Linspire Five-O A Good Option

operating system software Linux OS

Linspire aims to compete in the low-end desktop market with its Linspire Five-0 OS by mimicking Microsoft Windows. Linspire claims its iteration is the easiest flavor of Linux to use. The CRN Test Center installed Linspire Five-0 on several test systems and met with mixed success. Installation on a Pentium 4-based white-box system worked well, with all the hardware properly detected and drivers loaded. Less generic systems were a different story; installation on a Hewlett-Packard Compaq NC6320 proved impossible. The Linspire installer failed with a cryptic CD-ROM read error. Linspire tech support recommended downloading a newer version of the installation CD, which solved the first problem, but created another—the installer application couldn't find a compatible hard drive. A test installation on an IBM ThinkPad T42 worked flawlessly, with all primary hardware identified and the proper drivers loaded.

Installation on existing or tier-one machines shouldn't be an issue for system builders of new white-box PCs, however. Users will find the interface easy to navigate, and all major PC software offerings are well represented.

With a retail price of just less than $50 and a channel program that offers system builders additional discounts, Linspire Five-0 is a tremendous value.

*For a more in-depth review of Linspire Five-O, click here.