Please “only answer” if you have actually installed
Linspire 4.5 or higher and ran it for more than 2 weeks.

This poll is not intended for anti-linspire linux users
that have never even run the distribution.

If you have used Linspire 4.5 and higher, please post
your likes and dislikes, the pros and cons. Two weeks
may not be enough time to fully evaluate this distribution,
but please try to be positive and constructive in your comments.

Thank you

Linspire 4.5 provides a very approachable Linux for us newbies. Most of what I want to do is accommodated. There is however a trade off that may no matter to others. We have to wait to get the latest releases and some application features aren't available -- particularly plug-ins. Although stuck on an older version of Mozilla I was able to install and use both Firefox and Thunderbird because they aren't upgrades to Linspire provided applications.

Hi all,

I am finally able to write a small review on Linspire.
I have been using it now for more than 2 weeks
and here is what I have experienced.

1.Easy installation
2.Easy setup of dual boot with XP
3.Major support help from the people on their forums
4.Easy CNR “click and run”
I only pay $4.95 a month for CNR and I can install any
of the programs in their huge database with the click of
a button. No headaches = priceless
5.The speed of Linspire is also impressive. I have run
many different distributions of linux, but this seems
to be much snappier than the other distributions.
However this is my first Debian based distribution,
which may account for the appearance of programs opening
faster.
6.VNC or Remote Desktop was easy to setup with the instructions
that I found on their forums. Vncserver is the program that I use
from the CNR warehouse.
7.The default browser that comes with Linspire appears to be
more compatible with web page appearance than
other browsers on other distributions. This may be
due to particular fonts, but the sites that I most commonly
visit look almost exactly like they do in Internet Explorer.
This is the first time that I have seen a browser
on Linux display pages correctly or as they were intended.

Conclusion:
Linspire is an excellent distribution for a new computer user
or an experienced computer user. EASY to use is the first thing
that comes to my mind when I think of Linspire. I did “not”
experience any of the GUI bugs that I found in some of the
other Linux distributions. The GUI is KDE and appears to
be very fast at starting programs.

System:
I tested Linspire on 2 computers.
Each machine was using a Geforce 2 video card, 1.6Ghz Duron,
at least 256MB of system RAM, newer motherboard.

Some additional things that I have not yet tried with Linspire,
but hope to soon, are listed below.

-home networking (file sharing)
-cd burning
-graphics design

My background:
Computer user since 1994 primarily with M$
2002 Started working with Linux, but only in a multiple server capacity.
-Red Had Personal and Enterprise
2003-2004 Starting using Linux as a desktop solution
-Mandrake 9, 10
-SuSE 8.2, 9.0, 9.1
-Red Had Personal, Fedora, Enterprise
-Linspire 4.5

The only thing i was looking for was simplicity and friendly.

I don't care about compiling stuff, customization or whatever I just needed something that would work well on my laptop.

I've used mandrake 9.2 and 10 (i still have 10 on my desktop) and i wouldn't say linspire is "superior" but it's extremely newb friendly.

As for improvements, of course linspire has lots of room to grow. I'm pretty sure it can be faster and leaner like other distro's. As a product in the marketplace, it's great for people who just need the basics and nothing fancy. Low cost solution.

I have installed Linspire on my parent's machine. The good:

**Setup is a breeze. Really no trouble there at all.

**GUI is easy enough to follow and use and make the transition from other operating systems.

**Click-n-Run provides quite a bit of software, all of which is intalled easily.


The bad:

**Very, very slow to get up. It takes a good two minutes to boot up. I thought this was perhaps a hardware issue, but after installing it on a friend's laptop as well, it seems to be more of a Linspire issue.

**Tends to be a little memory hungry.


Honestly, I think there is a marketplace for this distro, but not likely with diehard Linux users. It's great for my parents and others looking for something different, but doesn't allow me enough freedom to use it day to day.

