Xandros Desktop OS 3.0: A Solid, Modern Replacement for a Windows Desktop
By: Bill von Hagen
Thursday, January 27, 2005 10:39:51 AM EST
URL: http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/reviews/5723/1/
Looking at Xandros
Xandros' latest release of their Linux Distribution, known as Xandros Desktop OS, continues their tradition of a polished, complete distribution oriented towards user who formerly used a Microsoft Windows desktop system.
This is simply their target market--Xandros Linux is eminently suitable for use by any Linux user who wants a modern Linux system but doesn't require traditional Window managers and is comfortable focusing on KDE rather than the GNOME desktop. Some GNOME applications, such as Evolution, and the required GNOME infrastructure are available as updates to the system, as are traditional GTK applications such as FireFox and GIMP.
Xandros Linux is a descendant of Corel's Debian-based Linux distribution, but has continued to evolve as a stable and well-though-out Linux distribution since the founding on Xandros a few years ago. Unlike many Linux distributions, its freely downloadable versions lag somewhat behind the official releases.
At the time this review was written, a free download of their basic 3.0 was not yet available. This is largely a marketing decision, since free downloads cut into the potential customer base but serve to help increase market share and awareness. However, at $49.95 for the Standard distribution and $89.95 for the Deluxe edition, no one's going to debtor's prison for buying a copy of their official releases.
The Deluxe edition primarily differs from the Standard edition in that it includes enhanced Windows compatibility software, such as Crossover Office, which is discussed later in this review, which focuses on the Deluxe edition, the version of the software that we received for review.
Installing Xandros 3
Xandros provides a simple and easy-to-use installer that doesn't need much exploration or explanation here. Installation and system configuration are divided into separate steps--the installer simply installs default or selected packages, while most system configuration tasks are done in a First Run Wizard that, as the name suggests, runs by default the first time that you start your Xandros system.
The installer supports both standard and custom installations. Figure 1 shows the software selection screen the Xandros installer in custom mode. The standard installation (1264 MB) installs almost everything from the installation disk--the difference between a standard installation and a complete installation is less than 10 MBs, and consists of support for Novell's NCP (Netware Core Protocols) file system, the Apache Web server, and an FTP server. The custom installation option also gives you the option of installing a minimal system that clocks in at a mere 887 MB. Given these choices, the standard installation is the right default for almost everyone, given Xandros' target market of former Windows devotees.
The installer also provides various options for where to install Xandros Linux on your disk, including "Take over the Disk," dual-boot support, or simply selecting un-used space or a likely partition. Like all modern Linux distributions, it also provides you with the option of configuring your disk partitions manually. When I first tried manual partitioning (because I was recycling a random old disk containing God knows what), the installer insisted that I hadn't created a swap partition even though I had (it was the first partition on my disk). This problem went away when I moved the swap elsewhere on the disk, so this was a minor glitch but it was irritating. Figure 2 shows a screen while the installer is in progress.
After installation completes, the installer ejects the CD and prompts you to press enter to reboot your system. After you log in for the first time, the First Run Wizard performs the standard types of configuration tasks, including enabling you to configure regional settings, your system's date and time, configure printers, and select a default desktop theme.
One curious omission, given their target market, is the lack of a dialog that enables you to customize the Windows domain to which your system belongs. Not only does this mean that you have to subsequently use the Control Center to do this, but it makes it difficult (if not impossible) to configure a shared Windows printer that requires authentication. Like all Samba installations, Xandros Samba installation defaults to a workgroup named WORKGROUP, which is the old Windows default but is certainly not in use at any "serious" Windows site (if there is such a thing ;-).
What's in the Box
Xandros comes complete with a good deal of Windows interoperability support at the system level, regardless of which version of the product you purchase. It includes PPTP VPN support, wireless 802.11b network support, and also includes the NDIS-wrapper package that enables you to use Windows drivers for network cards that are not directly supported by Linux.
