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Mandriva Linux - Circa 1998
Mandriva's now familiar goal was to make "a Linux distribution that would be as easy to use as Windows." The very first release borrowed heavily from Red Hat Linux, which shared a similar goal, and it shipped with KDE 1.0 as the default graphical environment.
Image Credit: pillateunlinux.files.wordpress.com
Today Mandriva remains a viable option for users new to Linux while also boasing large hardware support by default. However, it's also one of the 'heavier' Linux distros available, making it somewhat sluggish on older PCs.
Knoppix - Circa 2000
Every IT worth his salt should be familiar with Knoppix, the Debian-based OS designed to run from a Live CD or Live DVD. While Knoppix doesn't present a threat to Windows (it can actually be installed on a hard disk), it does find itself in every serious IT's toolbox for troubleshooting on the go.
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Knoppix was first released in 2000 and is considered by many as the original Debian-based Live CD. There have been other versions of Linux early on that were able to run as demos and rescue disks, but superior hardware detection and automed configuration scripts gave Knoppix a leg up on the competition.
Linspire - Circa 2001
You may better remember Linspire as LindowsOS, the controversially-named OS based on Debian GNU/Linux (and now Ubuntu). As the name implies, Linspire was developed as a commercial alternative to Windows capable of running Windows programs. It initially tried to this with with Wine before later shifting its focus away from Windows and towards Linux programs.
Image Credit: flexbeta.net
Microsoft filed suit against Lindows in 2002 for obvious reasons and initially lost the court fight. Before a retrial could take place, the two sides settled out of court with Microsoft paying roughly $20 million to buy the Lindows trademark. Since then, it has been called Linspire.
Fedora - Circa 2003
Another RPM-based distro like Red Hat and Mandrake, Fedora picked up in 2003 where Red Hat Linux left off (Red Hat Linux discontinued its focus on the desktop and proceeded forward with Red Hat Enterprise Linux).
Image Credit: phoronix
Fedora has always been largely a community-driven collaboration containing only free and open-source software.The first release of Fedora -- Fedora Core 1 -- was based on Red Hat Linux 9 and shipped with the Linux 2.4.19 kernel and GNOME 2.4.0. It wasn't until Fedora Core 4 was released in 2005 that the Linux distro would support the PowerPC architecture.
Ubuntu - Circa 2004
Sometimes it takes a perfect alignment of the moon and stars to get things just right. Take Linux, for example. In the battle for desktop supremacy, no one outside of the open-source faithful truly believed Linux had much of a fighting chance at snagging significant market share away from Microsoft, and some still don't. But Linux is closer than ever to becoming a mainstream no-cost alternative to Windows, a result of Vista's bug-prone initial release and Canonical developing an open-source OS so easy even Aunt Mabel could get through an install.
Image Credit: theopensourcerer.com
This wasn't necessarily the case when Ubuntu was first released in 2004. On the Windows side, users had already become entrenched with XP, and Ubuntu lacked the overall polish and hardware support to convert an already content userbase. But once Vista shipped and the complaints started pouring in, users who previously never considered Linux began looking at Ubuntu, which was steadily improving and attracting more developer support (even Creative has jumped on board).
Ubuntu comes preinstalled with a variety of software, including OpenOffice, Pidgin, Firefox, GIMP, and a bunch more. If there's a Windows-specific app that a user simply can't live without, there's a good chance Ubuntu can still oblige via Wine.
Comments are closed on this article
clippingdesign
January 09, 2011 at 7:13am
Opensource lover never like OS like Windows. Its ok that windows are more userfriendly and more available extentions but now a days opensource OS are much more advanced.
farukkk
September 03, 2009 at 4:11pm
truu good extras
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damicatz
August 31, 2009 at 6:29am
OpenBSD is *NOT* a Linux distribution. It is a BSD distribution. BSD is an entirely different operating system from Linux. Yes, superficially it looks like Linux because both are UNIX-like operating systems but the codebase is completetly different from Linux.
Please see : http://www.over-yonder.net/~fullermd/rants/bsd4linux/bsd4linux1.php
thomsonr
August 26, 2009 at 5:16pm
I must be one of the few people who like Vista. I started using it from Beta without problems and used it both at home and work.
If I didn't game at home I'd seriously consider the Mac. However I am now running Win7 on all home computers and quite happy with it.
Next stop is to move to 64bit both at work and home.
thomsonr
August 26, 2009 at 5:04pm
I am an avid games player and I don't remember having in problem with games.
