PCLinuxOS 2010 (KDE)
Sound and Multimedia
YouTube & Flash
I checked out a video of Colt McCoy on YouTube and it played great. No problems with sound or video and I didn’t have to install flash. My Firefox browser was already set up and ready to go after installing PCLinuxOS.
DVDs
PCLinuxOS does not come with the libdvdcss2 needed to run DVDs. However, you can choose to install it yourself later if you want to run DVDs on your system. Just pull up Synaptic and do a search for libdvdcss2.
YouTube looked great in PCLinuxOS.
Problems & Headaches
One thing that I found somewhat odd was setting up the root password and non-root user ID and password after the install. Most other distros seem to do this during or before the install itself. It seems to me that that’s probably a better way to handle it so that when a user actually boots into his or her desktop, everything is set up and ready to go. This is a minor nitpick but it might be something for the PCLinuxOS developers to consider.
I was also slightly annoyed that I had to download OpenOffice.org. I prefer to have it pre-installed to save me the time of downloading it. However, it was quite easy and simple to download it so I can’t complain about this too much. Still, my preference is to have it ready to go after I boot into my desktop.
The other thing that struck me was how ugly Synaptic looked in this release. Ubuntu’s Software Center is much more attractive and, for newer users, easier to use. I’d like to see the PCLinuxOS developers create and adopt something similar in future releases. Synaptic gets the job done but it lacks elegance and contrasts poorly with the PCLinuxOS Control Center, for example. Synaptic is functional but that’s about all I can say for it.
Beyond these minor issues, I didn’t encounter any particularly difficult problems. PCLinuxOS works pretty well and didn’t give me any real headaches while using it.
(23 votes, average: 4.13 out of 5)
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(4.83 out of 5)
Nice review, although the giant popup ads for Duracell batteries are a bit annoying. Takes over the screen for about 10 seconds or so. Also does not fully display the ad for some reason. Only the left side of the ad is visible. I am not running any ad or flash blockers in the Chromium browser, so I do not know what could be up with that. It also only pops up on the first 4 pages of the review.
The automatic page refresh has also gotten more interesting. Instead of just refreshing in the middle of typing a reply, it now totally wipes out anything you had typed. I wound up typing this up in Gedit, then pasting it over. You still have to be quick while typing in your name and e-mail though. Just thought I’d mention it.
At any rate, with KDE 4 and the upcoming Gnome 3, you will have to say goodbye to preinstalled Open Office on CD sized distros. It just will not fit. Even if they strip out all the little nothing programs they do include, it will still be a no go. Just the law of physics and bloated programming. This is not an issue for me, as I no longer use Open Office. I only use the Gnumeric spreadsheet app these days. The “get Open Office” icon is a nice
touch though for those who need it.
The main thing I did with my machine was to download an alternate kernel from the repositories. I changed to the one optimized for AMD processors. Specifically, I switched to 2.6.32.11-pclos2.a64. It is noticeably faster on my laptop which uses an AMD 2650e CPU. They have yet another kernel that fully takes advantage of 4 to 64gb of memory. This kernel ends with a .pae extension.
Installing these alternate kernels is no different than installing any other program. Afterwards, you simply select it during the boot process, or you can edit the Grub menu to make it boot as the default. This can be done through the Control Center in the Boot section.
This isn’t going to happen. Why? Because Synaptic for RPM is no longer being developed upstream. PCLinuxOS is going to have to either lock themselves at their current RPM version forever going forward or they’re going to have to select a different package management system as apt is dying for rpm.
The reason OpenOffice was not installed by default was there was simply no room for it on the live CD. The live CD only holds 800 megs top and the iso file is right at 700 megs. As far as the complaint of giving your root password and setting up the user account at the end of the install is rather petty at best.
I wrote my main comments on PCLinuxOS and where I place it over at the forum. Generally speaking, I rate this as a top three user friendly system for basic and general desktop use, with focus on simplicity and stability. You can get distributions that are better fits for other activities, but the relative novice will do as well with this distribution as any other – I’d put it in a virtual tie with Mint and SimplyMEPIS (though I personally like SimplyMEPIS best).
PCLinuxos2010 is an improvement over previous releases, but the KDE version of 2010 has bugs that need to be fixed. First, while the network connection works for wireless, it doesn’t always connect to wired using Firefox. Also, the widgets have bugs that cause random freezes and missing widgets, etc…I’m wondering if this distro was tested thoroughly before the final was released ?
Where PCLinuxOS stands out is the LDXE version of the distro. Compared to it’s KDE cousin, LDXE is fast and uses far fewer resources. If I were going to recommend any of the PCLinuxos versions, the LXDE version would be the one.
As for the comments regarding PCLOS being the easiest for beginners, I disagree. While I’m not saying PCLOS is overly difficult, it cannot be compared to Ubuntu regarding the installation, the firewall setup, or the confusing decision a beginner needs to make regarding logging into root vs. user. Configuring the firewall gui on PCLOS/Mandriva is NOT for beginners, trust me. And until PCLOS trades the current drake-install gui for something similar to the one found on Ubuntu, the claim that it is radically simple is more radical…while less simple.
Having said that, the PCLOS forum is an excellent place to gain information, and this is one area where is shines above Ubuntu.
That should be LXDE…sorry for the spelling.
There is no perfect OS but I absolutely love the KDE version. It boots quick and I’ve never seen KDE 4 perform so well. The widget bug was resolved in an update yesterday. It affected a small number of widgets that use python scripting. I had no problems with my network connection. Overall I find it to be very solid release.
Alex wrote:
You can find updated apt/synaptic packages for rpm >= 4.6.x on any Fedora Mirror.
Tried out the KDE version and it was generally a good distro, easy to use, good community. The two biggest problem I have is the rolling release updates and that there is no 64bit versions. People will say you don’t need 64bit, it doesn’t help, most computers are not 64bit, etc. That’s just making excuses. I do need 64bit, I have compared and 32bit won’t cut it. There is no excuse for not having a 64bit version. To me that shows a lack of motivation and of living in the past, but it has been stated that a 64bit version is in the works. All in all it is a good distro for a new user. I would still recommend Mepis mainly because of its Debain base. (I’m not a RPM person) Nothing really stood out for me but that may be my fault. I’m not a KDE person so maybe I should have tried the Gnome version. I think I will still check out the Gnome version. I would like to see someone do a review on that one.
Thanks
Nice job Jim. KDE users who prefer a stable, solid no-fuss system clearly have two good choices in the recently released Mepis and now PCLOS. Both impress me as being really good and both have excellent forums for both new and experienced users.
I agree with downloading big apps such as Open Office or GIMP. It is easily done and it allows developers to include a greater set of drivers for devices such as wireless cards. It seems to me we either do something such as PCLOS has done or just go on over to DVDs, which would not be a bad choice provided users have speedy net connections with no download fees per megabyte.