Linspire 6 is on its way....
I know it's stylish in several Linux purist circles to down Linspire. Linspire is a good, solid Debian-based Linux, and it goes out of its way to be new-user friendly. Whats wrong with that? The average user is not going to want to go to the forums and search for an answer on how to get their media player to work with what format file they are trying to view or listen to. Out of the box Linspire offers legally licensed support for: MP3, DVD, Windows Media, QuickTime, Java, Flash, Real, ATI drivers, nVidia drivers, Adobe Acrobat Reader, proprietary WiFi drivers, and so on.
For the Linspire PCs to begin to make serious desktop market share. I would love to see a Lin-Box and a Win-Box sitting side by side at my local retail store. How many non-geeks have a compelling urge to recompile their kernel. Most people want to type a document, surf the web, click on some onlline content and watch/hear it without any problems.
I have heard much talk about Ubuntu/Kubuntu Linux along with their command-line installed automated helper "Automatix"installer, which will tell you, some components use technology that Automatix has not licensed and therefore may allow you to do things that are illegal. Out of the box people can't play a DVD, can't listen to MP3s or watch streaming video in their browser. Don't get me wroung, Kubuntu for me is a joy to use, how ever Kubuntu Linux does not come with the codecs and players necessary to enjoy the internet. It's up to you to add these capabilities to the system. Lets talk about trying to Install the proprietary drivers that enable 3D graphics Ubuntu/ Kubuntu for your nVidia board. If you select this option, you will see an informational dialog box that provides a magic command-line incantation to use if the 3D driver fails.
Linspire really spend a good amount of time fine tuning and polishing their OS to the point that it's ready for prime time. I know Linspire 6: Skipjack will have proprietary 3D drivers as well as Windows Media, Quick Time, Flash, Java, Real, .doc, .xls, .ppt, .mp3, .PDF ready to go. I know most people don't mind installing the apps they want but they want their wireless and multimedia to"JUST WORK". Linspire 6.0 is due-out in the 4th quarter of 2006 or 1st quarter 2007.
Side note... Skipjack will have the New Kernel 2.6.17 with many updated drivers from third parties, KDE 3.5, SMP (Dual Core) Kernel support and Improved Boot Time.
posted by rebelsaid @ 11:18 AM
4 Comments:
It's been over a year since you wrote this. Linspire Sucks, even they know it. Ubuntu is the flavor of the month. But 5 years ago I was told that by today 30% of the world would be using linux. And all the linux people say it's a million times better than windows... Yet Windows is still the bench mark.. And linux has made no head way. Give it a rest. Until a real linux alternative comes along, lets not make pretend.
Linspire 6 has been released and is based off Ubuntu. It has out of the box compatibility and is fast!
Check it out:
www.linspire.com
I personally liked the Linspire 5 release. What I don't like is the complex problems of getting all the drivers to use existing printers etc I currently use. I would love to ditch Windows XP and Vista but they do have all the necessary drivers to hand. If Windows can supply the drivers why can't Linspire? Until they do Linux will ALWAYS be struggling to gain the ascendency!
Like a lot of people who are fed up with Microsoft's finicky and expensive approach, I would dearly love to change to Linux. The major problem for me is the drivers for the printers and other hardware I possess. I can get the OS up and running, but getting on the internet is difficult and the available printer drivers don't cover the newer models and the downloading of suitable drivers is a complex exercise.
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