some more thoughts on Corel's distribution...
"Even before it was officially released, Corel Linux was the talk of the
Linux world as being the harbinger of tomorrow's Linux, a blueprint for
how Linux could complete against the likes of Windows and the
Macintosh?talk that came directly from Corel officials themselves in a
marketing push. And, as if to prove their confidence in Linux, Corel
officials took to the media and declared that they were basically betting
the company's future on Linux. (Probably not the best bet, as the Corel
Corp. stock price has floundered lately.)
So, with that heavy weight on our shoulders?we like Canada and would
hate to see any Canadians unemployed as the result of a poorly
researched review of Corel Linux?we embarked on an evaluation using
the same criteria applied to our previous DistributionWatch review of
Red Hat Linux. Namely, how well does Corel Linux stack up against
Windows and other Linux distributions when it comes to installation,
configuration and usability? And how well does Corel's Windows
workalike strategy play in the real world?
Rather well, as it ends up: better than any Linux to date, including Red Hat Linux. Newcomers
who have little or no exposure to Linux will find this a user-friendly and usable operating system
that can serve the needs of most mainstream computer users. Experienced Linux users will
marvel at how well Linux can be positioned for the mass market, both in terms of installation
and in terms of everyday usability. And while there are many little things that we find disturbing
in Corel Linux (particularly for users of older PCs), on the whole it's a major advance in the
positioning of Linux as a mainstream operating system."
***
The Corel enhancements to the KDE desktop are simple, yet effective. The most important
thing Corel did was add a little restraint to the desktop, offering an attractive blue background
and icons representing only the most important applications (WordPerfect, Netscape
Navigator).
"In addition, the KDE tools for changing the look and feel of your desktop, stored under the
Control Center, are easy to use and work similarly to the same tools under Windows."
***
"That's why the open-source Corel File Manager is such a treat, even if it
has come under some criticism in the Linux community for its fidelity to
the Microsoft Windows look and feel. Indeed, if someone felt the KDE
Control Center looked too much like Microsoft Windows, they'd positively
lay an egg when looking at the Corel File Manager, purposely designed
to look like the Windows File Manager, using a folder-based hierarchy."
***
"In spite of our difficulties when installing Corel Linux on an older Dell PC,
it's clear that Corel has taken some huge strides in making Linux easier
to use for the average computer user.
Part of this lies in Corel's admirable attempts to put graphical interfaces
in front of command lines whenever possible while imparting a clear
organization to the overall graphical interface. The Linux command line is
a great tool for the Linux veteran who knows exactly what they want to do.
But for the rest of us, flailing about with obscure options and arguments,
a graphical interface is a nice way to do business. And for Linux
newbies, a graphical interface is mandatory.
And, let's face it: the other reason why Corel Linux exceeds is that Corel
consciously set out to make it work as similarly to Windows as possible.
This is not a bad thing: millions of users are used to Windows, and when
people complain about Windows, they're generally not complaining
about the interface?they're complaining about the Blue Screen of Death and other system
instabilities that interrupt their work. With Linux, you don't have problems with Blue Screens of
Death, so combining a stable OS with an attractive interface is the best of all possible worlds
for users. We're already excited about the possibilities Corel Linux brings to the
marketplace?there's no reason why hundreds of thousands of Windows-based PCs can't be
replaced by running Corel Linux, WordPerfect, and Netscape Navigator, since word
processing and the Internet are the two major applications in use today. And once KOffice
matures, there will be no excuse for everyone's first choice for a PC operating system not to be
Linux." linuxplanet.com
mowa |
