Linspire Five.0 CNR Edition
by Linspire, Inc.
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Our Price: $9.95
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Category: Software
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Software Summary
Manufacturer: Linspire, Inc.Brand: Linspire, Inc.
Format: CD-ROM
Release Date: 2005-02-15
Platform: Linux
Model: CSXXXRESXOOOFF
Product features:
- Advanced and secure Linspire Internet Suite, with tabbed Web browsing, Hot Word searching, in-line spellchecking and pop-up blockers
- Touch up the family photos with Lphoto, enjoy your favorite music with Lsongs
- The OpenOffice.org suite features powerful word processing, speadsheet, presentation, and drawing programs
- Work with Nvu, a full Web authoring solution
- Make free Web-based phone calls worlwide with the PhoneGaim utility
Software Reviews of Linspire Five.0 CNR Edition
Customer Review: It's called Freespire Now!
Summary: 3 Stars
Recently I had the opportunity to try Freespire. Just to make sure I wasn't missing out on anything, I went ahead and installed it to the hard drive of a Lenovo Y410 where the Windows OS had gone south.
As to the good points:
Installation was a breeze. Put the disk in and tell it to install. Took about 20 minutes total, give or take.
Slick interface. Really nice main page with bright colors and a minimum of fussiness. Very close to a Windows interface. Fact is, it's the Ubuntu Linux desktop with some enhancements. Ubuntu is a great OS if you haven't used it before.
Prefer the KDE desktop over the Gnome? Tough. You get what they load which is great for the uninitiated but not so great if you prefer a choice. This is both good and bad. If you have no experience with Linux then you go for the Windows-like Gnome interface; however, most newbies don't know this.
It detected my USB printer and camera and downloaded drivers for both. Windows never did this right.
It quickly found wireless hotspots, and it even detected my Ethernet connection without hesitating.
Instead of a gaggle of included apps, it offers something called CNR (Click And Run) which is an online website via Freespire where you can check out apps before downloading them. No only do you get in-depth descriptions of the apps but you also get customer reviews.
It's quicker than Windows once booted but is no quicker than Windows to boot. This is common among Linux systems. All operating systems do a system check upon booting so get used to it.
Mainly all of the apps, like OpenOffice are merely free clones of equivalent Windows based programs. This is good because one interfaces with the other without too many problems. You even get a free clone of Adobe Acrobat which costs close to $400 for Windows.
Virus problems? What virus problems? Very few are written for Linux so that worry is not something you have to fret over.
Freespire is based upon the Ubuntu release which means you get a steady OS and periodic free updates.
Now for the bad:
I got my distro from a Linux magazine that includes disks, but if you want to buy a disk it will set you back some bucks. Fact is, you can contact Ubuntu and they'll send you a disk for free or you can go to the Freespire website and they'll allow you to download the distro for free but you'll have to burn an ISO disk to run it. Amazon's price is not bad at all.
The Firefox browser included is dreadfully slow because the DNS check has been enabled (supposed to offer greater security against phishing and bad websites, but it's awfully poky). I had to do a quick Net check to find out how to disable the DNS (enter about:config in the URL area and scroll down and disable DNS). This is common to all new Linux distros that use Firefox and is not indicative of a Freespire problem.
Typical of Linux, there is still no standard for sound cards. The Linux Standard Architecture would not recognize my Soundblaster card and I had a devil of time getting it to work. I finally installed a USB sound device which it recognized right off the mark, but this required I use headphones. My onboard speaker system never worked. I had the same problems with Mandriva and Suse.
Unless you download a special app, you can forget playing DVDs. Due to copyright constraints it ain't happening anytime soon. Secondary apps do exist to play DVDs but there is no guarantee that they will work with Suse completely. Once I did get the DVD to work the playback was horribly choppy and erratic.
Although the CNR system is slick and rather nice, it does have its drawbacks. The parent company is on shaky financial ground and some of the apps on the CNR website are woefully out of date or, worse yet, placed in the wrong categories. I found an educational app in the games section where it most definitely didn't belong. In addition, the version of OpenOffice at the CNR is an older version than the one you get on the disk. Ditto for the Linux Instant Messenger called Pidgin. It was originally called GAIM but the name was changed because of AIM complaints. If you download GAIM it won't work but if you download Pidgin it will. They are the same program, though.
While it may seem the bad points outweigh the good, it's a matter of perspective. Linux always has had some bug issues but so does Windows or Apple OS. Linux suffers because it's an free OS (most can be downloaded for free but they do charge to mail you disks) and the Big Boys don't like the Free Guy knocking on their doors.
Fact is, Freespire is a slick OS that merits mention and is third behind my choices of Mandriva and Suse (one and two, respectively).
Description of Linspire Five.0 CNR Edition
Linspire CNR Edition is a full-featured computer operating system. It provides a stable, virus-free computing experience, that's incredibly easy-to-use. Use Linspire to do things on the Web, create and share documents, work with graphics, play music, organize digital photos, view rich multimedia files and easily connect to networks and peripherals. The CNR Edition includes a one-year subscription which provides access to the Linspire CNR Warehouse. Includes 1-year subscription to the CNR Service - an online library of over 2,000 programs Plug & Play ready - Plug in all your USB or Firewire devices, they'll be recognized in seconds - from scanners to digital cameras Add a printer more easily than ever with the Printer Wizard, while Easy Networking lets you read, write, share, and browse your network with ease System Requirements - 800MHz PC, 128MB RAM, 4GB free HDD space, SVGA or higher monitor, CD/DVD drive, Internet/LAN connectivityLinux & Unix Software
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