Description:
Linux is quickly moving from being an alternative operating system to an industry powerhouse, but few Windows users who want to experiment with the OS are willing to put up with the installation hassles and incompatibility problems it currently presents. Linux for Windows is an attempt to let the curious have their cake and eat it, too, by providing a way for MandrakeSoft's Linux-Mandrake 7.2 and Windows to peacefully coexist on the same hard drive without requiring Linux to reside on a separate partition. It's a good thing this software comes with a thick instruction manual, because none of the installation options are straightforward. The first involves setting the operating system up in its own hard drive partition, just like any other Linux installation, but, since this product is advertised as a Linux release designed to get along with Windows, we installed it in our existing Windows partition. There are some drawbacks to doing this, in that Linux runs much more slowly than it would if installed in a dedicated partition, and if Windows is uninstalled, Linux is lost as well. You'll definitely want a fast computer with plenty of memory to get the most out of the operating system, as the 400 MHz Pentium II test system with 64 MB of RAM we tried it on was barely adequate. The Linux for Windows CD is bootable, and that's the easiest way to install the software if you know how to change the PC's boot order. Otherwise, when the CD is loaded in Windows, users are presented with the option to create a boot diskette. Either way, the boot CD or diskette is used to launch DrakX for the actual installation. DrakX is a graphical wizard that guided us step-by-step through the installation procedure, and the manual has information on nearly every option. It is possible to delete everything on your hard drive if the wrong option is selected, so pay close attention during every step. Once installed, we had no trouble running Linux, aside from its operating extremely slowly during our first session. Subsequent sessions ran much more smoothly and booted faster, so give it a few tries if you experience similar problems. Our only real gripe is that the boot menu that let us choose whether we wanted to boot Linux or Windows defaulted to Linux, and there was no way to change things so that Windows was the default operating system. If you can deal with that and the relatively high system requirements, Linux for Windows is an excellent way for the timorous to experience and experiment with Linux without losing Windows functionality. However, power users will want to opt for a Linux distribution that sits on its own partition. --T. Byrl Baker
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