Long time no see; I've been away from the Linux community for a year focusing on other avenues.;nbsp; Yesterday I closed distro-review.com down and ported the Linux reviews over to this blog again.;nbsp; Having been away from the scene for a long while it seems fitting to review Ubuntu 9.04 and see how the situation has changed.

My decision to review Ubuntu 9.04 first is obvious; it has long been the poster-child for the usable Linux movement and those familiar with my previous work will know that I only care about usability.;nbsp; I don't care how advanced the architecture is, or that distro-x supports up to 32 cores.;nbsp; I care about ease of use and how painless it is to get a fresh ready for everyday use.

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Has Linux stagnated?;nbsp; Is Ubuntu no longer the poster child?;nbsp; Has it stopped pioneering usability?;nbsp; Or have we literally reached a plateau where things are as good as they can get for usability and it's just a case of tidying up the graphics driver support etc?

The last Ubuntu I reviewed was 8.04 Alpha and while I didn't dabble with it for long, I found it to be a reasonable step in the right direction.;nbsp; So with 9.04 what has changed?

Installation
The installation process is still fairly good, although the step where you choose which drive to install to seems to have gone backwards.;nbsp; I remember in 8.04 it was more intuitive than this...;nbsp; Either way, the whole process is easy and certainly within the ability of someone who can install Windows.

Aesthetics
While the OS itself looks the same (and has done since Breezy Badger as far as I can tell), the login screen looks fantastic this time around.;nbsp; Very sleek and professional.

Networking and Media Handling
Because I insist on evaluating operating systems based on their initial functionality and ease of use, I weight decent media support and networking very heavily.;nbsp; Networking in Ubuntu has always been good and 9.04 is no exception.;nbsp; The media playback however seems to be less intuitive than in previous releases.

Having toyed with every major release since Breezy Badger, I've seen the last few download codecs on demand and it's always worked perfectly.;nbsp; This time it does correctly identify the missing codecs but fails to install them.;nbsp; In order to view the video files I have saved on a network enabled machine, I needed to download and install VLC.;nbsp; I day say this isn't something the ;quot;normal;quot;, absent minded user would be able to manage.;nbsp; I only knew to install VLC because of prior knowledge, you'd expect the platform default player to be as durable as possible. ;nbsp;

A nice (seemingly new) feature that I like is the automatic mapping of viewed network folders to your desktop; so browsing my media-server machine it automatically mapped my ;quot;TV Shows;quot; folder to my desktop.;nbsp; This may be the first time an operating system has done something of it's own accord and I've been appreciative. ;nbsp;

Once I'd got VLC installed everything worked fine. ;nbsp;

Applications:
I expect ;quot;usable;quot; releases to either provide a full suite of software to the user post-install or make the interface for obtaining new applications so simple it's within the realm of any 'average' user.;nbsp; I'm in a quandry as to where Ubuntu falls...;nbsp; The applications provided post install are sufficient for very basic use but it's not exactly a full studio - meaning even the most average of user will long for more.;nbsp; The Add-Remove applications menu is acceptable if not a little overwhelming for the uncertain.;nbsp; In something I refer to as the ;quot;agony of choice;quot;, usability suffers when people are given free reign. ;nbsp;

If you dare select ;quot;all available applications;quot; you'd better be well provisioned, because you could die from starvation before you could read the description of every application available.;nbsp;

Sure they're categorised but if Joe Blogs isn't quite sure what category his desired application lives in, he could end up reading every single description across 2-3 categories.;nbsp; Unless you know the name of the application you require (VLC in my case) it may be problematic.;nbsp; Although, I guess this is true of any release that doesn't offer a full software studio by default.

The only thing I think of when using Ubuntu 9.04 is how little things have progressed in the past year.;nbsp; I've avoided any Linux related news for over 9 months and step into my first review in a long while and everything has stayed the same.;nbsp; I know the next Ubuntu is out in 2 months (and this one is a few months old) but I really expected more.

Has Linux stagnated?;nbsp; Is Ubuntu no longer the poster child?;nbsp; Has it stopped pioneering usability?;nbsp; Or have we literally reached a plateau where things are as good as they can get for usability and it's just a case of tidying up the graphics driver support etc?;nbsp; I'll muse this subject in a separate blog post.;nbsp; In conclusion, this Ubuntu release is perfectly capable but seems to personify the lack of enthusiasm the community is enduring.

Here we are again, another day and another newly released distro. This time I'm investigating the popular SimplyMepis 6.5 which seems to have a thriving community and a strong base of supporters so it seems only right to give this new release the normal treatment.

