PCLinuxOS 2009 Review

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PCLinuxOS 2009 Review

Posted on October 28th, 2009 linuxandfriends 2 comments

PCLinuxOS also known as PCLinux Operating System or Pclos is a Free Linux distribution which is targeted at home users. This Linux distribution was founded in October 2003 by Texstar. Since its initial release, PCLinuxOS has come a long way. PCLinuxOS is distributed as a LiveCD and can also be installed to a local hard drive.

PCLinuxOS Review

I recently downloaded the latest version of PCLinuxOS namely PCLinuxOS 2009 which is a KDE Linux distribution. These are my experiences in running this Linux distribution.

PCLinuxOS 2009 LiveCD booted flawlessly and in a short while, I was placed in the KDE 3.5.10 Desktop. PCLinuxOS bundles with it by default most applications needed by any computer user. It contains a word processor (Abiword), a web browser (Firefox 3.0.11), Graphics editors (GIMP), Music players (Amarok), Video players (MPlayer), Chat clients (XChat), Games, and much more. If you need any other software not included in the default installation, you can install it using Synaptic or apt-get from the PCLinuxOS repository.

PCLinuxOS Desktop featuring KDE 3.5.10

PCLinuxOS 2009 has Flash Player 10 and Sun Java 6 Runtime installed by default and you need not install it separately like in many other Linux distributions.

More over, all the music and video files play out of the box which makes this Linux distribution ideal for home users and lay persons alike.

All my machine’s hardware was detected out of the box by PCLinuxOS. Installing PCLinuxOS is a snap from the LiveCD as it comes with a cute user-friendly graphical installer.

One of the highlights of PCLinuxOS is its Control Center which allows a user to easily configure and fine tune his system. All the options are well categorized and neatly laid out. The Control Center allows you to configure sharing of your computer, manage your hardware, configure graphics, network devices, system services; configure Windows, NFS and WebDAV shares; set up a personal firewall, configure boot parameters and more.

PCLinuxOS

Targeted at – Home users, Friends and family, Laymen, Desktop users, Laptop users.

Official Website : Pclinuxos.com

Hardware Database : Pcloshwdb.com

Twitter account : http://twitter.com/iluvpclinuxos

Identi.ca account – http://identi.ca/pclinuxos/all

PCLinuxOS ISO available types : 7

They are PCLinuxOS KDE Desktop, GNOME Desktop, KDE MiniME Desktop, GNOME ZenMini Desktop, LXDE Desktop, XFCE Desktop, and E-17 Desktop (Still in development).

PCLinuxOS Magazine : pclosmag.com

Package Management used : Synaptic and command line apt-get.

PCLinuxOS Installation Walkthrough

The following video shows how to install PCLinuxOS on your machine once you have booted into the LiveCD KDE Desktop. It also provides a glimpse of the slick KDE interface in PCLinuxOS as well as the Control Center. Enjoy!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FU_o8ozJFWw]

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2 responses to “PCLinuxOS 2009 Review”
- robinzrants November 7th, 2009 at 06:06
  
  I tried two of the PCLinuxOS flavors. Very beautiful, very easy to use, and newbie-friendly! Hardware detection was an issue for me though. The LXDE version was buggy, but I think that’s an LXDE issue rather than a PCLOS issue, because LXDE is buggy on every OS I’ve tried it on. But it shows alot of promise!
  
  When choosing an OS, I think it’s wise to read reviews that describe how a distro worked ON A MACHINE JUST LIKE MY OWN. While PCLinuxOS works flawlessly on my brother’s machine, it balks at my Dell Dimension 510. And I couldn’t get my HP printer to work (and HP is among the most Linux-friendly printers you can buy). Were it not for the hardware issues, I might still be using PCLinuxOS now. My brother swears by it. I really liked it, and it’s a wonderful, snappy implementation of the gorgeous KDE desktop. It’s amazing that they managed to get so much onto a single CD!
  
  I’ve ended up on Xubuntu (slightly customized of course) and it gets along just fine with my 5-yr-old Dell and HP all-in-one printer/scanner/copier.
  
  So, newbies to Linux in search of a Linux flavor you like, have a look at more than just descriptions. Try out the Live CD without making any changes to your computer and see if it recognizes your hardware. Don’t install it ’til you’re satisfied with its performance on your own machine. Only be aware that a Live CD experience will normally be slower than an installed system. But it’s awesome that you can try it before you commit to it.
  - linuxandfriends November 7th, 2009 at 07:06
    
    Robin,
    It is interesting to know the problems you faced on your Dell Dimension 510. I own a fairly recent machine with Intel core 2 duo processor and 2 GB RAM. And PCLOS works quite well on my machine. You are right, trying out the liveCD will tell you if a Linux distribution detects all the hardware in your machine. You can also see if your machine is listed in the hardware database put up by the respective Linux distribution.