Want a new OS? More alternatives than you'd imagine (1 Viewer)

[Martin]

I was surprised lately by how many different OSes there really are out there. And I'm not just talking about Linux distros either. The fact that there are so many options now and that people are opening their eyes to free software makes me think people should try this, at least one of them. Even if you don't like it, at least you'll see what your desktop could look like.

And the funny thing about Linux is that with so many options, just about every screenshot you see is different, cause you can customize it 100%.

The biggest players (linux):

Ready out-of-the-box:
+ Fedora (ex. Red Hat)
+ Mandrake (favorite newbie distro)
+ Suse (Mandrakish but geared towards power users and commercial application)

For "advanced users", require a fair amount of work:
+ Debian (much coveted on the server market, package management that has been mimicked by other distros)
+ Gentoo (source based, great package management)

Special purpose (demo, hardware detection etc):
+ Knoppix (the pioneer of the livecd)

Special newbie distros (linux)

+ Linspire (ex. Lindows, most widely sold distro with new computers)
+ Xandros (geared towards Windows compatibility)
+ Lycoris
+ MEPIS

Non-Linux "professional"

+ FreeBSD
+ Solaris

Non-Linux "consumer"

+ ZetaOS (BeOS heritage)
+ SkyOS

 

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[mikhail]

Which of the non-Linux ones are good?

 

[Martin]

Haven't tried any of them. Downloaded Solaris a couple of days ago, but the install didn't complete successfully. But it's known to be a bit dated and all, so I can't be bothered to make an effort and getting running.

SkyOS looks nice though, and when v5 is ready I'm getting the livecd they've announced to see what it's like. The website says it's basically one guy working on it.

I guess Mac OS X also falls under the non-linux category, a hacked Unix of some kind. Only problem is that it requires Maccy hardware, while all the ones I listed run on x86.