So let's discuss what I'm looking for. As always I'm evaluating distros from a new-users' point of view; to attempt to assess how easily an XP user could make it their new home. Why can I do this? Because I too am an XP user natively and have dabbled in many distros, studied user interfaces and HCI (human computer interaction) and therefore feel in a suitable position to make a judgement.

I'm looking for how well SimplyMepis 6.5 handles media playback, connecting to my current network and general editorial use.

Under the premise that the ;quot;average;quot; user will play music and videos on their machine, browse the Internet and dabble in Office/Graphical applications I will be putting the distro through these same tasks. I'm deliberately not touching the gaming issue for obvious reasons.



#1. Network to my Windows network and grab a video file to play
SimplyMepis is a KDE app so I'm more at home here but it's not a complicated procedure: click applications, what do I want to do? Transfer files across the Internet/network, right, so I hover over ;quot;Internet;quot; and then ;quot;File Transfer;quot; and there is my normal app - GFTP. Not a difficult process to find an obviously named FTP app (it just so happens I run an FTP server in the house for secure file transfers, but you could just as easily grab the tried and tested NTFS R/W driver from Synaptic). There were no issues what-so-ever connecting to the Internet or accessing my current network and in the screenshot below you'll see the episode of Family Guy transferring across to my desktop:



#2. Play the episode of Family Guy
Any XP user will know the pain of a fresh install and media-support. You need to install Codecs and remove any clashes and likely spend more than 30mins sorting it all out (unless, like me you've done it so many times you have everything you need backed up on a DVD). Codecs in XP can be an absolute pain in the arse so it's not strange to expect similar levels of discomfort from Linux. Lies, all lies it seems. Once again I double click on the episode and it just plays without issue or delay. Infact see it playing in the screenshot below with this review being written in KWrite behind it... Yet again this new wave of usable Linux continues to impress me through the no-hassle approach.



#3. Browsing the Internet
Well, clearly not an issue anymore (although this wasn't attempted on a Laptop with a wireless connection as I would hope to - I still haven't placed a sensibly priced notebook to do this on). Distros come with Firefox preinstalled and there's never going to be a problem connecting to a hard-ADSL line so connecting to the Internet isn't the headache it once was (although the situation is probably different when battling with all the different wireless devices of this world.

#4. Editorial, Office and Image editing
The GIMP comes installed as standard (as normal) so your image editing needs are always catered for in this Photoshop substitute. OpenOffice comes as standard too so that's all your office needs sorted as well (and if you've used MS-Office before then you'll be right at home). So out of the box functionality is quite comprehensive as you'd expect but what about installing new software?

#5. Installing new software
It's worth expressing again that ;quot;stereotypically;quot; people think it's difficult to install things in Linux - with hours of sitting scratching your head at the command line trying to install packages, finding the pre-requisits and then trying again. Times have changed people, now Synaptic Package Manager makes everything easier than you could have dreamed. You open it up, browse a catalogue of applications and pick the one you want. Mark it for download and it'll download it (along with any pre-requisits), install it and notify you when your new app is ready to be used. Difficult? No. I can't actually remember the last time I needed to use the Terminal (command line) in these popular Linux distros... Which is a good step.

Everything seems to be catered for once again. Out of the box functionality is equivalent to a few hours of tiresome installing in XP

Obviously that's what you want from these new distros - a level of usablity that borders on fool-proof. You don't need to venture into the wide world of the Internet to find applications (well, not in the traditional ;quot;browser;quot; sense anyway) and SimplyMepis just handles all the complicated bits for you.

How does it feel to use
Obviously less quantifiable but it feels good - a fairly typical KDE environment. I set up my location to be Cambridge UK and the desktop informed me of the time and the weather (including times for sunrise/sunset, dew point, temperature...) which I do quite like (albeit if it's not functionality beyond that offered by Google Desktop... It doesn't have all the razzle dazzle of PCLinuxOS2007 (Compiz/Beryl enabled from the second you install it) but it can be obtained through Synaptic without issue - that I'm nigh certain of. It just works is all I can say. This is yet another great distro to rightfully stake for a place on the ;quot;Usable Linux;quot; battle

Overall
Overall it's great. SimplyMepis takes a lot from the first word of it's name ;quot;Simple;quot;. As per the other distros I've reviewed recently (Ubuntu Feisty Fawn, PCLOS2007) everything that you would want is just offered directly out of the box - you could seriously be watching DVD-Ripped movies within minutes of installing SimplyMepis (as you could in Ubuntu and PCLOS I might add). Of course the distros ARE different in how they do things but when I'm looking at things at this level of basic functionality. SimplyMepis just works and that's exactly what it should do - offering what you'd expect from a few hours of installing in XP directly out of the box. This is yet another strong contender for the Usable Linux title

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It's getting to the point where I should just rename ;quot;April;quot; and ;quot;October;quot; on my calandar ;quot;Ubuntu!;quot; because that's what it just boils down to. If you have any interest in the state of open source software then you'll know that Ubuntu tends to be the benchmark; the high standard that other releases are measured against (whether it's suitable or not).

