Friday, March 27, 2009

PCLinuxOS 2009.1 Mini review

Last time I was here I said that I would try to remember to comment on PCLinuxOS after I get a chance to install the final version. I have also previously tested at least two of the earlier test versions. The first test version would not load for me; I was disappointed; ALL previous PCLinuxOS versions, whether test or not, worked great. The second test version I tried, test 3, was better. Apps worked fine; wireless did not work.

The final version works a lot better. I installed it a few weeks ago on my Gateway PA6A laptop, then gave it to my son to use. I got wireless working fairly quickly on that one. This week I installed it on my Lenovo Y410 laptop and it was, if anything, even easier. I have not found any serious defects on either machine.

Just about everything you need for routine computing is on this system. The live CD boots in a reasonable amount of time, but if you load it completely into RAM then install from there, it is one of the fastest hard disk installations I know of. Only sidux is faster.

This is one of three really easy systems to use, and one of the few I would recommend to first time users. My two children use PCLinuxOS regularly when they spend time with daddy. On my GRUB bootloader menu, I put their names, followed by PCLinuxOS to make it easy to see in my multi-distro boot menu. They find it easily and have no problems using it. Is that enough of a testimonial to PCLinuxOS?

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