You will find the home networking set up with Linspire is a breeze to set up - cd buring if you download and install K3B is a piece of cake and grafix design is no better no worse than any Linux based package like Nvu, howevre like Xandros you can download codeweavers crossover office and plugins form $39.99 or therabouts and use Dreamweaver mx2004 ( version 3.0 of crossover office version 2.0 etc only supports dreamweaver MX) so you do have options by the way crossver can be installed on any Linux box but Xandros and Linspire customise thier offerings for better compatibily (like apple had to do with the MAC oS 10. and up which is also Linux based )



When you have gotten used to using a debian package manager the limitations of lInspire can irk you quite a lot but as they say somehwere in this forum you can download the working full debian package manager and use that - lol hell if you can find the YaSt program ( a great package manager) in .deb form that would be cool too -- see typical Linux nut - I love playing with new toys and SuSe has just released YaST on the GNU FSF licence , ahhhh blisss

I run a quite elderly HP PII-400 / 192M RAM with one of the last versions of Lindows (prior to Linspire) 4.5, and am extremely happy with it. Like most Linux distros, it does not detect the Aztech sound card fitted oem on this particular machine. Only SuSE seems to, probably because of JACK.

I'm extremely happy with running the original Linspire/Mozilla internet suite, and also the Firefox browser, available for download through CNR. Yes CNR is magic, it takes the hassles out of install and configure... I had no end of strife with QNX (admittedly not Linux) and SuSE and Mandrake on stuff that didn't go smoothly.

I only use MSIE (coupled with the 3rd party customising app called MyIE2 which adds nice things like tabs and filters) for checking web pages I've designed - because you need be sure they look right in all browsers. My default windows browser is Firefox so whether I'm using Microsoft or Linspire all web pages look similar.

I run Apache 1.3.31 in both Lindows/Linspire and this dual boots (yes it does!) along with the OS on to windows - whether 2000 or 98, extremely well, even running a dozen vhosts. This is to reduce downtime if either OS crashes. Easily done, too.

I love the Linspire networking. Beats the pants off anything else I have found, in both directions. But especially I like the Network Share Manager which I think is a Lindows/Linspire home developed utility. Top marks.

Don't know what else to say. I'm retired, approaching 70, and enjoying my retirement particularly with Linux... the Linspire way. I do run SuSE 9.0 and 9.1 some of the time too.

I don't dual boot much. I mostly use plug-in IDE drives accessible from the front of the machines on which I have set this up.

I also have a locally built tower case with an MSI board running a 1300 Duron processor with 256 megs of RAM that handles the current Linspire 4.5 very nicely - including sound. Seems to handle it far better than Mandrake.

I do like Knoppix... I had 3.3 installed to HDD at one time, as a dual boot. Currently have 3.4 and 3.6 available to demo with, alongside my Lindows and Linspire 4.5 and SuSE 9.0 9.1 and 9.2 live CDs. I don't like SuSE 9.2

Sun JDS has a nice feel too.

Someone mentioned YaST. Oh yes, wouldn't that be lovely to incorporate that seamlessly into Linspire! A real major reason to use SuSE imho.

You are almost 70 and using a computer??? That is awesome!!!
I am not making fun of you. I just wish I could get my folks to use one.
If they do decide to use one, I have already made plans for them to use Linspire.
A. Ease of use
B. Security of linux

Awww thankyou kindly sir!

Actually I'm not really elite - if I had never converted from drawing board to AutoCAD for DOS in about 1986 I probably would not be as computer-literate now as I had no choice but to become through needing to be my own support person. :grin:

I spent some time trying to encourage older folks in the work force to see the advantages of computers as tools. This is one reason I like Linux, particularly those distros like Linspire which are simple (as in "useable by dummies") to both install and operate, and which don't need hours of time holding the machine's hand while it needs repairs.

As a one-time plant commissioning engineer I (fortunately) never saw a Microsoft computer in industrial use - as factory reliability should tend towards 100% uptime hopefully. Always dedicated black boxes in my day.

My father was a manual draftsman. They tried to get him
to use computers back then, but they troubled his eyes
due to the low refresh rates back then. So his company
allowed him to retire early with his pension.

I thought that I would follow his footsteps and went
to school for AutoCAD 12. I finally got a job
as a draftsman, but thought it was to boring
for my tastes. A few years later I became a system admin.

I finally got around to doing networking in Linspire
and changed my Suse machine to Linspire. It was
very easy to setup. I have been posting alot more
on the official Linspire forums, but I pop in here
now and again.

Yeah, DOS screens here in Australia in the mid to late 80s were basic 14-inch ones... and often monochrome... ie you could have black and white, black and green, or black and yellow! I remember those CGA monitors. And oh joy! the EGA came along! I did use a magnificent 17-inch with a CATIA installation at one place I contracted to, and a similar one with I-DEAS (both of those are mainframe CAD systems).