However I always expect the next Ubuntu release to disappoint me in some way. Not because I've ever been disappointed by one before; quite the opposite. Ubuntu always brings something new to the table and raises the bar, I just figure one day they'll have to do something wrong, won't they?

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It doesn't look like that's going to happen this time, as Hardy Heron seems to be bringing more than it's fair share to the table.

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I place a lot of importance on Ubuntu (maybe unfairly) because I consider it to be the poster child of ;quot;usable linux;quot; and it inherits the pressures associated with that role. So, with that in mind let's see what this alpha 5 release is showing.

Aesthetics
I hate starting on something so petty but it's what struck me first when the installer loaded: the background is a heron! That's a nice touch and while the Ubuntu artists seem to split opinion slightly with their artwork, I really like this new edition. Although I'd be tempted to move towards the familiar territory of the Ubuntu animal wallpapers. Otherwise it looks the same as Gutsy did and that's no bad thing; the colour schemes and layout now iconic with this release.

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Masses of new features, packages and delights
While this is a test release it still gives indication of what new features are coming with the final version and I'm amazed at what the devs have managed to cram in. Xorg 7.3 is included which should offer improved auto-configuration, keeping you away from xorg.conf. Kernel 2.6.24 is bundled in this release too with the most notable new feature being the power saving functionality for 64bit based machines. There's a load of new software installed by default too but I'm going to gloss over those...

GVFS
Finally, the filesystem manager (for want of a better name) associated with Nautilus has been updated. GVFS is set to replace GnomeVFS and make the world a brighter place for us all. It should be quicker and offer a wider range of operations (restoring items from the trash, pause/undo file operations etc). This is a welcome addition for obvious reasons.

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Windows based installation set to take over the world
I was surprised when I read about how this is going to work (although I've not experienced it first hand as yet). Umenu is a ;quot;simple launcher that lets the user install Ubuntu from Windows using Wubi, install Ubuntu to a partition without having to make their CD-ROM the first boot device;quot;. This allows you to chuck the CD in the drive while running XP and install Ubuntu from there...

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Wubi
I approached it in the above paragraph but felt it needed more. Wubi allows users to install and uninstall Ubuntu like any other Windows application; it does not require a dedicated partition nor does it affect the existing bootloader, yet users can experience a dual-boot setup almost identical to a full installation. This is a great way to allow users to try Ubuntu in a more meaningful environment than the LiveCD without actually committing to installing it properly. Such a good idea in my humble opinion.

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Usage, installation etc
As with previous releases installation is a doddle; especially for those of us who remember installing without graphical partition managers (or a GUI at all). Using this early release of Heron is just like using Gutsy, and Edgy, and Feisty... The interface is largely the same and if there are changes (beyond default applications) I don't see them. It's intuitive enough I guess (although I personally prefer a KDE environment to Gnome).

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Inexplicable change to the location map
This I really can't understand. When you're installing Ubuntu (as with any other OS) it asks you to select where you're from. On previous editions of Ubuntu you get a simple world map with major cities highlighted; you click on the map to zoom in and select your city. This has changed and it's really counter-intuitive. The map is zoomed out by default, but when your mouse enters the area it zooms in and suddenly your mouse is controlling how the region pans. It has become more difficult than necessary to select your location - although I suspect this will be highlighted and fixed by the time the full release comes about. It just feels like someone has ;quot;overcooked;quot; this region by spending too much time on it when in reality I felt it was finished in Gutsy.

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Conclusions
What more can I say? If I went over all the excellent features of Ubuntu I'd be repeating myself. I appreciate that this is only the alpha 5 release but the new functionality looks to be very promising indeed; of course I won't commit to anything until the final release is out in April but I think (yet again) it'll be good.

I have a lot of confidence in the PCLinuxOS guys (Texstar) because PCLinuxOS 2007 was (and still is) one of my favourite releases ever. I was worried for a while that nothing was going on in the PCLOS camp because there was no word of PCLOS2008. However what they were working on was PCLinuxOS Gnome 2.21.2 and I've finally got around to reviewing it.

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PClinuxOS 2007 was possibly the best release of last year, so will this Gnome edition give Ubuntu some pressure?

