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PCLinuxOS - A distribution tailor made for New Linux Users
When ever I have reviewed a Linux distribution I have used, I get one or two comments on PCLinuxOS. And when I wrote an article called "The best Linux distribution of them all", among the 75 or so comments, I got no less than 10 comments talking favorably about PCLinuxOS. Having piqued my curiosity, I decided to download and give PCLinuxOS a test drive.
PCLinuxOS is released as a live CD which also can be installed quite easily on to the hard disk. The latest version of this unique Linux distribution is 0.92 and the developers consider it still in the beta stage. Now don't jump the gun and start forming opinions about this distribution after seeing the word beta. At least wait till you read completely what I have to say before you decide for yourselves. I had written earlier that linux distributions are dime a dozen. But what distinguishes one from the other is their varying degree of user friendliness and support for non-free file formats.
PCLinuxOS is unique because the developers have paid great attention and have taken extra efforts to see that it meets the needs of a wide cross section of Linux users. What is more by giving it a default windowsXP like look and feel, it has tried to make even the hardcore windows users feel right at home.
As far as the software bundled with it is concerned, I think the developers have done a very good job of the same. The word Linux is synonymous with choice. And that is exactly what the hard working developers at PCLinuxOS have provided. For each task, be it graphics manipulation, chatting or audio & video, there are at least 2 choices of software and in most cases, more than two.
PCLinuxOS comes with its own graphical Control Center which makes configuring devices and settings child play for anybody. I was amazed by the user friendliness of this GUI tool. You can even configure a TV Card if you have one from this tool not to speak of other tasks like networking, setting up a firewall, setting up mount points, hardware and boot parameters .... in fact, you name a task, and there is a very good chance that you can do it via the PCLinuxOS control center.
Another very cool software bundled with this distribution - which I may dare say, I have not found in any other distribution I have used is a terminal (or is it a wrapper?) called YaKuake. The uniqueness of this tool is that once it is started, it resides in the background unseen by the user. And if you want access to a terminal, just pressing F12 key will magically drop down a command line shell for you to use (see figure below). The working of this tool has to be seen to be believed.
When ever I have reviewed a Linux distribution I have used, I get one or two comments on PCLinuxOS. And when I wrote an article called "The best Linux distribution of them all", among the 75 or so comments, I got no less than 10 comments talking favorably about PCLinuxOS. Having piqued my curiosity, I decided to download and give PCLinuxOS a test drive.
PCLinuxOS is released as a live CD which also can be installed quite easily on to the hard disk. The latest version of this unique Linux distribution is 0.92 and the developers consider it still in the beta stage. Now don't jump the gun and start forming opinions about this distribution after seeing the word beta. At least wait till you read completely what I have to say before you decide for yourselves. I had written earlier that linux distributions are dime a dozen. But what distinguishes one from the other is their varying degree of user friendliness and support for non-free file formats.
PCLinuxOS is unique because the developers have paid great attention and have taken extra efforts to see that it meets the needs of a wide cross section of Linux users. What is more by giving it a default windowsXP like look and feel, it has tried to make even the hardcore windows users feel right at home.
As far as the software bundled with it is concerned, I think the developers have done a very good job of the same. The word Linux is synonymous with choice. And that is exactly what the hard working developers at PCLinuxOS have provided. For each task, be it graphics manipulation, chatting or audio & video, there are at least 2 choices of software and in most cases, more than two.
PCLinuxOS comes with its own graphical Control Center which makes configuring devices and settings child play for anybody. I was amazed by the user friendliness of this GUI tool. You can even configure a TV Card if you have one from this tool not to speak of other tasks like networking, setting up a firewall, setting up mount points, hardware and boot parameters .... in fact, you name a task, and there is a very good chance that you can do it via the PCLinuxOS control center.
Another very cool software bundled with this distribution - which I may dare say, I have not found in any other distribution I have used is a terminal (or is it a wrapper?) called YaKuake. The uniqueness of this tool is that once it is started, it resides in the background unseen by the user. And if you want access to a terminal, just pressing F12 key will magically drop down a command line shell for you to use (see figure below). The working of this tool has to be seen to be believed.
I need access to my consoles fast and easy. Yakuake does that. I don't know about another terminal emulator that is more suitable to "power users" than Yakuake.
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