I liked NT 4 workstation so much I built an network at the City Hall where I worked based on it and Exchange Server. It was the most modern network in our City at the time.
jaygatsby
August 26, 2009 at 3:25pm
i found a funny post on apple's obsession with endangered jungle cats: http://onthebutton.wordpress.com/2009/08/26/apple-snow-leopard/
onewithazureskies
August 26, 2009 at 11:17am
the link to the windows xp review is broken due to whitespace, try
vulchan
August 26, 2009 at 8:16am
If most games out on the pc worked on ubuntu out of the box (or via steam), it would easily be in my top three list of favorite OS's.
jreis014
October 14, 2009 at 6:55am
www.winehq.org
http://appdb.winehq.org
That, and the forums for Ubuntu make it pretty easy to use Wine for alot of Windows games. It's not an absolute solution, but it works pretty well for alot of games. There's also a great MPC article:
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/how_run_windows_software_and_games_linux_wine
I hope this might urge you to consider Linux as an alternative.
rclamp
August 26, 2009 at 8:05am
I really don't think you can call this article "well-written." There are so many glaring errors. Most notably, that OS X consists of bits and pieces of OpenStep. It IS NextStep/OpenStep with bits and pieces tacked on and modified. Also, System 7 was not released in 1997 and OS 10.3 was not released in 2002. Also, what's up with the ridiculous pictures that don't fit what's being discussed? A Win95-era UI while discussing Win 3.1, a NT kernel STOP screen for WinME, etc. Blah... I'm sorry to be nitpicky, but there are a LOT of errors!
Also, OS/2 was simply amazing and so far ahead of its time. I can only imagine how great PC computing could have been in the 90's if Microsoft had stuck with IBM to develop and promote OS/2 rather than earlier versions of the Windows "shell" concept that lasted until the early 2000's.
Havok
August 27, 2009 at 7:51pm
I wrote that sarcastically Flamer. Geez, it's not like I called your mother a hamster, or your father a goat, or that you smell of elder-berry...
I was just making a point that there is no way to write an article about an OS and NOT have some sort of flame-war. And you my friend just proved my point by chucking an entire can of Naphtha on the fire.
OMGWTFBBQ
horzo
August 26, 2009 at 7:42am
So... OS X 10.6 will be the FIRST Mac OS to actually have a 64-bit kernel, right?
Haha...
Khaled
August 26, 2009 at 2:26pm
this image shows how the migration from 32 to 64 bit was done
http://images.appleinsider.com/road-to-sl-080826-6.gif
their migration options was either splitting the tiers (like windows 32and 64 bit) or just do a full migration
Vista 64 and 32 bits with snow leopard
http://images.appleinsider.com/road-to-sl-080826-4.gif
Havok
August 26, 2009 at 6:43am
Well written article, written from a perspective that WON'T start an all out flaming war by fanboys.
Oh wait, I didn't read the previous essays down here |
\/
OMGWTFBBQ
Mr Pockets151
August 26, 2009 at 6:33am
Since I use Windows and Linux interchangebly I mix my Bawls w/my beer.
To the last nugget!
jihnn
August 26, 2009 at 6:07am
i finally did it .. gave ms the big fu....sionora.... get lost....don't let the door hit ya on the way out..hahhah
ms will never get another dollar from me i just couldn't take it i feel good about it gonna be a new experience
hey anyone know where the on button is on this thing
dag1992
August 26, 2009 at 3:08pm
Usually I'm no person to do this, but your post makes no sense. Care to explain your grievances?
quickone
August 26, 2009 at 5:12am
"So sit back, grab a cold one (beer if you're a PC user, mocha
cappuccino if you're a Mac user, and Bawls if you're rocking Linux)"I laughed so damn hard when I read that, so true. I know 5
people who drink bawls and they are the 5 most hardcore Linux people I
know. And I am starting to winder if a Macbook works outside of a coffee
shop, I guess if you can afford that over priced computer you can
afford that over priced caffeinated beverage~~The difference between insanity and genius is merely succes~~
arkweld
August 25, 2009 at 11:32pm
You know what's funny about this list?
Windows 7 still breaks just as easily as ever and navigation is still poorly designed. It still hasn't adopted the interface flexibility that Mac OS has had since System 8.
Move an application to a different folder and W7 will still lose track of it. Try it yourself. Put Windows Defender in another folder and then try and open it from the Start menu.
Want to rearrange your applications folder on the fly in whatever way you want? That's probably going to break all the shortcuts as well. Want to install them on a separate drive? Don't expect them to work if you reinstall the system because thanks to the archaic registry throwing keys all over it's impregnable file system it's still impossible to just move your settings back and forth with ease.
Navigation is still two steps behind. There's a breadcrumb trail the top of every window. Logically I would think that since the file path is visible I can just drag a file from the window onto the folder listed. Nope. If I want to move a file or folder I have to dig through the convoluted explorer tree or open another window.
On a Mac for over ten years if you can see a folder icon on screen in the Finder it's an active folder. You can drag anything you want to it. Whether it's in the search result breadcrumb trail or sitting in the dock. Even the title of the folder window can be used to relocate it by just dragging it to a new location.
Windows 7 still doesn't have anything close to column view for quickly navigating and moving files. Contextual navigation trees in the task bar, simple and organized system file organization ...