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Aesthetics and Live CD
PCLinuxOS was one of the most visually pleasing releases I've toyed with so I was somewhat surprised when I saw the LiveCD loading. It wasn't that attractive (in my personal opinion) and couldn't hold a flame to PCLOS2007, so what was going on?



PCLOS then began to toy with me by asking me which device I wanted to configure with a stylish prompt; a gentle gradient on the selected item topped off a sexy looking menu... So maybe the first screen I saw was overlooked somehow? Here's the menu:



But then once I'd configured my network device (which was unbelievably easy I might add) I was then prompted with another rather ugly screen prompting me to login:



I don't get it, PCLinuxOS 2007 had consistently excellent designs throughout, maybe the designers had gone on strike? However once you login and you're in the Gnome environment everything looks sexy again; subtle gradients, strikingly excellent icon designs and a clean, uncluttered (typically Gnome) environment. I don't get the whole journey but I really like it once you're logged in - and ultimately that's what counts. Maybe it's personal preference but the loading screens don't do it for me, but once you're in the system it's sexy. Very sexy.



Installation
Much like the KDE PCLOS, this Gnome edition uses the Draklive installer that comes with Mandriva and while some users don't like it I personally love it. I think it's the most intuitive installer around at the moment and that's excellent for new users who don't understand partitioning (etc). As always the installation goes smoothly with Draklive handling all my partioning for me with minimal intervention required. Anyone could install PCLOS.



Environment and Applications
PCLOS Gnome edition was released on December 28th 2007 and as such ships with Kernel 2.6.22.15, Gnome 2.21.2 and a bundle of default installed apps (Firefox, Azureus, XMMS, you get the idea). Listing the applications is folly when Synaptic is installed; just go shopping and download whatever you want. As my girlfriend put it ;quot;what, so it's like shopping online where everything is free?;quot; It's worth noting though that a lot is on offer directly post-install for those who want instant ;quot;plug and play;quot; functionality.

Networking
PCLOS picked up my network without issue (although I can't comment on wireless drivers because I'm using a wired connection). Once connected it picked up my windows network effortlessly and allowed me to access all my files in the Samba shares. Now that I'm on my network it's time to drag some media files over and see what the codec support is like. However, sorry about dragging on about aesthetics but how sexy is the below screenshot of me simply copying a file...



Media Playback
The selection of media files I tried playing all worked fine without requiring me to source some codecs so I can only assume PCLOS comes with popular ones preloaded. This is good because ;quot;normal;quot; users want ;quot;plug-and-play;quot; functionality, they don't want to have to faff around finding codecs and apt-getting packages. Media support in this release is excellent so that's good.



Configuration
The PCLinuxOS control centre (that is used on both this Gnome version and the KDE 2007 one) is excellent. It's intuitive and powerful in equal measures. I like the wording used on the options ;quot;change the screen resolution;quot; for example; these are terms that normal users will be comfortable with. ;quot;Display Settings;quot; seems so cold and ambiguous so that's why I consider this configuration utility to be high on the usability scale.



Conclusion and Overall Thoughts
It's very polished, fast and thoroughly beautiful once you've gone past the confusingly ugly loading screens. It's very usable and while I (through personal preference) don't find Gnome environments as intuitive as KDE it still works together very well. Out of the box functionality is impressive and that's a desirable thing in modern linux distros. It's the overall feel that impresses me; the menus slide gently, the subtle gradients and excellent icon design give the feeling that a lot of thought went into the user experience.

Yet that just confuses me even more as to why the loading visuals (and even the default wallpaper) are a little less than sexy. Ho hum. Go try this release, it's worth a look as an Ubuntu alternative.

The last time I investigated Linux Mint I decided that I ;quot;didn't get it;quot; and I approached the latest release with that in mind. But it's actually come a long way and while it's not perfect, I now understand.

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This release - Linux Mint 4.0 Daryna KDE Community Edition - is quite an ambitious stab at something new and that's not what I was expecting at all.

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You see I've always looked upon Mint with confusion; as a derivative of Ubuntu I never quite understood why it existed. Sure there was a time where preloading codecs and software was a desirable thing but now days everyone has tackled that problem in different ways - thus making ;quot;out of the box;quot; releases like Mint a little redundant. There are some really interesting things about Mint that deviate from that stereotype massively.

Installation
This release is big. It comes at just under 1gb which means you're in DVD territory and while that's no bad thing these days (as DVD's are no longer expensive) it seems an interesting choice to make. Clearly the judgment was made that 'out of the box' functionality is important and therefore the DVD is to be loaded with goodies, codecs and puppies for the user to toy with.

