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- Click the install icon on your desktop to launch the install wizard.
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- You can opt to use the free space on your disk or choose the custom disk partitioning option.
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- After you choose your disk partitioning, the install begins.
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- After the install is complete, boot into your new desktop and choose a root password.
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- After picking a root password, choose your user name and password for non-root use.
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- The desktop after PCLinuxOS is installed.
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- The login screen offers session and login options.
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- Use the Synaptic package manager to manage your software.
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- Use the control center to configure your system.
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- After booting into the Live CD desktop, you can explore or start the install.
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- The bootsplash screen offers help, language and kernel options.
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- YouTube looked great in PCLinuxOS.
(23 votes, average: 4.13 out of 5)
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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.
Rita said “I’m wondering if this distro was tested thoroughly before the final was released ?”
It was quite thoroughly tested. I myself was running the beta versions for a couple months. I think virtually every bug reported was either fixed, or pushed upstream to the KDE/Gnome/whoever developers.
As for the comments regarding Ubuntu being the easiest for beginners, I disagree. While I’m not saying Ubuntu is overly difficult, it cannot be compared to PCLinuxOS. Working with my son-in-law’s Ubuntu box makes me want to tear my hair out. (In other words, ‘easiest’ is very subjective. :wink:)
Eddie: If you want a 64-bit version of PCLOS, how about buying Tex a 64-bit box? It’s pretty hard to develop for a system you don’t have access to. (And yes, the devs will be working on a 64-bit system as soon as the dust settles from this release.)
I switched from Windows to Linux in 1991, and have been Linux-only ever since. During these nine years I’ve seen a lot of progress in the bare-bones OS itself, and sadly, also a LOT of regression, most of it in desktop environments and user applications.
As the Gnome project focused on usability earlier in the last decade, it became progressively less usable to me, and I abandoned it for KDE. Fortunately the KDE 3.x.y series was superb almost from the beginning. KDE programs like Kile and K3b and Quanta Plus, not to mention the absolutely superb Konqueror, made the desktop environment an excellent fit for my needs. By 2007, we Linux users had good browsers, good CD-burning apps, and one good desktop environment (KDE 3.x.y). We could even plug in a USB key and work with it without having to run “dmesg” to find out what the USB subsystem had done with it and “mount” to actually use it, though we still couldn’t use a Verizon USB 3G satellite modem without major headaches…
The last couple of years have been bad, though, with literally every distro I’ve tried having show-stopping bugs, from Ubuntu to Gentoo to Mandriva to OpenSuse, and many more. I’ve stayed with Kubuntu 8.04 Hardy for two years now, because the dozen or so distro’s I’ve tried since have all been buggy disasters, from Ubuntu 9.10 to OpenSuse 11.2 to Kubuntu 10.04 beta. Not only is every version of KDE 4.x.y buggy to the point where I find it unusable (K3b has been broken for quite a while, for instance), but other regressions show up as well – Flash is more flaky than it’s been in years, for instance.
I finally got sick of fighting slow, bloated, buggy newer Linux distros – I just wiped my desktop and went back to PCLinuxOS 2009.2, with all updates. Finally a responsive desktop and usable apps once more!
I think this is really tragic, that I’ve had to go back to the past to get a working efficient desktop operating system and distro. But now that Gnome and KDE are both unusable to me, I’m going to stay stuck in the past until I’m forced to switch to LXDE or Openbox or something by the lack of future security updates.
I had high hopes for the future of desktop linux ten years ago. Today I realize it will not happen without a drastic change in the way distros are developed, because 99% of Linux distros out there are bug-laden, shoddy bits of work that provide a worse experience than Windows 98 SE did in every respect except one (resistance to viruses). The kernel and underlying OS is absolutely great, but the mess of loosely packaged binaries floating on top of it is falling apart at the seams. Is there a way to save Linux from itself?
-Gnobuddy
I switched from Windows to Linux in 1991, and have been Linux-only ever since. During these nine years I’ve seen a lot of progress in the bare-bones OS itself, and sadly, also a LOT of regression, most of it in desktop environments and user applications.
As the Gnome project focused on usability earlier in the last decade, it became progressively less usable to me, and I abandoned it for KDE. Fortunately the KDE 3.x.y series was superb almost from the beginning. KDE programs like Kile and K3b and Quanta Plus, not to mention the absolutely superb Konqueror, made the desktop environment an excellent fit for my needs. By 2007, we Linux users had good browsers, good CD-burning apps, and one good desktop environment (KDE 3.x.y). We could even plug in a USB key and work with it without having to run “dmesg” to find out what the USB subsystem had done with it and “mount” to actually use it, though we still couldn’t use a Verizon USB 3G satellite modem without major headaches…
The last couple of years have been bad, though, with literally every distro I’ve tried having show-stopping bugs, from Ubuntu to Gentoo to Mandriva to OpenSuse, and many more. I’ve stayed with Kubuntu 8.04 Hardy for two years now, because the dozen or so distro’s I’ve tried since have all been buggy disasters, from Ubuntu 9.10 to OpenSuse 11.2 to Kubuntu 10.04 beta. Not only is every version of KDE 4.x.y buggy to the point where I find it unusable (K3b has been broken for quite a while, for instance), but other regressions show up as well – Flash is more flaky than it’s been in years, for instance.
I finally got sick of fighting slow, bloated, buggy newer Linux distros – I just wiped my desktop and went back to PCLinuxOS 2009.2, with all updates. Finally a responsive desktop and usable apps once more!
I think this is really tragic, that I’ve had to go back to the past to get a working efficient desktop operating system and distro. But now that Gnome and KDE are both unusable to me, I’m going to stay stuck in the past until I’m forced to switch to LXDE or Openbox or something by the lack of future security updates.
I had high hopes for the future of desktop linux ten years ago. Today I realize it will not happen without a drastic change in the way distros are developed, because 99% of Linux distros out there are bug-laden, shoddy bits of work that provide a worse experience than Windows 98 SE did in every respect except one (resistance to viruses). The kernel and underlying OS is absolutely great, but the mess of loosely packaged binaries floating on top of it is falling apart at the seams. Is there a way to save Linux from itself?
-Gnobuddy
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The website says that PCLOS comes with parental controls. But when I tried running it live, I found that I had to download it separately.
It really is a lot like Mandriva, isn’t it? Seems like most of the positive features (e.g. menu layout, control centre) are basically derived from its Mandriva roots. Which is fine because Mandriva’s a good distro . . . the key distinction I guess is that PCLinuxOS uses apt and Synaptic with its RPMs rather than urpmi and Mandriva’s tool. There was a time when that was probably an advantage, but I’m not sure it makes much difference now.