"From Windows to Linux in 60 seconds" is the promise on the cover of Test Driving Linux by David Brickner, and it certainly keeps its promise. I popped the included Move CD into the drive, re-booted my computer, and in less than a minute, I was looking at a Linux KDE desktop.
Much like Knoppix and other Linux Live CDs, the Move CD lets you boot into Mandrakesoft's Mandrakelinux 10.0 without disturbing the Windows-formatted contents of your hard drive. This benefit makes it possible to "test-drive" in the store a system configured for Windows, to see if it will work with Linux instead. The boot process actually looks for device drivers for your monitor, keyboard and mouse, printer, and so on, and then incorporates them into the Linux configuration. Network system settings are also moved, more-or-less seamlessly, into the Linux arena. With a memory key inserted, the configuration file is stored, and you skip over this process in subsequent boots from the CD.
Because the operating system is stored on a CD, your computer will run slower than you are used to—and the slower your CD-ROM drive, the more your patience will be tried. After using it satisfactorily on my main computer and two brand-new ones at Computer City, I even tried it on a creaky old PC with eight years under its AMD-chip belt—it worked, but I had time to make a sandwich in between window refreshes.
The CD doesn't just give you a peek at the world of Linux. It provides a full operating system, plus working versions of popular Linux-style open-source software. The "Kool Desktop Environment" (KDE) interface spawned a whole host of other K-initialed programs: Konqueror (Web browser and file manager), Kontact (eMail manager), Kmail (the eMail component of Kontact—think Outlook Express), and the Kicker panel (sort of like the Windows taskbar). These are included on the Move CD, and the reader can walk through using them with the careful instructions in Test Driving Linux.
Article comments
1 - Aaman
Kool
2 - Babalu
Can this distro be installed to disk if one chooses to do so?
Babalu
“The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth becomes the greatest enemy of the State.” ~Dr. Joseph M. Goebbels
3 - DrPat
I suppose you could move Move from the CD, if you wanted to and knew enough about installing an OS - but why would you bother? There are free Linux OS installers all over the Web, and for a little investment, you can even get the OS with a manual and tech support.
Chapter 13 even provides a road map to guide you to the most common "vendors," like Red Hat, Fedora and Slackware. You can visit the Linux Distribution watch for a more complete list.