Installation was undeniably easy; borrowing most of the process from Ubuntu. The LiveCD detected my monitor size to be absolutely mammoth and adjusted the resolution as such. Unfortunately the 24;quot; screen it thought I had was actually just a 17;quot; but changing this was nice and simple (more on that in configuration). No qualms with installation, you've seen it all before. It works, let's move on.

Aesthetics
It's an okay looking release but there are a few rough edges that leap out at me. The icon design doesn't have the same flair that PCLinuxOS Gnome 2.21.2 showed last week and in fact reminds me of PCLinuxOS 0.93 ;quot;Big Daddy;quot;. Big Daddy was handsome in it's day (I toyed with it in November 2006) but times have moved on and Mint looks rather ;quot;ordinary;quot;. Although I'm sure some sexier wallpapers would do the trick.



As you can see from the above screenshot, it's not a bad looker when you're using it, it's just not a stunner. Subtle gradients on the highlighted rows would really help. I don't know, it's just the icons and minimal padding around items seem really amateur-ish. Mint looks to be yet another release borrowing the familiar ;quot;Vista;quot; style windows too; not that I mind, it's functional and attractive it just feels like the designers lacked inspiration somewhere...



I feel like I've been a bit harsh, it's not *bad* looking it's just nothing to write home about. I can't help but feel that a release that's clearly aiming for mainstream acceptance should be a little more polished in that respect, but that's just my opinion.

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Now that I've got my aesthetic gripes out of the way, let's move onto areas where Mint performs really well

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Networking
As you would expect with an Ubuntu derivative (it is using the Gutsy Kernel after all) the networking in Mint is solid; my connection was picked up straight away (again, I can't comment on wireless support as this machine uses a wired connection). Once connected to the Internet I was able to access my Samba shares without any problems at all. So I pulled down a few files to test media support.

Media
I don't like Kaffeine (the application, obviously). I never have and I doubt I ever will. I know some people like it but I don't. This comes installed as standard and despite my distaste for the application it played my chosen files fine (episodes of The Simpsons). Clearly Mint comes with codecs preloaded and that's good.



However it wasn't until I opted to install VLC that I found the most interesting aspect of Mint...

Installation, Apt and Usability
Every release I've used in recent history makes use of Synaptic Package Manager; most of them using the very same GUI. I was expecting to have to source VLC from the online category and allow Synaptic to apt-get it for me (this is fine, I consider it ;quot;the norm;quot; and fairly usable). The Mint guys have other ideas and have chosen to tackle software installation in a new and interesting way...

In the menu there is an item called ;quot;Software Portal;quot; which prompts you to either search for a specific piece of software or browse the catalogue. I expected this to be a similar interface to the ;quot;Add/Remove Programs;quot; bit found in Ubuntu. I was wrong. Once I'd submitted my search for ;quot;VLC;quot; Firefox opened and I was taken to the Mint website itself where the catalogue was managed. I was presented with the following screen:



Opting to ;quot;Install Now;quot; opened a download in Firefox; I downloaded this file and opened it with ;quot;mintInstall;quot; (as selected by default). This then hooked up this downloaded file to Synaptic and I was asked whether I wanted to install VLC:



Opting for ;quot;Yes;quot; the mintInstall application did an apt-get on VLC and installed it (in a very Synaptic-like manner). Once VLC was installed it was added to the menu as usual and we were done.



While I'm still mildly amazed by Synaptic after all this time I was more interested in the new approach Mint had taken. Instead of prompting me to open Synaptic I was given a local interface to enter my search terms which then queried the online catalogue of software... Instead of interacting with Synaptic directly I was using Firefox to navigate the catalogue and select the application to install.

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You know what this felt like? This felt like using Windows.

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Using a web-browser to find the software you like? Download it then install it? Hang on doesn't this all sound awfully familiar? Indeed - this is like an abridged Linux/Windows installation procedure. You're still using Synaptic (and indeed apt) but the inclusion of a web-browser into this process makes it more familiar to Windows users.

And that's the clever bit. Usability is key, right? ;quot;Software Portal;quot; is a more friendly name than ;quot;Synaptic Package Manager;quot;. It's less confrontational to new users too (you're not presented with a massive list of modules and packages to cherry-pick through). Sure you can still get them, but the Mint guys have obviously thought about the user experience and that's a good thing. It's not fully polished yet (aesthetically if anything) but it's great to see releases thinking outside the box occasionally.

Configuration
Mint also has a pretty powerful configuration utility with natural language and an easy UI:



However if you know what you're doing you can get a decent level of information (and configuration) out of the utility. It's good. I don't find it as good as the one you find in Mandriva and PCLOS but it's a nice step forward.