Xandros 3.0 provides an up-to-date version of the Linux kernel (2.6.9), and stable and reasonably up-to-date versions of KDE (3.3.0), standard KDE utilities, and most common Linux applications. Both the Standard and Deluxe products include OpenOffice 1.1.2 with some Xandros enhancements and bug fixes. Online media fans will be happy to see that it includes software such as Media Player 2.6.0, XMMS 1.2.10, RealPlayer 10, and XINE 0.99.1.
By default, Xandros provides Mozilla 1.7.3 as its default browser, though FireFox 1.0 is available as an update to the system. Other available updates include GIMP 2.0. As with most KDE-based systems, GNOME software is slightly behind the curve--the version of Evolution available with Xandros 3.0 is version 1.4, which is fully functional but lags behind versions 2.0.x that many other Linux distributions install.
Xandros 3.0 also provides some nice, customized system-levels tools such as a Firewall Configuration Wizard that continue the trend (perhaps requirement) that modern Linux distributions continue evolve beyond command-line configuration to provide tools that hide the complexity of system level tasks behind an easy-to-use graphical interface. As discussed later in this review, Xandros also provides a custom File Manager and system update tool that make it easy to use your system and keep it up-to-date.
Exploring the Xandros Desktop
Xandros uses a customized version of KDE that is designed for the convenience of new users. Its Launch menu is cleanly laid out, offering familiar sections for "Most Used Applications," (i.e., recently-used applications), "All Applications," and "Actions," which provides the ability to run a command-line-oriented command, open Recent Documents, and so on.
The "All Applications" section provides a single Applications menu plus shortcuts to commonly-used applications such as the KDE Control Center and the Xandros File Manager and Xandros Networks, the latter two of which are custom Xandros applications that are discussed in subsequent sections of this review. Figure 3 shows the basic layout of the Launch menus, highlighting the Crossover Office submenu.
As a Linux distribution whose target market is largely former Microsoft Windows users, Xandros provides a familiar desktop and Linux versions of most of the applications that Windows users would expect. For those situations where the equivalent of a Windows application just won't do, Xandros' inclusion of CodeWeavers' Crossover Office applications is a tremendous win for any former Windows user.
Crossover Office is a customized, enhanced version of the WINE (WINE Is Not an Emulator) project, which is a set of libraries and applications that implement Microsoft Windows APIs, and which therefore enable you to install and run Windows software, such as Microsoft office, on a Linux system. Xandros installs version 4.1 of Crossover Office by default. To get support and updates, you have to purchase a license from Xandros (a convenient link is available in the Xandros Networks application, discussed later in this review) or directly from CodeWeavers.
The Xandros File Manager
Like most Linux distributions, Xandros also provides some "special sauce" beyond simply repackaging and providing standard Linux applications. One of Xandros more interesting custom contributions is the Xandros File Manger which, as the name suggests, is a customized graphical tool for browsing and working with files, directories, and related devices on your Xandros system.
The Xandros File Manager provides convenient capabilities for accessing and browsing floppies (remember those?), CDs, and DVDs, and provides easy access to the printers you've defined on your system. Figure 4 shows the File Manager when it first starts, displaying the contents of the current user's home directory.
Xandros File Manager also provides easy-to-use mechanisms for browsing the most common types of networked file systems, Windows shares and NFS. Directories shared via NFS (the traditional Unix/Linux Networked File System, originally developed by Sun Microsystems and now available on every Unix and Linux system) can easily be browsed and accessed through the File Manager, removing one of the traditional "for experts only" aspects of Linux file sharing. Browsable Windows shares are similarly easy to locate and access.
Figure 5 shows an NFS directory in the File Manager, along with the browse hierarchy necessary to find it in the left pane. Traditional NFS authentication mechanisms still apply--only remote NFS directories that are publicly exported or to which you have explicit access can be examined.
The File Manager also provide a Tools menu that contains convenient, file-related tools, such as a dialog that enables you to explicitly mount Windows shares, as shown in Figure 6. This dialog suggests (and creates) appropriate mount points in your home directory when you explicitly mount a remote Windows share.
