Corel Linux OS Standard

If you're thinking about giving Linux a try, Corel Linux OS should provide the last bit of incentive you need. This Linux distribution makes the installation process almost effortless, and provides a user interface that compares well with that of Windows 98. Though power users will wish for a better selection of productivity applications, they'll be content to explore Linux by way of Corel's commendable package.

The thing to remember about Linux is this: your mileage may vary. We tested this product on a system with a Pentium 233 MMX processor (a chip near the bottom of Corel's specified range of supported processors). The machine had 144 MB of RAM and a modest-sized IDE hard drive. It had been set up to run Microsoft Windows 98 only, but we wanted to configure multiple boot options for both Linux and Windows. Corel Linux makes that easy to do.

To create space for Corel Linux, we ran PowerQuest's PartitionMagic, a very handy disk-partitioning utility that's not included in this package (neither, unfortunately, is any other such utility). After shrinking one of the Windows partitions to create an empty space of about 900 MB (Corel recommends 500 MB minimum on the box, but the installation program seems to want 641.2 MB for the smallest installation option), we then popped Corel's bootable floppy and installation CD-ROM into the machine's drives and rebooted. From there: easy living.

The Corel Linux installation went more smoothly than most recent Windows installations we've performed, and it took about the same amount of time (less than half an hour). To reiterate: it's easy to install Corel Linux. The software takes care of all the configuration options for you; there's no need to be intimidated by what you may have read telling you to know every last detail about your hardware during a Linux installation. If you run into trouble, Corel Linux comes with 30 days of free technical support by electronic mail.

Upon booting up after installation, Corel Linux presents you with a menu of operating systems. You can choose any of several Corel Linux variants (console, VGA, full graphical, and a couple of utility interfaces) or, in our case, the Windows installation that was on the disk originally. Corel Linux runs a lot like any other distribution of the Debian 2.2.12 Linux kernel, though it comes with a nicely done, Corel-enhanced version of the K Desktop Environment (KDE).

Corel deserves praise for its improvements to KDE: They've made it easy to specify your machine's Internet Protocol (IP) address for networking purposes, made printer configuration easy, and improved the file-management tools. This version of Corel Linux--dubbed "Standard" in contrast to the fancier "Deluxe" and less feature-rich downloadable versions--includes the Netscape Communicator suite of Internet software and the Instant Messenger chat program (which is compatible with ICQ). This version also ships with the light version of Corel WordPerfect for Linux and its 20 typefaces. This product clearly is meant for the power user, working alone or in a small office: though it comes with server software for a variety of network applications (including the Web and e-mail), those programs aren't documented in the companion manual or enhanced like the GUI.

Corel Linux ships with two disks in addition to the floppy and CD-ROM you use during installation. One contains the complete source code for the Linux kernel and the Corel-enhanced KDE; the other holds the same programs as the main installation CD-ROM, with the notable exception of WordPerfect. The idea is that you can freely distribute the contents of this second CD-ROM. It also comes with a good manual, though you'll probably want to supplement it with another Linux book before long. (Learning Debian GNU/Linuxis a good one).

Choose Corel Linux if you want to play with the operating system as the underpinnings of a personal workstation. You may want to look into Caldera OpenLinux or Red Hat Linux for organizational server work, but this distribution serves as an excellent introduction to the Linux environment. --David Wall