Having used Linux on servers for many years now, I’m always keen to see if it has progressed enough for me to use as my “daily driver” desktop/laptop OS.
The test this time was on a NEC Centrino Laptop (1.6gig, 1 gig of ram 64MB Intel Video.) Could I get Linux installed and use it for both work and home and completely exclude Windows without making myself less productive in the process. The answer sad to say is no. But it was a really close thing and only one area really let the side down, but I’ll get to that in due course. I’ve been a big fan of CENTOS for my servers and since it’s an rpm based distro, I figured I’d stick with a desktop OS that has as much in common with CENTOS/RHEL as possible. To that end I’ve based this on Fedora Core 7.
1. Installation: Awesome, Better than Windows by far. If I had to pick anything wrong with it, it would be the partitioning tool. Except for the really basic stuff, it is very “non obvious”. Mandriva makes a far better GUI frontend tool for partitioning, it’s a shame that they don’t co-operate since it’s all OSS anyway.
2. First boot: Excellent ran me though all the usual for setting up network email etc. No complaints here.
3. General usage: Very nice, everything worked well and as expected. I updated Firefox to the latest. (It annoys me that this is easier in Windows than it is in Linux. I found myself having to edit symlinks.) Openoffice, The Gimp all the usual suspects where there and in fine form. Very impressed up till this point and as a desktop OS, it was looking like I could personally leave Windows XP totally behind and work just as well or better.
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The test this time was on a NEC Centrino Laptop (1.6gig, 1 gig of ram 64MB Intel Video.) Could I get Linux installed and use it for both work and home and completely exclude Windows without making myself less productive in the process. The answer sad to say is no. But it was a really close thing and only one area really let the side down, but I’ll get to that in due course. I’ve been a big fan of CENTOS for my servers and since it’s an rpm based distro, I figured I’d stick with a desktop OS that has as much in common with CENTOS/RHEL as possible. To that end I’ve based this on Fedora Core 7.
1. Installation: Awesome, Better than Windows by far. If I had to pick anything wrong with it, it would be the partitioning tool. Except for the really basic stuff, it is very “non obvious”. Mandriva makes a far better GUI frontend tool for partitioning, it’s a shame that they don’t co-operate since it’s all OSS anyway.
2. First boot: Excellent ran me though all the usual for setting up network email etc. No complaints here.
3. General usage: Very nice, everything worked well and as expected. I updated Firefox to the latest. (It annoys me that this is easier in Windows than it is in Linux. I found myself having to edit symlinks.) Openoffice, The Gimp all the usual suspects where there and in fine form. Very impressed up till this point and as a desktop OS, it was looking like I could personally leave Windows XP totally behind and work just as well or better.
Discuss
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Tell a friend
Bury
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