Updating Your System Using Xandros Networks
As mentioned previously, Xandros comes on two CDs. The install CD provides a reasonable set of default applications for most office users, but many of the more advanced Linux applications (including image creation and manipulation tools such as GIMP) are provided on the Xandros Applications CD or as downloads that can be installed directly from a networked Xandros distribution site. Software from the Applications CD or a networked Xandros distribution site is installed using Xandros custom update tool, Xandros Networks. An icon for the Xandros Networks application is installed on your Xandros system's desktop by default.
As an aside, if you're installing multiple Xandros systems, the split between the items on the Installation and Applications CDs can be somewhat irritating and time-consuming. For each system, you have to manually install applications from the CD or update over the network. This process, the bane of the administrators of large Linux desktop deployments, is one of the reasons that enterprise system management software, such as Xandros' own xDMS (Xandros Desktop Management Server, previously reviewed on LinuxPlanet), is coming into its own as a practical requirement for large-scale Linux deployments.
When you first start Xandros Networks, it displays links to updates for the commercial software that is provided or certified for use with Xandros Linux, such as Crossover Office or Star Office (the latter if you want a supported version of Open Office). It then builds a local database of available software from the software installation source that is currently selected. By default, this is a networked Xandros installation site, but you can redirect this to another source, such as the Applications CD, by selecting this from the Edit menu's "Set Application Sources" menu, as shown in Figure 7.
Trying to install applications from the Applications CD can be irritating. There is no option to install everything, so you have to walk through the "New Applications" menu, selecting everything by hand. (There is an option on the File menu that says "Install all Latest Xandros Updates," but it isn't totally clear whether this means just updates to previously-installed software or new packages as well.)
Once I selected all packages from the CD manually, however, Xandros Networks reported that it couldn't find a number of the selected packages, initially from the Education and Games categories. This was odd, since it presumably had read the list of available packages from the CD before building the list of installable options.
The manual mentioned that many of the items on the CD were actually installable over the Internet as a net update, so I opted for this. Xandros Networks rebuilt the list of available updates, and I once again selected everything. This time, everything could be found and the big system update (779 MB) began.
Installing updates over the network is every bit as nice and convenient as you'd expect, and works flawlessly. Figure 8 shows a network update in progress.
As you install updates or new applications or application updates using Xandros Networks, any packages that need interactive configuration display messages in the update window, and provide a text area at the bottom of the window where you can enter your selections.
My favorite of these was some entertaining information about basic video formats when installing TvTime, which is an excellent package for watching television on a Linux system through a TV tuner card. The informative message when selecting video formats was "North American users should select NTSC. Most areas in the world use PAL." As an American who is often disgusted by the United States' traditional cultural chauvinism, I found this entertaining and cleverly worded. Maybe it's just me.
Once you've completed an update via Xandros Networks, only those packages which have not yet been installed or updated are shown in Xandros Networks, as shown in Figure 9. This is a convenient way to see which updates have not yet been applied to a given system.
Wrapping Up
Xandros Desktop OS 3.0 is a solid, well-designed distribution. As mentioned multiple times, this is a distribution targeted towards new desktop Linux users, such as those that may formerly have lived on Microsoft Windows systems. The automatic inclusion of Crossover Office in their Deluxe edition is a tremendous win for anyone who absolutely must use Windows software but does not want to incur the cost, spyware, system viruses, and worms associated with a traditional Microsoft Windows desktop system.
On the flip side, Xandros Linux is not the distribution to use if you are a hardcore Linux hacker, want to use a traditional X Window system window manager, or are doing advanced code development. It includes software development tools such as GCC and related items, and also includes development environments for QT, but this isn't the distribution for you if you want to live in GDB or KGDB.
Xandros has put together a great package for Windows users who want to migrate to a more powerful, more robust environment, or for anyone who simply wants to take advantage of the low-cost, high-performance advantages of Linux without wanting to spend much of their time under the hood.
Bill von Hagen is the author of numerous books and articles on Linux. For more information about Bill, see http://www.vonhagen.org.