Xandros 2.5 Business Edition: A Windows Killer? 23
An anonymous reader writes "Flexbeta reviews Xandros Business Desktop 2.5 which is aimed directly at Microsoft Windows users who want to run a Linux Distribution within a mixed network, especially networks based around a Microsoft Windows Domain Controller or Active Directory Server. What makes this latest version of Xandros a Windows killer? Apart from the networking capabilities, Xandros also features drag and drop CD burning as well as Crossover Office 3, letting you run MS Office and Internet Explorer."
Ummmm... $$$ for Downloads? Not so Killer anymore. (Score:5, Interesting)
I went to the Xandros site thinking "Hey! Another distro to try. Time to grab an ISO!" Sadly, the download section of their site is relagated to the "About" [xandros.com] page and they charge for the download... Except for the "Open Circulation" edition which has few [xandros.com] of the features advertised here (It doesn't even come with Mozilla and has crippled CD burning software) The only edition to have all of this "killer" tech is the business edition for a $129 download fee (you get some books and some closed source-ware too).
Given the price, this doesn't look so "killer" anymore. In fact, it looks a bit over-priced. I may fork over $100 for a nice SuSE boxed edition, but I still have the opportunity to run the full distro for free if I take the time to download it instead. If I'm forced to pay $129 for a distro, why not just go pick up XP Home? What, if any, is the incentive for people to switch then? To pay one greedy company over another? Has anyone tried the "Open Circulation" edition that thinks the full version would be worth the cash?
Of all the distros I've tried... (Score:3, Interesting)
Then I tried the RC1 installer for Debian Sarge, upon which XandrOS (and Linspire) are based. Hands-down, the current Sarge release is the best desktop Linux I've ever tried. The clincher was when a friend sent me a video inside an email, and when I opened it in Thunderbird, the video started playing. Just like a real desktop OS should.
I'd tried Woody and Sid previously, and been underwhelmed -- but Sarge is terrific.