Linux continues to look spiffier and spiffier. That’s good news whether you’re ready to embrace the penguin, or just like Microsoft getting a little motivation to improve its own software (and pricing: a student-priced copy of Office with no student ID required? Some resellers are saying roll up).
Take a look at the screenshot of Novell’s Suse Linux Professional 9.2 below. It looks like a Windows desktop, down to the Start button, flowing menus and, for office diddlers, customisable wallpaper. As soon as it installs, Suse is ready for business. The OS comes with the Microsoft Office-compatible OpenOffice 1.1.3, capable photo and image editor GIMP 2, a media player for your videos and MP3s, WINE for running regular Windows apps under emulation (which has become a lot snappier) and, for when you tire of diddling with the wallpaper, Solitaire — Bill Gates’ gift to office productivity. You also get practical extras that show penguinheads are no longer nerdlingers but hip to breaking tech: support for next-gen desktop chips such as AMD’s Athlon 64, and Bluetooth support for synching your PDA or smart phone with your Linux desktop.
You will have to buy the Professional edition of Suse 9.2, due in January for around $160, to get the full range of features, plus discs and manuals. Unlike with Red Hat, Suse will also maintain its freebie version despite its new corporate parent.
Linux’s extra gloss in 2004 is due in large part to the deep pockets of IBM, which bundles Red Hat and Suse Linux with many of its products, and the less monied but sharp Novell, which bought Suse (say “sues-ah”) last year. Also there is Ximian Software, a high-brow member of the Linux family that makes systems management software...............
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