By Bob LaFave, Tampa PC Users Group
boblala@ij.net

I was visiting with Steve Singer at RDI, and he mentioned that he is now a distributor for LindowsLite version 3.0.23. After we talked for awhile, he offered me the program to experiment with. Of course, I could not refuse, so I tried it on my current computer. By using my current computer, I could compare how it performs versus my Windows ME that I currently use. Lindows is being advertised as the cheaper solution to Windows. Lindows’ full version includes more programs than just an OS, and you should save by just buying their full package over, say, Windows and then purchasing MS Office. Lindows is also being offered preinstalled on computers and is sold through the Wal-Mart chain. LindowsLite is a smaller version that does not include the more advanced programs such as StarOffice Suit. The Lite version has basic programs included which give you an operating system and what I would call other basic programs. These basic programs give you word processing, Internet access through your ISP, Internet messaging and more. There are also free programs that can be downloaded from http://www.lindows.com in what they call a Lindows Jr. membership for the Lite version. The Jr. membership costs nothing additional, and you have 17 programs available after you register your Lindows OS on the web site.

You can also buy a full membership for $99.00 as an upgrade. This entitles you to about 1,777 programs that are on the site. There is a charge for some of the programs, but they are offered with a discount for the members. The majority of the programs are FREE to members. Whether you are using the Full or Jr. memberships, these downloaded programs are part of the OS itself. The web site is accessed from the taskbar icon for what they are calling Click-N-Run warehouse.

Before adding Lindows to your existing system or purchasing in a prebuilt machine, I would advise you to go to the web site and view what you have available in both programs and hardware choices. Currently there are limited choices of both for programs that you are used to, and some of the hardware you currently have may not have drivers and you may not be able to use them. What I have found out so far is that Lindows appears to be a stable OS that can be used for people with specific needs. If you have hardware items that you expect to use or software that you expect to add, check before you purchase to see if Lindows is compatible. For people looking for a cheaper first system or a second system, Lindows may be for you.

I have a 4.2GB Fujitsu hard drive that I installed Lindows on by itself. Not wanting to affect my current data, I figured this would be the safest way. The Lindows OS CD is made to install from your CD drive so you must be able to boot your computer from the CD to install; no diskettes are needed. I scanned the CD beforehand for any read me files or other documents for any instructions but was unable to find any. So I just put the CD in and waited. The installation started and went along the same as many other programs do: You get a screen that has a wallpaper that tells you the steps that are occurring.

This first screen is detecting and loading your computer graphics, system, modules, CD-ROM and other hardware. No choices are offered at this point. The first choice is how to INSTALL Lindows on the computer, as part of currently used hard drives or by itself on a single hard drive. I chose the single hard drive and was asked for a computer name and password; the hint was given to not forget the password if used because there is no way to recover if forgotten. Easy choice is to not use a password. You are then asked to verify the setup of your choices for installation of hard drive, name and password. After you accept your choices, the installation screen changes to a wallpaper that has a installation process gauge to watch, and on the right there is a preview section showing graphics of what the Lindows program can do. This process is much the same as others and went along smoothly until it reached 99% installed and I received a “ Fatal Error 600”. No other information was given, so I just restarted the whole process to see what I got; I had no way to get to the internet without shutting down the computer and changing IDE cables for hard drive access. Again, it went through the same sequence and at each I was asked to make my choices again; no information was saved from the previous try. The installation went to the same spot, and I received the same error.

I have installed Windows many times on different machines and know some of the problems that occur in its installation. One I know is that with the high speeds of CD-ROMs and the computers themselves, sometimes you need to slow everything down. In Windows you can look at the read me and it will tell you methods to do this. Here I just had a hunch. I went and took the installation CD from the 48-speed CD and put it in a slower 20-speed drive…. success. This time the installation did not stop. After only about 10 minutes I got “ Installation is now Complete,” and it rebooted. I then got “Shutdown Complete ... Please remove CD if installed from a CD ... Press any key to continue.” The restart went to the Lindows desktop, and I had a box with choices to make of: Set Time, Advanced and Finish.

Set time was easy since it showed the current time, advanced was more extensive and had choices of Set Administrative Passwords, Set Display Resolution, Add Users and Rename Computer. I changed none of these and just went to Finish and received a “Congratulations”.

I was now at the Lindows Desktop without any tasks to perform other than exploring what features were available and how to get things done. There is an animated tour available both from the desktop and at the web site that is a brief explanation of the icons. I found that there is an icon of an orange life vest in the bottom taskbar that gives you access to help that you will find very useful. As I have explored over the last couple of weeks, I have found most of what is in Lindows. Lindows did not like my printers, and the web site will explain that in general Lexmark printers will not work; there are more than 1000 printers from 40 names supported but not Lexmark. It will recognize my Z11 printer, but as of yet I have not found any settings to make it work. My Lexmark i3 is also recognized as a USB printer, but again no success as making it work yet. Lindows only likes certain modems; as of now I have only my external modem recognized and working. Lindows does not recognize my internal modem or my USB external modem: the web site has a list of modems that will work with no problems and the chipset used for the modems. Lindows found my sound card, PCI control card and the 2 CD-ROMs still connected, and they all appear to work. My Canon scanner and HP Photo scanner are recognized, but I have not found a way to see if they are working or not; these are both USB and the Lindows Web site says USB is fully supported. Lindows likes my USB SanDisk 6 – 1 Card Reader and Logitech webcam, but I am still trying to find software for the webcam.

I will continue to play with Lindows for awhile and see what happens over the next few months with the hardware items that are not currently working and see what software is available at other web sites for Lindows. My overall opinion so far is:

Would I or will I change to Lindows in the current version … NO. It does not offer me any reason to on a system that is currently configured as a Windows system, either because of current hardware or software limitations that are usable inside the Lindows OS.

Would I purchase a system that has Lindows pre-installed … YES. I would check the system out beforehand to see what was included, but if it could do what I wanted with the hardware and programs installed, I would consider it compared to similar machines available in the price range. I went to Wal-Mart and played with a system they sell with Lindows pre-installed and it seemed to be a quality product but was limited in what it would do.

Lindows OS is very similar to Windows in both looks and how to get things done, but so is Linux. To see how Linux looks and behaves, you can go on the Internet and do a search for Linux Knoppix and you should find listings where this version is free and will run from a CD. You can download an .ISO image and burn it to a CD, and the CD will be bootable from a CD-ROM. The CD will boot to the Linux desktop and you will have accessible programs to experience the Linux environment. No installation files are added by playing with the CD. Both systems are similar to Windows and are trying to be alternatives that can fill certain needs and pricing for computer manufacturers and users. Only time will tell as to advantages of these and other systems. u