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Final thoughts
I can't see myself using Mint on a regular basis; for whatever reason it feels a little bloated and underwhelming out of the box. It was only when I dugg a little deeper did I find the installation workflow that captured my imagination. When I said before that I finally ;quot;get;quot; Mint I meant it. This release isn't aimed at me. This release is aimed at users who want/need direct out of the box functionality without the desire to trawl through lists of modules to get what they want. This box is aimed at people who just want to be given a DVD and have an operating system - for them it's pretty good. It's just *not* pretty enough in my opinion (but that's quite a shallow standpoint).

I really like the thought that's gone into the installation of software (because it's different) and for all the obvious reasons it's a good release; it just doesn't have that ;quot;wow;quot; factor that I feel others seem to have. It's absolutely worth a look if you're the sort of person who finds Ubuntu too lightweight. For me, well I guess I'll stick with PCLOS for now.

I've never used any form of BSD before but I've been pointed towards it countless times; in my never ending quest for the ;quot;most usable;quot; free operating system it seems logical to review the recent PC-BSD 1.5 release.

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;quot;I may have a massive personal preference towards KDE but I somehow think that PC-BSD has an excellent combination of intuitive elements that make it easy for me to recommend.;quot;

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PC-BSD is a free operating system based on Free-BSD with ease of use in mind. The PC-BSD website claims ;quot;Like any modern system, you can listen to your favorite music, watch your movies, work with office documents and install your favorite applications with a setup wizard at a click.;quot; and that's a big claim to make.

Who PC-BSD is aimed at
It has been designed with the ;quot;casual;quot; user in mind; so the focus is going to be on an intuitive experience and out-of-the-box functionality. The ultimate question is, is it easy to use? Let's have a look

Installation
You seldom get to see an installation process as intuitive as this; it feels enough like Windows to be comforting to the Microsoft faithful yet has that distinct Linux feel (once you're asked about setting root passwords). It may not be the prettiest installer in the world but it's very functional and easy to use - top marks!





It's even nice to be asked what system components you want added (as default applications). Rather than be loaded with 101 things you're not likely to use it asks you - a nice touch I've not seen in any other OS.



When PC-BSD is installing it's all very civilised yet the critic in my can't help but notice the slightly low-res images used to advertise the system you're installing... To be fair it installed quite quickly and offered me the option of installing extra languages and software from a second CD, which I declined.



Aesthetics
It's KDE through and through but don't expect any immediate visual delights. That's not to say it's an ugly release out of the box - it looks acceptable. However it does have excellent support for graphics cards and the presence of Compiz-Fusion means that visual glory is just a few clicks away.



Help for new users
There's a helpful ;quot;quick start;quot; guide provided upon your first login to the system as well as a ;quot;quick guide;quot; ever present on the desktop - these are a nice addition to help fresh users become more comfortable in the environment.

Networking
As usual I can't comment on wireless support but the connectivity seemed excellent otherwise; my home network was picked up immediately and I could happily navigate the Samba shares. The presence of Konqueror always bothers me (I consider it tiresome, slow and generally outdated but that's just me). I can't fault the networking but the story might be different had I not been using a wired connection.



Media Support
Taking a media file from a Samba share (such as an episode of South Park) and trying to play it often highlights how much 'out of the box' functionality the release has. In this case opting to play the file results in instant playback (albeit in Kaffeine, my least favourite media player). I tried a few other files too and all of them played so the PC-BSD guys are serious about offering a decent yet immediate user experience. It may not be rare in the current free-OS climate but it's still desirable.



Configuration
PC-BSD comes with the usual KDE Control Center (exactly the same as I found in Linux Mint 4.0 Daryna). It's a solid configuration utility and the usability level is pretty high - I especially like the use of natural language (as I said in my Mint review). No concerns over config - most users should be comfortable with this.



Software
PC-BSD comes with an absolute boat-load of software installed by default (even with my liberal additions during the install). They've pretty much covered every single software niche by default so you shouldn't really need to install anything unless you have very specific needs (or dislike the default offerings).

Installing new software
This is an interesting notion and unfortunately Mint already stole PC-BSD's thunder for me; you see I spent many minutes scrolling through the installed software and control panel menus looking for something that resembled Synaptic. However what I should have been looking for was on the desktop all along: ;quot;Download PBI's;quot; is a link to an online catalogue of software (much like last week's review of Mint).



You download a ;quot;PBI;quot; file that acts like an .exe or .msi file under Windows. I was expecting PBI to be a different visual extension to Synaptic (apt, basically) but that's not what it did at all... Maybe it was because I chose to download MSN Messenger 7 but it acted and installed exactly like I would expect under Windows...