Nope still not here yet.
MS need to dump the registry once and for all. It's holding back the entire OS and crippling it with software requirements that make the Enigma code look more futuristic.
Cregan89
August 26, 2009 at 8:53am
Yes, if you move the source file, the shortcut file loses track of it in Windows. But the same thing happens in OS X as well. The only difference is that in OS X, Apple made it very difficult to actually view an installed program's files because they are "packaged" together and the individual librarys and executables are hidden. If you try to move a program from OS X's "programs" folder, you are essentially uninstalling the program. So if you move a program from the programs folder in OS X all links to that program stop working.
Microsoft tries to hide a program's dll's and exe's as well. If you navigate to the "programs" folder in windows it comes up saying that "these are system files and making any changes to these files could cause your programs to stop working" and you must click to ignore the warning in order to actually move the files. There should be no reason to move these files anyways. If you want to install a program in a different directory in Windows, the proper way is to change the installation directory when you first install the program. This way your shortcuts are already aimed at the proper directory. This has absolutely nothing to do with the registry.
pcfxer
August 25, 2009 at 9:57pm
..or not. I'm a poor student and I'm stuying computer science and I have a Macbook, and love OSX. OSX is the *BSD that does the hours of tweaking and configuring all in one sinch. It is extremely powerful and the ability for me to dig down and use my usual *BSD CLI tools is incredible.
In fact, how about people who have no idea about how a computer works continue to use whatever is bundled with their machines because that is what happens. "regular" people think of PCs as appliances, no more than the family toaster and no less than the family television. That is just how it is.
Making brash and uneducated generalizations about the said users of operating systems is pointless. I guess I could also point out that at UNIX and Linux meetings, as I look up to the audience rolling in, there is a MAJORITY of Apple laptops gleeming with their glowing Apples. At the pub I find that only a few use OSX as a part-time OS and the others don't see the point since "if it works in OSX it'll generally work in *BSD". I mean what do they know though, right? It's not like their developers or anything.
gendoikari1
August 25, 2009 at 9:30pm
How about we stop bitching about OSes and just use the one we feel comfortable with? (Windows if you're an average Joe/a gamer, Mac OS if you have a wallet lined with gold and no thought as to how your computer works, and Linux, if you are neither)
da_samman
August 26, 2009 at 9:29am
THANK YOU!! FINALLY, a post I can relate to with regards to this article. I rock Windows because it is all I ever learned, plus I am a gamer. Still, maybe one day I will be able to get a Mac and learn that OS, and also maybe I will learn Linux and see if I can play WoW on it too (I know that there is a Mac version of WoW).
Sincerely yours, from Fort Lewis, WA
SGT Samuel E. McClard II
Life's a journey, enjoy the ride!!
mesiah
August 25, 2009 at 7:55pm
You're both idiots! If either of you had half a brain you could put them together and use linux.
Techrocket9
August 25, 2009 at 9:16pm
LOL!!!
_____________________________________________________
An army of pacifists can be defeated by one man with the will to fight.
Khaled
August 25, 2009 at 6:47pm
Let's see how long until we see a comment war between the various fanboys of all systems ...
I use Mac, Windows and Linux regularly so 'll have nothing to do with it :)
Thanks for the great post
Khaled
August 26, 2009 at 5:13am
Totally unrelated but I think MaxPC should talk about this ;)
http://www.massively.com/2009/08/25/cryptics-official-response-on-sold-out-champions-special-subscr/
I don't see a "submit news" form on the site :(
pcfxer
August 25, 2009 at 10:08pm
There are quite a few mistakes for the OpenStep -> OSX transition.
Apple implemented A LOT of NexTSTEP/OpenStep into OSX. Primarily the following:
TCP/IP (don't know why Maximum PC didn't mention this, but TCP/IP was FIRST on OpenSTEP and was the EASIEST to setup)
OpenStep application framework which was designed to operate in the same manner as CORBA (from Sun)
ExtensibleGraphics (images can be drawn almost simultaneously within windows, the FIRST to draw windows in a clipping region, GDI hadn't quite adopted this yet)
The ENTIRE Core of the OS, the kernel, an adoption of the MACH kernel implemented in a monolithic manner and communicating with the user through an API to stitch together BSD and MACH. Events and messages are keywords here and are what make the SMP prowess that lies beneath OSX.
The finder didn't exist in OpenStep, I don't know what crack MaximumPC is smoking but I want some because they are making up a lot of "facts". The finder existed only in MacOS (duh?) and was actually completely rewritten for its use in the new envrionment (OSX...OpenStep).
The interesting thing here is the reason why I don't subscribe. I still get the incorrect information that I used to but for much less money! MaximumPC should be renamed WindowsPC (Total BS).
Khaled
August 26, 2009 at 2:28pm
interesting insight pcfxer!
unfortunatly sometimes maxPC concentrates more on hating apple, a total shame.
