a linux usb driver for this unit and their drives is what I was told.

Ease of Use:

The desktop is very much a ease of use setup .

It is fully functinal and easy to navigate around.

I found programs for all areas of my use email ,browser,etc.

This distro would be great to install on a real linux newbie system (why; walmart uses it) you could setup grandma and they would be able to use it with little problems and calls to the family tech.

DHCP worked just as it does with most linux distros.

I used Gaim a multi chat program with support for MSN,Yahoo,AIM,Jabber,IRC. This should be a staple in all distros the client just works and works well.

Sound just worked from the get go I don't remember having to do sound setup at all.

Display was setup and was pretty spot on.

Was a tad slow on the refresh when clicking menu items and loading programs.

While online install of plugins for firefox worked etc .

The general feel of other users that I've talked to is that this is a perverted Xandros look alike to some.

I installed some games and software with their update system and on my system Quake 2 keep crashing which from my spec's I know it should run very well.

I've had Quake 2 running on a intel 533(emachines 533id)computer with I810 graphics and running well enough and better with a pci Power Color Geforce 2 mx 400.

So this still has to be worked on.

CNR

This is Linspire's update /private software area and service.

This area is setup as a pay for service also while other debian based as well as other distros even windows gives updates for free you have to buy a subscription after a time period has passed with linspire.

The service also lets you purchase other software that is not included with your purchase of Linspire 5.0 like Star Office, etc.

You will find a wealth of software to use and install .

Games are included and all items are in separate categories.

over all this is a very complete update one stop software area.

Pros:

Ease of use .

comes pretty much ready to use for home and office .

feels like 98 and Xandros desktop

Cons:

have to pay for updates at the end of a set time after it's registered.

may have problems with games freezing from their warehouse etc.

have to get updates for best support etc from what i gathered from CNR only.

Conclusion:

Over all I'm not to impressed with this Distro.

While other distron even Xandros and Windows can give you updates for free you have to pay for their tweaked updates/store .

I do not mind paying for linux os,games but updates why should I

Support was ok but slow use the forums if you have this distro will be better then waiting ; I told them of my problem and after a bit I got a email saying did you try this etc.

Maybe I'm just used to Linux and windows updates being free and you can't knock them for trying to find a way to get paid for their work.

But If I'm paying for your work when i buy your distro why should i pay for updates.

Now it may have been cause it was a windows port etc or something was weird with my burn/setup but i'm not going to use this distro over say Xanadros or SimplyMephis3.3 which give the same ease of use and are free unless you buy the pay for versions.

Linux as a whole is evolving rather quick in some items and slow in others but as a whole is a very great operating system.

As far as ready for gamers you can get your game on with products Like Cedega to run your games that are windows only or get Linux ported games.

As I've been told alot when I post problems with certain games.

Over all this distro is for ease of use and it hits the mark if you just need internet,email mp3's p2p etc this is one option for you out of many .

It all ends up to how you feel about it try it out but as for me I'll stick to Simply Mephis or Vidalinux(easy to use Gentoo based linux).

But once again try it maybe if you buy a pressed cd it will be better for you.

Maybe you will like this product I only tried it for a bit then removed it cause I had a distro I love (SimplyMephis look for a review soon).