So I decided that I'd get Wine from the same online repository but again, it installed like a Windows based installer.



Good work to the PC-BSD guys, I didn't once see the word ;quot;package;quot; or ;quot;repository;quot; when installing a selection of applications. While that may not seem like a compliment to those of us who actually use Linux on a frequent basis, for someone who only used Windows in their lifetime the means of installing software under BSD is refreshingly similar. It's easy, it's obvious and more importantly anyone could do it.

Conclusions
I can't understand why I've never used BSD before; it's fabulous. I may have a massive personal preference towards KDE but I somehow think that PC-BSD has an excellent combination of intuitive elements that make it easy for me to recommend. Sure there are prettier releases out there and yes there are probably ones more suited to those of us who love Synaptic. But for flat-out ease of use? This is pretty top notch. I recommend you check out PC-BSD.

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Foresight Linux is a release that I hadn't heard of before they appeared in the ;quot;latest distributions;quot; bit on Distrowatch when I was hunting for new review material. One of my favourite things to do is try releases I've not heard of before... And so we enter Foresight.

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;quot;Foresight is a desktop operating system featuring an intuitive user interface and a showcase of the latest desktop software, giving users convenient and enjoyable access to their music, photos, videos, documents, and Internet resources.;quot; is how the website sells it to you, but it's this sentence that got me:

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;quot;As a Linux distribution, Foresight sets itself apart by eliminating the need for the user to be familiar with Linux;quot; - a brave yet foolish claim to make if you can't back it up.

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Because Foresight is clearly gunning for the mainstream market by citing usability as one of their key concerns (through intuitive interface, etc) I'd be expecting the release to be attractive and very functional straight out of the box. Let's begin then shall we:

Installation
The thing that struck me first was the lack of a LiveCD, something that is so common in releases these days. Especially considering Foresight weighs in at 1.2gb (offering you a DVD or 2CD download). So already it might be at a disadvantage to other releases that offer you the chance to ;quot;try before you buy;quot;. Never mind, let's install it anyway.

The only real point to note is that extlinux is the default boot loader but you're given the option of Grub; everything else was textbook.

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I've got to hand this to Foresight; it made a complicated looking install amazingly easy. Unlike DreamLinux (which had a pointlessly complicated installation process) Foresight looks difficult but it actually auto-completes everything for you. I was very impressed with the installation process because it required little to no input from me at all; just user details. A good start then.

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Aesthetics
It's not a bad looking release to be fair, but it doesn't amaze me. The loading screens are okay and the interface is typically Gnome but not overly offensive.

One of my biggest complaints is that I personally find it too green by default; so I entered the appearance configuration in an attempt to make it more tolerable. I changed the background to a sexy blue alternative and changed the menu type, but couldn't for the life of me get the vile bright green active menu state to change to something a little less... green. As you can see it looks wrong.



I assume this is a personal failing rather than Foresight making it impossible to change the colour... Otherwise it's not a bad looking release so I can't fault it there.

Networking
As always I can't comment on wireless connectivity because the machine has a wired connection; but it picked up my Windows network without any problems. I could comfortably access my Samba shares and that's something I class as very important for a ;quot;usable;quot; release.

Media Support
This is one of the most crucial elements for a release that claims to give users ;quot;convenient and enjoyable access to their music, photos, videos, documents, and Internet resources;quot;. It's here that their claim that ;quot;Foresight sets itself apart by eliminating the need for the user to be familiar with Linux;quot; really comes to bite them in the arse. Pulling a media file across and trying to play it results in a ;quot;codec not found;quot; error.



A little disappointing considering 90% of the releases I toy with have such codecs bundled; especially when you consider that Foresight is 2x the size of PCLinuxOS, Mint, etc. Obviously it could save itself by doing ;quot;an Ubuntu;quot; and offering me a download link to get the codecs I need... No such luck.

Right. So I need to go and dig up the codecs myself do I? Fine. Another minor problem is that I cannot find a package manager of any kind (I'm looking for Synaptic or something along those lines). I can't see anything in the System/Administration menu beyond an inexplicably unhelpful ;quot;Add/Remove Software;quot; application that doesn't seem to offer anything to a user who doesn't already know what they're looking for.



So I do what I should never have to do: RTFM. Let me just say that truly usable, intuitive applications don't require the user to read the manual before finding what they need... Anyway, I find the chapter on ;quot;Proprietary Codecs;quot; that offers me some advice:



Just in case you can't see the image above, it's asking me to paste a command into the command line. So Foresight tries to have a USP of ;quot;you don't need to know anything about Linux;quot; but not only does it require me to read the manual but I also need to sudo a package update on the console? Hell, it doesn't even tell me where I'd find this ;quot;command line;quot;, which would be a problem if I didn't already know Linux. Do you see the problem?



