Are you a modder? Join the Popular Mechanics modding community to share your modding tips, tricks and cool case mods. Drop by the message boards to talk modding with other members. Check out my modding blog and set up your own blog to share your mods.
Verry Technical
I've been reviewing various Ubuntu derivatives and this week I thought it would be fun to take a look at the netbook version of Ubuntu. Ubuntu Netbook Edition used to be called Ubuntu Netbook Remix, but Canonical changed the name once this distro became an official edition of Ubuntu.
Whenever a new version of Ubuntu is released, a new version of Linux Mint soon follows. This time around it's Linux Mint 9. Linux Mint 9 is based on Ubuntu 10.04. I gave Ubuntu 10.04 a big thumbs up in my review, and I've been eagerly anticipating the release of Linux Mint 9. So how...
Woof! Woof! Guess what time it is, folks? It's time for a review of Puppy Linux 5. Puppy Linux, in case you aren't already familiar with it, is a lightweight version of Linux that is designed for portability. The .iso file of Puppy Linux 5.0 weighs in at an incredibly petite 128 MB. It's much,...
I've covered a lot of remastered versions of Ubuntu since DLR launched. But, every once in a while, I bump into one that is particularly interesting to review. Peppermint OS One is definitely in that category. Peppermint OS One is a web-centric Ubuntu remaster that passes up common desktop applications like OpenOffice.org in favor of...
Last week I did a review of Kubuntu 10.04, one of Canonical's officially supported Ubuntu derivatives. Today's review is about Xubuntu 10.04, an officially recognized but not supported Ubuntu derivative. According to the Xubuntu downloads page, it is based on the "feature-rich core of Ubuntu" Linux. Unlike Ubuntu (which uses GNOME), Xubuntu uses the Xfce...
I first took a look at KahelOS back in October 2009. There's a new release out now so it's time to look at it again. KahelOS is essentially a remastered version of Arch Linux. Arch Linux has always had a reputation as being somewhat inaccessible to average desktop users, and KahelOS is an attempt to...
Last week I looked at Ubuntu Linux 10.04 and found it to be a delightful surprise. This week I thought it would be fun to look at the KDE version, Kubuntu 10.04. Alas, I was not nearly as pleased with Kubuntu as I was with Ubuntu last week. While there have definitely been some improvements...
The open source world has been eagerly anticipating the final release of Ubuntu Linux 10.04, and now it's finally here. Canonical has been working extremely hard and it shows in the quality of this release. To put it bluntly, Lucid Lynx rocks!
Full-featured desktop Linux distributions like PCLinuxOS and Linux Mint are quite useful, but there are times when a smaller and lighter distro can also be desirable. CDlinux is petite mini-distro that can be installed on a USB device or on a Windows C: partition. I thought it might be a nice change of pace to...
Occasionally I get an interesting, off-the-beaten-path suggestion on the Request A Review page. This time around somebody suggested doing a review of OpenSolaris. If you aren't familiar with OpenSolaris, here's a little background from Wikipedia: OpenSolaris is an open source operating system based on Solaris created by Sun Microsystems, now a part of Oracle Corporation....
The last time I looked at PCLinuxOS was back in 2009 when I was working full-time for ExtremeTech. There's a new release out and it's a good time for a review of it here on DLR. I've also gotten some requests for it in the Request A Review page and I'm always happy to...
I've been somewhat tardy in getting to the KDE version of Linux Mint 8. But I've finally been able to sit down with it and thus couldn't resist writing a review. As great as the GNOME version of Linux Mint is, it simply isn't for everybody. Many people still prefer KDE to GNOME and...
When I first started Desktop Linux Reviews, I wanted to include some Linux applications along with the distribution reviews. I've finally gotten around to that now and the first application review is Hulu Desktop for Linux. Hulu is one of the most popular video sites on the web. You can watch all kinds of different...
Some Linux distros sell themselves by being minimalistic. They only come with a limited range of apps and everything is geared toward keeping the file size and hardware requirements absolutely minimal. Then there's Ultimate Edition 2.5. Ultimate Edition leans the other way and throws in everything including the kitchen sink. Ultimate Edition 2.5 is based...
The recent release of a major new version of Ubuntu means that it’s time for new versions of various remastered distros. This time around it’s Linux Mint 8. Linux Mint, as you may already know from previous releases, takes Ubuntu to another level by slicking it up with tools, multimedia codecs and more.
Some desktop Linux distributions are perennial favorites and Fedora is definitely one of them. Fedora's slogan is "freedom, friends, features, first" and, while some may consider it rather cheesy, it's a nice sentiment. The latest release of Fedora is version 12 and it includes some nifty new features. I downloaded the Live CD version of...
One of the distributions I almost always get calls for reviews of is Mandriva. Well I'm happy to say that Mandriva Linux 2010 was recently released and I decided to put it at the top of my review list. Mandriva comes in the following editions: Mandriva Powerpack 2010 Mandriva One 2010 Mandriva Free 2010 For this review I...
Last week I took a look at the latest release of Ubuntu. This week I thought it would be great to continue with Kubuntu Linux 9.10. For those who aren't familiar with Kubuntu, it's basically the KDE version of Ubuntu (Ubuntu uses Gnome as its desktop environment). Before I get into this review, I wanted...
Since the launch of Desktop Linux Reviews, I've covered a number of different remastered versions of Ubuntu Linux. But I haven't done a review of Ubuntu itself. I wanted to wait until there was a significant enough release as I'd done a review for ExtremeTech back when I was a full-time employee there. I'm happy...
I don’t own a netbook but I’ve always been fascinated by the operating systems that run on them. Whether it’s a version of Windows, Linux or something else it intrigues me to know what folks are running on their netbooks. So when I ran into Easy Peasy Linux, I just could not resist doing...
The very first review I wrote for Desktop Linux Reviews was Parsix Linux 2.0. Well I’m pleased to note that Parsix Linux 3.0 has just been released and I couldn’t resist doing a review of this update. When I first launched DLR I had no idea how well the blog would be received or...
Once again another interesting suggestion was recently made on the Request A Review page by a reader so I thought I’d follow up and do a review. This time around it’s Kahel OS. My thanks to reader Molen for the suggestion to review this distro. Kahel OS is a remastered version of Arch Linux....
I always admire the effort made by developers to take a version of Linux that isn’t particularly friendly to desktop users and tame it a bit thus making it available to a wider audience. Absolute Linux is one such distro as it is based on Slackware. Slackware isn’t exactly known as a “newbie-friendly” version...
Sabayon Linux is a remastered version of Gentoo Linux. I first took a look at it when I was writing for ExtremeTech, back when Sabayon Linux was in version 4.1. This latest release is version 5.0. Gentoo, as you may already be aware, has long had a reputation for not being particularly friendly to...
One of the nicest things about Linux is its sheer versatility. There are so many different versions of Linux that serve different purposes including being able to take it with you wherever you go. No, I’m not talking about on a laptop or even on a netbook. I’m talking about being able to stick...
