Number 237 - February 2003

Lindows OS, A Better Operating System
by Brian K. Lewis, Ph.D.* Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc.
For several years I have been researching alternatives to the Windows operating system. These have primarily been variations on Linux. My major complaint with them has been that they don't work easily enough for the average computer user. Instead you have to learn a number of command line methods to install software and/or hardware. In addition, they don't always have drivers available for much of my hardware. I found this to be true of the Caldera, RedHat and Mandrake versions of Linux. More recently I have tried to install and run DemoLinux, Lycoris desktop and Phat Linux. These either would not run on my video cards or had other hardware problems. When I asked for assistance the answers I received were not at all helpful. One tech response, in fact, simply told me to search the internet for the driver I needed and then figure out how to install it. I was just about ready to give up on Linux as a viable alternative for most users.    I finally decided to pay the price for version 2.0 of Lindows ($99.00). This included a two year subscription to their on-line software warehouse (Click-N-Run). When the CD arrived I went through the process of booting a computer from the CD-ROM. After a few minutes of initializing, I was presented with a setup screen which asked me if I wanted to use a complete hard drive or just one partition for the installation. Since I have two drives in my computer, I opted for a complete drive. Then, the next screen allowed me to choose the drive I wanted to use for the Lindows files. Finally, it asked for a computer name and a password. Amazingly there were no hardware forms to complete. Some of the other Linux installations had asked me to identify my mouse, my video card, the refresh rate of my monitor and other hardware questions. Lindows did not. After the initial screens, the system installed itself in less than 15 minutes. It first presented a password window and then opened up to a desktop which would be familiar to any Windows user.    Next, to my complete surprise it connected to the on-line Lindows Click-N-Run warehouse. I setup an account with an e-mail address and a password. Then it automatically updated the OS with a quick download and installation. There was no reboot required. Obviously, Lindows had identified my network card, received an address from my router and connected via my cable modem to their web site. This is something that none of the other Linux products had been able to accomplish. In fact, some that did install insisted that I did not have an internet connection and would not connect no matter what I did to the settings.    There was another surprise in store for me. Lindows places icons for your drives and printers on the desktop. One of the icons was for my CD burner which is an external unit connected through the USB port. Lindows identified the brand (HP) and the connection, again without any assistance from me. The only problem arose when I tried to burn a CD. The software included with Lindows would not work with the USB port, it insisted on finding an IDE burner. Oh well, two steps forward, one step back.    About two months after I installed version 2, Lindows released version 3 and raised their price to $129.00. I downloaded my free update to version 3 and burned it to a CD. Then, I installed it on the same drive where version 2 was located. This time, the installation was even quicker. However, it did warn me that all information on the drive would be destroyed. Since I had no data I needed to save, I let the installation proceed. In addition to my network settings, Lindows identified my local area network (LAN). The desktop LAN icon allowed me to browse my main computer and pull up Word docs for editing in StarOffice. The CD burner is still a problem to be worked out. I also intend to install a scanner on this system, "some day real soon now". The only other peripheral that I had to install was the printer. Lindows had setup a generic printer driver. When I went to install my specific printer, it had already identified it correctly and then walked me through an installation process. I was able to print a test page with a color wheel, various typefaces and sizes. The output was better than I get with the Windows drivers. I have since printed other documents from software I selected from the Click-N-Run warehouse.    As I mentioned, I installed Lindows on a two drive system. The other OS on this computer is Win98 SE. When I boot into Windows, the Linux drive is visible and I can access documents that I have stored on the Lindows drive. That's because both drives are using a FAT32 storage system. Lindows will not work with an NTFS drive format.    The most important part of any computer system is the software it will run. Lindows installs a Netscape browser and Netscape mail. This Linux version of Netscape seems to work quite well in any of the tests I have put to it. It certainly displayed all of the web pages I visited without any problem. I didn't try the e-mail. On the Lindows desktop, the Netscape icon is labeled "Web Browser" and the Netscape mail is labeled "Mail". Sure makes it easy to tell what they do!    