Xandros Open Circulation Edition Version 3: Attracting New Users

Xandros has made a name for itself in the Linux business. This is mostly due to its excellent installation process and great user friendliness. Installing Xandros is an cinch. If you have installed any operating system, Windows 95 onwards, you will have no trouble whatsoever with Xandros. The only screen you may pause at is the Disk Partitioning screen. Even this is fair effortless to understand, and you will be able to figure it out in no time at all. The hardware detection was just as impressive, and all our hardware worked perfectly.

Using Xandros is equally easy. The default desktop is reminiscent of Windows, and most of the Windows desktop conventions are followed. This makes it simple enough for someone who is used to Windows. The Xandros File Manager is a very well crafted piece of software, and an absolute pleasure to use.

Our favorite browser, Firefox was preinstalled, as was its mailing client cousin, Thunderbird. Both are excellent applications, and also great to use. Xandros used to ship the Mozilla suite earlier, but we’re glad they decided to switch to the Firefox/Thunderbird combination. Xandros OCE also comes with Skype preinstalled, so you can start using VoIP to call your family and friends.

Java and Flash are also preinstalled, so websites that use these two technologies will appear as they were intended to. This is a little thing, but much appreciated. In the multimedia department, Real Player 10, Xmms and Xine take care of your needs fairly well.

Xandros comes with OpenOffice, which is more than sufficient for 90% of users. Unless you have to use a lot of macros, or extreme formatting, OpenOffice will let you get the job done.

Browsing a Windows network worked well, and sharing folders was as easy as it is in Windows. Simply right click and share. The administration and configuration tools are completely graphical and easy to use. No problems here either.

Updates and software installation are handled by an application called Xandros Networks, which connects to the Xandros servers and let's you download new software and update existing software. We tried installing Bluefish, and it worked perfectly.

Basically Xandros is a very good distribution for new to intermediate users. It lets you get the job done without being intimidating. At the same time, it can be extended by more advanced users, since it is based on Debian, and it's excellent apt package management system.

Burning CD's is easy enough using the Xandros File Manager, but you are limited to 4x burning in the OCE. The commercial versions do not have this limitation. If you are not burning a lot of CD's, this is not much of a problem, but if you are, you can always install K3b.

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