Xandros2Review
Xandros 2.0 Reviews
Update: MichaelWeltzin has been selected for this review
This review is part of the ArchLUG KwikiReviews series.
Our current schedule is for him to complete the review by Monday, February 9th 2004.
The Xandros2ReviewAcceptance will be completed by Thursday, February 12th 2004.
Xandros 2.0 - Comments and observations
By MichaelWeltzin 02-02-2004
I looked forward to the Xandros 2.0 release with a great deal of excitement, I had been using the 1.1 for about 3 months. In the old version I had a few issues, but overall I loved it. I have been using Linux for about 2 years and Xandros is clearly the best distro I've used.
I remember about a year ago setting up a LAMP on Redhat 8.0, and after a few weeks of intense reading and beating my head against the wall, I was pointed to “Webmin” which basically just did it. Xandros just does it! And does it well.
I put the CD in the drive and away it went. The principal issue with my computer is a Mirage Savage video card and a Sun GDM 1962B fixed frequency monitor, absolutely no problem. The video is more stable than Windows 2000 and the adjustments all work. I went through the initial setup which went very smooth I chose Opera as my default browser. Next I loaded StarOffice7 (Linux version) with absolutely no problem. When I connected to a windows 2003 Server within a windows workgroup, I was able to login, create a shared folder and use the HP printer.
Finally I reached back and grabbed an old version of Microsoft Publisher, which was not listed on the Crossover menu and just stuck it in the CD drive. In Xandros 1.1 I had no clue on how to setup Crossover, I was eventually told the an initial setup was required, I knew I was getting 2.0 so I never bothered to set it up. When I put the Publisher CD in the drive Crossover started up and basically configured itself. Before I really figured out what was happening it was already prompting me for another CD..... How great is that?
I've only had Xandros 2.0 for a few weeks and I already see a tremendous difference from the other distros. 2.0 looks and feels exactly like 1.1 only it works a lot better (easier)! The wizards and login pages all act the same from 1.1 to 2.0. With Redhat and Mandrake, each distro number had a different set of GUI tools, and who needs that. I am a lot happier using the applications and browsers than trying to figure out old time command line computer commands or learning a new GUI tool.
On the other side, some of the graphics have not loaded correctly. I did have a CD problem which was probably drive related, my installation CD seamed to explode within the CDRW drive. The people I contacted about the problem were very friendly, and promptly replaced the CD. Once again I'm running Xandros and happy as can be, I'm done shopping distros......
Cast your vote in the peer review of this review: Xandros2ReviewAcceptance
JTruesdale, after writing the MandrakeMoveReview, has provided another independent review of his experiences with Xandros 2.0 in JTruesdaleOnXandros2. It seems Jay has gotten the "review writing" bug. 
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