|
Linux Mandriva Discovery / Lx 2006 Beginners
|
| Price: |
3 new or used available from £1.75
Average customer review:
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #2852 in Software
- Brand: Mandriva
- Released on: 2005-11-04
- Platform: Linux
Editorial Reviews
Manufacturer's Description
Discovery/Lx is the product resulting from convergence between Mandriva and Lycoris technology. With a new look and feel, new them, new set of icons, and better ergonomics, Discovery/Lx is the ideal product for begineers looking to switch to Linux.
Customer Reviews
A great, inexpensive OS with excellent applications for experienced PC users
I wanted to put together an inexpensive PC with some old parts that I had that could be used for web browsing and office productiviy. I wanted to try Linux and chose Mandriva Discovery /LX 2006 beginners due to its low cost and simplicity. I purchased it from Amazon and used the "New & Used" option where I picked it up for £4.90 plus postage. The 3 CD's arrived very quickly and in good condition.
The installation went extremely smoothly and it discovered all the hardware faultlessly (ie processor, chipset, graphics card, network adaptor... everything!). I finished in about 15 minutes.
I found setting up a shared printer on my home network much easier with Mandriva Linux than with Windows XP. The Gnome user interface is excellent and can be easily used by a Windows user. The applications that came with Mandriva (Firefox web browser, OpenOffice, instant messaging etc) are excellent and will satisfy 99% of users.
The only thing I have found complicated is adding new applications. I wanted to install some new open source applications that I had downloaded and I found the process not as easy as with Windows. You need to learn some basics with the Linux console. Hence I would recommend Mandriva Discovery Linux for intermediate PC users who want to use the applications out of the box or experienced PC users that are prepared to roll up their sleaves and learn some basic Linux if they want to change things and add new programs.
Overall this is a magnificant piece of work for the money. You can't beat it.
Who Needs Windows?
I've used Mandriva (previously Mandrake) distributions of Linux since 8.2 and having had Mandriva 2005LE installed on 2 PCs for a while was looking forward to upgrading to 2006. Discovery lacks many of the more advanced applications found in the Power Pack versions (they can be freely downloaded when you find you need them), but for a newcomer to Linux I can't imagine things getting much easier than this.
The install was very simple (a feature of all versions of Mandriva) and took around 15 minutes to complete. After that you've got a capable operating system with browsers, email/news clients, office suite (OpenOffice), graphics editors, multimedia players and hundreds if not thousands of other applications either installed or ready to install from disc. I find the menus are a little bit too much in the "hold your hand" vein, with a description of the task an application will perform, rather than the application's name, but it is aimed at those who are new to Linux after all, and the menus can of course be edited.
In the box are 7 discs - 3x 32-bit install discs, 3x 64-bit install discs and a live cd (so you can use Mandriva Linux on your PC without installing it) plus a manual to get you started. All in all this is an excellent package for those looking to switch to Linux and considerably cheaper (and more up-to-date, and more secure, etc.) than Windows.
Not as easy as you think
I have been a Window and Mac user for 6 years and recently switched to Linux Discovery beacuse my PC crashed on windows and I just wanted a cheap alternative. While the software and easy use of Linux Discovery is to be applauded, the configuring of the system on my machine was not so easy. I use dial-up and this OS refused to connect my modem despite recognising it. Also the KDE kept crashing forcing me to create another log in. I would not use mandriva again. I have now switched to Xandros Linux Home edition premium and so far I'm finding it easy to use and better value.
