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.

Next: Exploring the Xandros Desktop »