Mandrake linux review

Product: Mandrake Linux 9.0 Pro: Excellent documentation, easy for beginners Con: Some options are expensive Summary:       A great distribution, easy to install and very user friendly. Good for beginners and those migrating from Windows. Score: Company: Mandrake

SuperGuide: Desktop Linux Blowout! Monday: Mandrake 9.0 Tuesday: Red Hat 8.0 Wednesday: SuSE 8.1 Thursday: Libranet 2.7 Friday: Lycoris Desktop/LX Mandrake Linux 9.0 from MandrakeSoft has established a reputation for being one of the easiest to install and user-friendly Linux distribution (often called a distro) on the market. That reputation is well deserved, and the latest release continues to improve on what has been previously offered. Like SuSE 8.1, Mandrake 9.0 has excellent documentation, designed with the beginner in mind. allowing the inexperienced or potential Linux user to easily install a system.

Mandrake is particularly appealing because a person who is unfamiliar with Linux software can learn a little at a time with this distribution, yet Mandrake still offers features that the experienced user and administrator will also appreciate. Mandrake offers a complete graphical interface through which the user will learn to manipulate and use the system while learning more and more, much like Windows would be to someone newly initiated to the PC.

The documentation is so good and the community of users so helpful that further support is rarely necessary.

Mandrake Linux 9.0 comes shrink-wrapped in three different forms:

The Standard Edition includes 3 CDs, including a commercial applications CD not available in the download edition, 30-day technical installation support through MandrakeExpert and a quick installation guide. At $30, it is also the least expensive of the officially supported Linux distros.. A download version of the Standard Edition is similar, but doesn't include the physical CDs and printed documentation, and is priced at $6.95 (plus shipping and handling) at Linux Central, or you can download Mandrake Linux at no cost from a number of sites, including Mandrake's own download site.

The Power Pack Edition costs $69. For the additional cost, this version adds a second commercial products CD, supplementary applications CD, installation source code CD, an installation and user guide in addition to the Quick Installation Guide, a reference manual and server guide in Adobe Acrobat PDF format, unlimited security update subscriptions, and 60 days (instead of 30 days) for the installation support.

The ProSuite costs $199. In contrast to the other offerings, this version targets the server environment instead of the desktop. Instead of the installation CDs, it comes packaged with two installation server CDs and IBM DB/2 for Linux Workgroup Edition 7.2. Except for substituting the installation server software for the desktop software, the ProSuite is exactly like the Power Pack Edition.

Unlike previous versions, the ProSuite is the only edition that now offers telephone support. In the current edition, five telephone incidents are supported within the first 60 days. Additional phone support is available for the ProSuite at $149.99. 48 Hour response installation Web support is available for 90 days. The 9.0 Prosuite Edition not only provides all of your server needs, but also includes a workstation DVD packed with the most recent and full-featured office applications such as Sun's famous StarOffice 6.0. The DVD makes it easy to install all the workstation applications from one source, instead of managing multiple CDs.

The average consumer, who simply wants to learn about GNU/Linux is well served by Mandrake Linux. Many Linux vendors seem to be retreating from providing any free access to their products. MandrakeSoft seems more willing than most vendors to engage the user community in the process of obtaining, evaluating, and providing feedback for Mandrake Linux. This seems to be more apparent than ever. For that reason, they have chosen to make downloadable versions easily accessible. In addition to Linux Central, other small Linux businesses, like Cheap Bytes, Edmunds Enterprises, and The Tech Broker, offer Mandrake Linux 8.1 for around $10 (including shipping and handling costs).

In this review, we'll discuss the new features in the latest Mandrake release, explain the basic installation procedures, provide some advice for new and intermediate Linux users, then we'll suggest some additional learning tools and usage pointers.

Additional Linux Resources Linux.com: News, resources and software. Linux Today: News, products, jobs. Linux Online: Downloads, news, distros, documentation. Mandrake: Mandrake distros, classes. Linux Jounal.com: Monthly Linux magazine.

Mandrake Linux has quickly gained a reputation for being one of the best versions of GNU/Linux for both beginners and experienced users. First conceived in 1998, Mandrake was created specifically to make the Linux experience a more comfortable one for people used to other desktop operating systems, especially versions of Microsoft Windows. Early versions of Mandrake seemed to be mostly add-ons to Red Hat Linux. While that lineage remains today, Mandrake offers a number of features that set it apart from the competition, including Red Hat.

Mandrake offers a choice of desktop and Window Managers that, until recently, were not found at all in the Red Hat distribution. Even today, Mandrake offers a great variety of choices. Both the default KDE desktop and the GNOME desktop (the two major GNU/Linux desktops) are available, but Mandrake also offers a wide variety of other Window Managers, including fvwm, twm, IceWm, BlackBox, Enlightenment, XFCE, and others.

The following are a list of features that have been added or enhanced since the previous release, Mandrake Linux 8.2:

Features Kernel 2.4.19 Xfree 4.2.1 Glibc 2.2.5 GCC 3.2 KDE 3.0.3 GNOME 2.0.1 IceWM 1.2 WindowMaker 0.8 Enlightenment 0.16.5 BlackBox 0.62 OpenOffice.org 1.0.1 Koffice 1.2 Mozilla 1.1 The GIMP 1.2.3 XMMS 1.2.7

Mandrake distinguishes itself from other distributions by offering these product features: A new look is available throughout the system which MandrakeSoft calls "more homogeneity, less futility." Mandrake Linux 9.0 is an excellent choice for both individual use and corporate deployments. The task-oriented menu is the most efficient way for users to locate and run the applications that they really need.

The "MandrakeFirstTime" wizard allows new users to easily configure a graphical desktop environment and email client, as well as register for MandrakeOnline -- a MandrakeSoft service that provides personalized security and software update notifications.

In Mandrake 9.0, previous users will be pleasantly surprised to see how quick it is to log into KDE 3.0.3 and GNOME 2.0.

Unique features make unique products: The Mandrake Linux desktops are dynamic. This means, for instance, that when a new software package is installed or removed, the corresponding icon will appear or disappear instantaneously in the application menu. This same "dynamic" feature also applies to hardware devices: Plug in a USB scanner or WebCam and a corresponding icon appears automatically on the desktop.

Another advanced feature in Mandrake Linux 9.0 is "supermount" which lets users access removable media (CD-ROM, floppy, Zip, etc.) instantaneously and transparently without using the traditional "mount/umount" commands.

Mandrake users will be pleased to discover that application menus are consistent across all the various graphical desktop environments.

The Mandrake Control Center provides a single location to access all the necessary hardware and system configuration utilities. The Mandrake Control Center includes an extensive selection of graphical utilities and wizards for quickly and easily setting up many popular services, including the Apache web server, Postfix email server, Shorewall firewall utility, and many others.

USB 2.0 support has been added.