Sure when I run that command it installs the codecs and everything is right with the world again but that's not the problem. A distro that claims to be really usable and good for media cannot make getting codecs this complicated because ;quot;normal;quot; users would be confused. I couldn't sit my mom down and ask her to play a video because she'd cry... Yet I would have no problems getting her to do it in Ubuntu, Mint, Pardus, Mepis, PCLOS and so on. Foresight has lost me.



Installing Software
Well the ;quot;add/remove software;quot; application is possibly the least useful thing I've used this year; unless you know specifically what you're looking for you're out of luck. It's not a browsable directory of installable applications, it's a search window where you enter the name of the application you want. It's awful.

I searched for ;quot;GIMP;quot; and the only result returned was ;quot;gimp, image manipulation software;quot;. So I decide to search for ;quot;image;quot; to see if I get a wider range of results but all I got were packages with the word ;quot;image;quot; in the name (GIMP was absent). How would someone who doesn't know the name of the package they want ever find anything?

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I have to assume there is a real package manager hidden somewhere in the system - so I return to the user manual. The manual claims to have ;quot;PackageKit;quot; which is a front end graphical user interface to manage the software on your system... Yet it offers no insight into where it might be or how to access it; the only thing I can find is the god awful ;quot;add/remove;quot; application that I've already expressed my distaste for. Again, maybe PEBKAC (problem exists between keyboard and chair) but I'm pretty used to toying around in various Linux environments and it's never THIS hard.

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Part of me wants to make witty puns; the irony of using Foresight as the name for such a release, but the other part of me just wants to just make it go away.

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Configuration... Actually forget it, I give up
You know what? This is normally where I write about the configuration utility and the installed applications but I can't even be bothered to do that. I just don't get it; what was actually on the 1.2gb DVD image that I downloaded? Sure there are a few installed applications on offer but no more than PCLOS. The out-of-the-box media support is non-existent and it's Gnome! It should be light shouldn't it? I just can't be bothered because Foresight isn't meeting me half way.

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Ubuntu is smaller, better, more intuitive, more usable and requires less knowledge of Linux than this; it bests Foresight in every single way so how could I possibly recommend it?

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It's not pretty enough to make me sit and work out how everything is done... I have never had to read the manual using Ubuntu and that's why Foresight fails. Ubuntu is smaller to download, equally easy to install, equally attractive and infinitely more usable. I'll keep an eye on the release but ultimately I've lost the will to keep reviewing it because it cannot salvage a remotely positive score.

There are too many other good releases to try; ones that are half the size and offer you a LiveCD for a start, let alone the lack of an obvious package manager and shoddy media support.

If you think I've been unfair to Foresight then please say so but remember that I'm looking at usability and functionality. If I don't think a normal user can do it then it loses points - simple. Avoid Foresight, get Ubuntu.

One of the trends I'm really interested in (beyond the obvious browser market share) is the operating system market share.;nbsp; 2 years ago I held the belief that Linux was going to have it's day *any* moment now.;nbsp; That moment never came.;nbsp; It's now August 2009 and how is the market looking?

Vista was released to a somewhat underwhelming response.;nbsp; XP is still the most popular system by a country mile because it was not only excellent but it was also famously easy to pirate.;nbsp; OSX has incrementally improved but what's happened to Linux?;nbsp; Let's look at the graph:

It's quite clear to see that XP and Vista are merely trading users and it looks like the uptake of Vista has increased in the last month or two.;nbsp; However, OSX has increased a bit too whereas Linux has declined slightly, having not really gained more users in the past 12 months.;nbsp; What better representation for the stagnation of Linux than this?;nbsp; Mainstream user conversion is not happening and shows no sign of happening - much to the glee of the Linux fanboys.

I always thought 2007 would be the year of Linux; the tipping point looked perfect.;nbsp; Vista on the horizon and some very promising, usable releases.;nbsp; Yet it just never happened.

The statistics are taken from aggregated W3Counter.com statistics, taken from around ~25,000 member sites to offer a broad demographic in an attempt to give a more accurate representation of the current market.;nbsp;;nbsp;

So, what will the next 6 months show?;nbsp; My estimate is the increasing climb of OSX and Vista with a gradual reduction in the amount of XP users.;nbsp; Windows 7 will no doubt cause a sudden reduction in XP users.;nbsp; Until then, I expect the Linux usage will barely change - if the above graph is any indication, we could see further decline.