Description:
Linux for Windows is based on one of those ideas that's either brilliant or moronic, depending on your point of view. Aiming to simplify the installation and use of the increasingly popular open-source operating system, Macmillan devised a version of Linux-Mandrake that operates as a Windows shell. This concept makes installation much less dangerous: instead of repartitioning your hard drive, you create a giant (500 to 1500 MB) image file as a kind of fake partition, then run Linux as if it were a Windows program. In theory, this should make installation easier; unfortunately, the user has to learn just as much to get this version of Linux going as any other, and support is practically nonexistent in comparison with others like Red Hat. What do you do when installation stops dead in a fit of kernel panic? Good luck figuring it out, either from the skimpy docs or the Web. This product may fill a niche for advanced users who either don't want to partition or need to train Windows users on Linux, but the rest of us should either stick with Windows or get one of the better-supported versions of Linux. --Rob Lightner
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