I could run AutoCAD ver 2.6 on my own first computer, an Amstrad PPC640 so-called portable with two 3-1/2inch floppy drives and no HDD, and seven or nine inch black and green LCD screen. It's claim to fame was a fullsize keyboard.

In 1990 I worked for six months in Sweden using Cambridge Interactive Systems' MEDUSA software on the (I think) 26th node of a very slow VAX. Time to get a cup of strong Swedish coffee during a screen refresh, lol.

I bought AutoCAD 10i-386 for my brand new 386 processor clone with a 20Gb HDD and 4Mb RAM in early 1991. Haven't things moved on since then, lol!

It can be boring. I took up writing for the Australian CAD monthly to keep sane during this time. Mainly useful hints and tips, a sort of support department mainly for for drawing-board converts who represented over 50% of the paying readership, although they were outnumbered by corporate readers who maybe had a dozen of more per printed copy. And this led to evaluating shareware and commercial software. The magazine closed recently because of the overheads vs the falling advertising.

I enjoyed the challenges of using LISP to create useful commands the AutoCAD programmers hadn't considered would be needed, and modifying cascading menus, dialogue boxes etc to enable productivity... funny how they get guys who never use the product to write it, lol

I like SuSE too. I think the YaST management system Novell have promised to make open source is one of the best set-up tools devised.

I enjoy network stuff. While I did three courses on AutoCAD - a basic course, a customising course, and an AutoLISP programming course, networking is something I've had to pick up on the side. Both methods of learning have their plusses and minusses, I think

My guess is that you use a similar nick over there, which has changed recently?

Overall, I give Linspire 4.5 the thumbs up. I tried Suse and Mandrake, but I found myself spending hours just trying to accomplish simple tasks (too much windows use).

CNR is the best thing since sliced bread for me. You'll always hear ppl moaning about paying for the membership fee, but I'd rather pay that than waste many hours trying to install apps and all dependencies. I just wanna click and go. Besides at onley $50 a year its a steal. In uk thats only about £30. In which I get massive discounts on software from the warehouse and system updates (including new realeases of Linspire)....absolute Bargin. When you compare that to the cost of XP - say no more!

There are a few things that bug me still though. I build websites as a living and rely heavily on PhotoShop CS and Homesite, none of which run on Linspire. I am trying to get to grips with gimp but Photoshop is just unbeatable (they have the ideal keyboard shortcuts for speed).
I'm also kinda used to the power of homesite now and many of the other html editors I see out there just feel a little clunky. If anyone who has come from homesite background can suggest an alternative, greatly appreciated

My last moan would have been about games, but I cannot do that anymore thanks to http://www.transgaming.com/ - 100% support for halflife2 - enough said!!!

Also with ATI now making drivers for my Radeon 9700 Pro for Linux....I'm a happy chappy!

So Good work peps at Linspire...Roll on version 5.

Guys, you're all speaking about this CNR thing. Due to Linspire (God I liked the Lindows name better) being a Debian based distro can you still do the normal download the program from whatever site and manually install without going through this automatic process?

Cheers

windeath the answer is "yes and no". A bit like the jokes that start "I have some good news, and some bad news".

Remember that the distro is based on Debian. It is not "pure" Debian.

You can use apt-get, yes, just like any Debian user does.

However, and perhaps this is why most of us who use the distro praise CNR, the downloads in the warehouse have been adapted - and the changed source is available for sighting and use.

With the downloads are repackaged dependencies also, tailored to suit the Linspire system.

So if you use apt-get, it is possible that you can end up breaking something that prevents other applications working.

There is a large section of the linspire.com forum devoted to this very topic... and the CNR engineers frequently respond in person to problems.

For example a recent update to (I think) LPhoto - a camera and other digital images album/online album/ slideshow application created by Linspire - broke dependencies to several other applications and you can read about this here: https://forum.linspire.com/forum/sho...fpart=all&vc=1

Regarding the name, I think you will find that many of us prefer the old one

Thank you for your quick and concise reply eagles-lair. I had a feeling that was going to be the type of answer I'd get. Thanks again.

BTW how's the weather in Adelaide? It's as hot as Microsoft (whoops) Hell here in Melbourne tonight.