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| Thread ID: 28962 | 2003-01-06 07:33:00 | Lycoris Desktop/LX Linux - Is it for YOU!?! | Chilling_Silence (9) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 111445 | 2003-01-06 07:33:00 | Review of Lycoris Desktop/LX Linux Build 0.61 This is a reveiw of the build that came witht the Australian PC User Collectors Pack 2002 Fully Bootable CD! Firstly off I booted off the CD - This wass very painless as I can simply press F8 and select Boot Drive with my mothoerboard, however, others may need to change their BIOS boot order to allow for booting off CD first! Installation was pretty painless, but my nVidia GeForce 4 wasnt picked up during setup, so I chose a GF2 card and configured it for the max 32MB (Even though my GF4 was 64Meg). It prompted for install drive etc, this was easy as I was going over my previous RedHat 8 install. I especially liked being able to play cards while the fiels were being copied. It gave me something to do while I waited for my cuppa to boil :-) It appeared to have stopped once or twice, but carried on after a minute! The GUI was nice and pleasant as well, right from the very begining, with what seems to be aiming to be as user friendly as possible, and I believe this has been accomplished well! Setup of the Network Card was dead simple, and I didnt get the chace to try out modem setup, connecting across a LAN, but on the homepage (http://www.lycoris.com) is a link about Lucent WinModems and how to get them working, should you have one. Boot loader was easy enough, giving me the option to boot to my other partitions, although two didnt contain an OS, only files! When it was all done, I was presented with an XP-Style Bliss Screen Desktop. It was right into it, no fuss, but at the specified 640x480 resolution. It would only let me choose this because my old monitor (Which can normally do 1024x768) will only run at 60hz Refresh Frequency) wouldnt do any higher resolution at a 60hz, only a higher rate. A little bit of fiddling around with the Control Center's Display Settings file and I had a fully wrecked display No fear though, upon reboot I was prompted with a choice, right before the GUI was loaded, a menu was brought up, giving me the option of repairing it to Desktop/LX's standard config, carry on as is, and 3 other things that were not needed. I chose restore standard and it was peachy, but back at 640x480. I took to the config file XF86config-4 and changed every reference to 640x480 (It was the only resolution setting in there) to my request of 1024x768. Log out and back in to reload the configuration and I was away! Easy as that! Everytihng was in an XP-Style interface, only the eye candy didnt seem quite so 'Intrusive' as XP's, and seemed a lot more natural! On the desktop there was 4 icons waiting for me to explore. My Linux System for file browsing, Network Browser for graphically network support for Linux and Windows-based PC's. There's Personal Files for holding My Pictures, Music, and a Web folder too! There was also the Recycle Bin, hungrily awaiting my unwanted files. My web connection was picked up over the LAN easy enough, browsing immediately on Mozilla which comes standard. I also found that to my delight my NTFS and Fat32 Partitions had been picked up and were sitting in the "My Linux System"! NTFS was only Read-Only, but that was all I expected. Looking on the bright side, at least Linux supports Windows FileSystems, whereas Windows does not support Linux FilSystems! I was playing my Avril Lavigne video hit in seconds :-) Also in My Linux System is the Control Center, which as mentioned before, is Windows Control Panel. From here, you'll need the "System password" which is also the root users password. In here you can configure your Video Settings, Printer, Internet/Network, Appearance, Userrs/Password, Multimedia, Setup Software and a few other things. Install New Software seeks floppy drives, or from the web. You also have the option to view and remove existing software installed. Looks to be very helpful! Personal Files was just that, where my Music, Web stuff, and Pictures were obviously supposed to be saved to. Windows users will feel right at home with this. Having had a wee look around, I decided to try and play some of my MP3's. I was about to connect and download the MP3 Playback plugin as needed for XMMS in RedHat 8, but it has been kindly bundled! I was ver happy with hours of music now ready for playback from my NTFS partition! Only down side is I couldnt edit one or two stray ID3 tags I had noticed, but a small issue, simply copyin the file to my NTFS partition, changing it and then copying it back when I next boot into windows (Im still yet to do that after 3 days of use)! I also noted that RealPlayer 8 is install for streaming web-media compatibilty. DVD Playback, something not native to Linux, also seems to be included in the video Media player I used to play my videos in. This looks quite a bit like Cyberlinks PowerDVD that I had been using in Win2K! I am yet to try playback, but it looks good, picking up my DVD-ROM in My Linux System with no additional configuration needed! I like my taskbar up the top, so that was next on my to do list. Right Click and selecting Preferences allowed my to change it so it was up the top, and was auto-hiding, Just how I like it. There's a quick-launch bar too, right next to the Iris menu, which is the Desktop/LX version of Windows Start Menu. Having a look around, I felt right at home with everything right where you would expect it, checking out all the software that is bundled with Desktop/LX. There is also a neat little setup, of the more advanced programs being under a folder in each individual Iris-menu folder called "More Programs" with extra things that you wont frequently use. I really like being able to switch between virtual desktops in Linux, customizing the background for each virtual desktop. This switcher sits in the taskbar, basically is a mini-screen of each virtual desktop! This could be very useful at work, having one for work-related materials, and one for PressF1 which you shouldnt be at during work hours now should you ;-) CD's are Auto-mounted and Auto-Run too. If there's more than one type of media, or if its a CD-Extra etc, it will prompt you with what to do! Another XP similarity, which I found comfortable to use. WINE is another thing that comes with Desktop/LX, with it distinguishing between Linux files, and MS Windows Executable as it calls them. This was great, and I even began to run Unreal Tournament, but it wasnt showing up as a task, so I couldnt switch windows to it, and I couldnt press any buttons to skip past the intro, but it got that far! Perhaps with a little tweaking I might be able to get the whole thing to go! Lycoris Desktop/LX Linux comes standard with the normal Linux apps, includeing games, image editing software, KOffice and a whole lot else! All up, Im gonna giv eit a 9/10, sue to the fact that its still not quite finished, and there still needs a bit of work on the driver side for displays, everything else seems fine. USB, PCMCIA all work (PCMCIA was tested on a laptop and picked up a NIC no prob!) The GUI is nicely polished, but not over-baked as XP can seem at first. The similarities to Windows will make many new to Linux feel right at home. I like it, and Im switched, however, this reveiw was not made with the intent of converting all Windows users to Linux, and although I may have critiqued a few things in windows, I do it to more explain the joys of using Desktop/LX, and am not trying to convert anybody to Linux! This was made with the intent of giving people an idea of what Lycoris Desktop/LX is like, if they are interested in tryin git out, or those who are thinking of trying aout Linux, but are un-sure of what dirstobution to go with. It is also good, as there is no download needed, as it comes with a Mag for only $8.95NZ! I hope you all enjoyed it, let me know what you think, and whether you will be trying it or not. Also, If you have got it, let me know if I have missed anything! Cheers Chilling_Silence |
Chilling_Silence (9) | ||
| 111446 | 2003-01-06 08:00:00 | What a great review Chilling! :D - well done! One question though - Was there an option for using Lilo as a boot manager instead of grub for dual booting with Windows? I just need to reorganise a few things on my slave drive and then I will be definitely installing Lycoris! (I rushed out and brought the magazine at the weekend!) Jen |
Jen C (20) | ||
| 111447 | 2003-01-06 08:27:00 | Im pretty sure there was Another thing is there's Remote assitance, and Desktop Sharing like XP, could come in handy for those PC n00b grandparent you made a cheap PC for and put Desktop/LX on :D Im pretty sure I got most basic stuff, but feel free to ask a Q in here about it's features or whatever if you're curoius and I'll see what I can cook up :) Cheers Chilling_Silence |
Chilling_Silence (9) | ||
| 111448 | 2003-01-06 08:36:00 | That was a very interesting review Chill, and one I would have been proud to write myself. I am going to try and download a copy as the APC seems to be sold out wherever I look. BALDY:-) |
Baldy (26) | ||
| 111449 | 2003-01-06 08:36:00 | > > I just need to reorganise a few things on my slave > drive and then I will be definitely installing > Lycoris! Point to note, if you're installing it and wanna share the HDD, copy all your stuff to the primary drive, and boot off a 98 floppy and use FDisk . Partition 1 half or whatever for your doze files, and leave the other bit un-partitioned for Lycoris to take control with . Then, copy the files off the primary back onto the slave doze partition, otherwise you'll lose your data . Might be worth taking a look at the partitioning FAQ if you're unsure . If you already know this . . I just thought I'd point it out . Good luck :-) > (I rushed out and brought the magazine at > the weekend!) > > When I saw it I couldnt believe it had Lycoris Desktop/LX on it, so I spent some of the money I was s'posed to use to buy a shirt for christmas with (You know, one of the "Here's $20, go get some clothes that fit properly and arent so baggy on ya* from the grandparents who dont like large clothing :D |
Chilling_Silence (9) | ||
| 111450 | 2003-01-06 08:39:00 | > I am going to try and download a copy as the APC > seems to be sold out wherever I look . > Download was about 550Megs last time I check I think, but its not the APC mag that had Mandrake on it in November Its the Australian PC User Mag - 2002 Collectors Edition! Blue cover, also has the full EverQuest game on one CD, with 30 days free trial online :D That's 3CD's in all, but its not the APC mag :-) I just got it from the corner dairy :p |
Chilling_Silence (9) | ||
| 111451 | 2003-01-06 09:51:00 | All we need now is some screen shots ;\ | Dolby Digital (160) | ||
| 111452 | 2003-01-06 11:46:00 | Nice one Chilling_Silence :) Very interesting review, thanks for the info. I thought the Lycoris version of Linux would be worth a look. | Rod J (451) | ||
| 111453 | 2003-01-06 19:33:00 | Dolby> There's http://www.lycoris.com for some screenshots, but Im more than happy to post a URL to some of mine later on tonight! | Chilling_Silence (9) | ||
| 111454 | 2003-01-07 06:07:00 | Well, I have gone and done it!!! :D Lycoris installed with no problems, monitor settings are not quite right (but working on it) and my modem was detected (being a hardware external modem that was not suprising) . Within minutes of the desktop loading I was able to connect to the net and I am making this post from Lycoris with Mozilla as the browser :D . Unfortunately you are not given the choice of using Lilo, it was grub or whatever windows boot manager you had already installed - so grub it is . My only pressing problem at the moment is I cannot eject the installation CD from the drive (tried right-clicking on the CD drive and selecting eject but nothing happens - paperclip trick is not doing much either) . Anyway - for all those considering linux, Lycoris is a very user-friendly installation OS, and as Chilling mentioned, looks very similar to Windows XP in destop appearance . Jen [pre]I really hope I can get this installation CD out without having to perform surgery![/pre} |
Jen C (20) | ||
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