The software installed with Lindows includes an MP3/CD player, viewers for MS Excel, PowerPoint	and Word. These do not let you edit these documents, just read them. There are 5 games, several internet browsers, AOL Instant Messenger, image editors and some utility programs. Like other variations on Unix, Linux software frequently has names which have no relationship to what their purpose is. For example, how would you determine what the function of Ark, KSCD, GNOME, or GIMP would be? Unless you have some experience with Linux (Unix) software, it takes some research to figure out what this software is designed to accomplish.    Anyway, the included software really takes a back seat to the more than 1100 titles included in the Click-N-Run warehouse. These include "OpenOffice" and "StarOffice", two Microsoft Office clones. Both of these include a word processor, spreadsheet, database, and presentation designer. They can both read and save documents in the same format as their MS Office counterparts. There is also Evolution, a clone of Outlook which integrates appointments, contacts and e-mail. Once connected to the software warehouse, I selected StarOffice for installation. The Lindows software downloaded the application in the background while I continued surfing the warehouse listings. Once it was downloaded it was seamlessly installed, again without disturbing my work.    An icon for StarOffice was placed on my desktop and the computer did not have to reboot before I could use the application! I also installed RealPlayer and several other applications.    You can run applications in Lindows by double-clicking an icon on your desktop. Or, you can click on the "L" symbol in the lower left hand corner of your screen. This corresponds to the Start button in Windows. Then you select "Programs" and you will see a list of categories such as Audio, Internet, Multimedia, Business. After selecting a category, you can run any of the applications in that category. The interesting part is that the Click-N-Run warehouse is set up with the identical categories. When an application is installed from the warehouse, it is added to the program category list.    Some reviewers have questioned the internet security of Lindows. This OS ships with a built-in firewall that is automatically installed. No user intervention is required. Since Lindows is primarily designed for people with broadband internet connections, cable or DSL, such a firewall is an absolute necessity. Others have questioned the fact that Lindows defaults to the "root" or administrative user. This might possibly allow a hacker to enter and take control of the system. However, I noted that version 3 allows additional users to be set up that would not have the administrator privileges. If this were done, then it would be similar to the security found on Windows XP systems. The one lack that I have noted is that I don't have any anti-virus software for Lindows. At the moment this may not be a serious defect since the majority of viruses are designed to infiltrate computers via Microsoft software defects. However, if Linux continues to increase in popularity, the virus writers will certainly target it. So I do see a need for an easily updated anti-virus application for Lindows.    The whole design of Lindows simplifies the operation of a computer for the novice. Isn't that what we have all been looking for, a system that gets out of our way so we can work with our applications? Lindows may not be perfect, but it is far better than anything else I have used and that includes the Apple Macintosh. There is no operating system that provides a completely intuitive experience for the computer user. They all require some practice and experience. However, from my experience so far, Lindows has a lot to offer computer users, from beginners on up to the more experienced. The consensus of other experienced Linux users is that a Linux OS is far more stable than any Windows OS. That means that lock-ups and other errors are far less likely to happen.    All in all, I think there is much to like in this Lindows OS. Given the number of software applications available for free from the Click-N-Run warehouse, the $129 price is a bargain. Especially when compared with the price for Windows, MS Office and all the other software we end up installing on our systems. I intend to keep using it and testing more of the software applications that are available for it. Although it is currently co-existing with a Win98 OS, I suspect the day will come when it will replace Windows completely on this system.    *Dr. Lewis is a former University and Medical School professor. He has more than 20 years of experience working with personal computer hardware and software. He can be reached via e-mail at brian_klewis@hotmail.com or voice mail at 941-925-3047.    Copyright 2003. This article is from the January 2003 issue of the Sarasota PC Monitor, the official monthly publication of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc., P.O. Box 15889, Sarasota, FL 34277-1889. Permission to reprint is granted only to other non-profit computer user groups, provided proper credit is given to the author and our publication.
Number 237 - February 2003