I must say, I'm impressed.
I've loaded up the LiveCD Beta 1 of version 5.8. I've also already downloaded and burnt the VectorLinux 5.8 install just in case I like it enough to switch, and damn do I like it. It's like Christmas but with Easter Eggs instead of Brussel Sprouts and when you open an Easter Egg a fluffy bunny hops out and does some cool magic tricks. That's possibly the only way to describe this experience right now.
Gripes from a Ubuntu Gnome point of view:
It's slackware - so instead of apt-get, it's slapt-get, one minor change, but this changes quite a lot of the terminal commands which is a little bit annoying because you have to think about what it's changed to after you get it wrong the first time. I sure this wouldn't matter after about a week though.
Gripes from a Windows point of view:
Can't .. really .... think of any...
Gripes that affect both Gnome and Windows users:
Click and Drag doesn't work on the desktop
The buttons on the taskbar become very small when you resize the bar because it's a giant thing that takes up too much screen space when you first start
Plus Points:
I could go on forever listing the great points about Xfce and especially VectorLinux, but I wont. Instead, I shall simply sugget that you download the LiveCD version and try it out for yourself. Just burn the ISO to a CD and pop it in the tray, restart, and VectorLinux will boot up (provided you have CD set to be the first boot device).
Rating: A
Here's a screenshot
I've loaded up the LiveCD Beta 1 of version 5.8. I've also already downloaded and burnt the VectorLinux 5.8 install just in case I like it enough to switch, and damn do I like it. It's like Christmas but with Easter Eggs instead of Brussel Sprouts and when you open an Easter Egg a fluffy bunny hops out and does some cool magic tricks. That's possibly the only way to describe this experience right now.
Gripes from a Ubuntu Gnome point of view:
It's slackware - so instead of apt-get, it's slapt-get, one minor change, but this changes quite a lot of the terminal commands which is a little bit annoying because you have to think about what it's changed to after you get it wrong the first time. I sure this wouldn't matter after about a week though.
Gripes from a Windows point of view:
Can't .. really .... think of any...
Gripes that affect both Gnome and Windows users:
Click and Drag doesn't work on the desktop
The buttons on the taskbar become very small when you resize the bar because it's a giant thing that takes up too much screen space when you first start
Plus Points:
- Shade. I love this feature. Admittedly it's with all Xfce desktops, but it would be nice to have this in Ubuntu Gnome. I'm going to try and find a way to get this feature in my Ubuntu Gnome desktop.
- Menu Configuration - You can configure the start menu to show whatever you like with the menu configuration. Likewise this menu can be displayed when you right click the desktop, this menu configuration just feels a little bit more advanced than that in Gnome.
- Ease of customisation - loads of skins/icon sets etc. are already included, you can have it looking how you want with ease in a matter of, well, seconds.
- It seems extremely fast. Minimising windows, even browser history seems to be faster. This is part of the Xfce desktop system, it's designed to be lightweight and fast. Anyone with a low-end PC would find their performance increased dramatically with this desktop, especially as VectorLinux is touted as the faster non-source desktop in the world.
I could go on forever listing the great points about Xfce and especially VectorLinux, but I wont. Instead, I shall simply sugget that you download the LiveCD version and try it out for yourself. Just burn the ISO to a CD and pop it in the tray, restart, and VectorLinux will boot up (provided you have CD set to be the first boot device).
Rating: A
Here's a screenshot
Labels: Linux, Review, VectorLinux
That's just bloody Mac OSX.
Review PCLinuxOS! It rules.