Member Avatar for blud

For all of you windows users that have been debating whether or not to change to Linux; now is the time to act, to see what it is all about.

The people at Linspire are giving Linspire 5.0 away for free (digital download only) until September 6th. Simply go to purchase the $49.95 digital edition, and then enter coupon code "freespire" to receive a $49.95 discount.

Linspire 'formally known as Lindows' has specifically designed a Linux distribution to appeal to the Microsoft/windows crowd. I beta tested for this company last year, and it was a GREAT desktop OS, keep in mind, this is not for the die hard, customizing Linux guy.

They are the closest thing to windows as any Linux distribution has ever gotten. The best part of their OS is the automated update utility, similar to Red Hat, and Windows, as well as the integration of wine to run actual windows applications.


http://info.linspire.com/freespire/index.html

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Two quick points to frame this for anyone stumbling on the thread years later: Linspire and Xandros were both commercial, Windows-friendly desktop distributions but they took different technical routes and business models — Linspire used a GUI “store” approach and a GNOME-based desktop, while Xandros’ desktop lineage came from Corel and used KDE. If ideological openness matters, a pure Debian-based live image is still the simpler, cleaner path (as recommended). See background on both projects for reference. Linspire on Wikipedia Xandros on Wikipedia. (en.wikipedia.org)

How to evaluate either distro with minimal risk: boot a live CD/USB or run it in a virtual machine so nothing on the hard drive is changed. Use the live session to exercise networking (wired and wireless), video (X/driver modes), printing/scanning, multimedia, and the package/update tools the vendor provides. If you need Windows-only apps, test them with Wine and consult the Wine AppDB for specific compatibility notes before committing. This is faster and safer than installing and later trying to undo changes. WineHQ. (ubuntu.com)

Practical cautions and next steps: back up all data and create recovery media first. If you must resize partitions, use a GParted Live session and follow its safety notes (unmount before changing, check filesystems). If promotional downloads are slow or flaky (as observed), pause and retry later or use an official mirror; always verify image checksums. For a low-risk tryout, use a VM or a live image rather than immediate dual-boot. Finally, note this thread is old; both projects changed hands and evolved, so check the current project pages or distro status before downloading. GParted. (gparted.org)

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Member Avatar for Toulinwoek

Two things I wonder:

One: Is it still full of pushy, in-your-face attempts to get you to buy all kinds of stuff?

and,

Two: How does it compare to Xandros, which is also highly touted as the best Linux distro for Windows users?

Member Avatar for blud

I've never used Xandros, and it isn't pushy to get you to buy things as long as you maintain an active subscription to their update service, which is free for the first year with this promotion code.

I'll check out Xandros and let you know which I find better.

Member Avatar for mmiikkee12

Interesting.

Looking for "Freespire" (a free copy of Linspire)?
You've come to the right place...

Currently all of our servers are busy.

Thanks for your interest in Linspire's Limited special offer.
Our servers are trying to deal with the massive number of customers that are interested in getting their free copy of Linspire OS. Please be patient, and come back later while we deal with all of our incoming requests.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

The Linspire Team.

It also kept me logged in from the last time I heard about one of these coupons, which was around 3-4 months ago.

Member Avatar for blud

Yes, the site is extremely busy. I also apologize for my previous update, the CRN *update service* is not included with this copy, so yes, it is $20/yr for the update service.

Member Avatar for benna

I believe you mean formerly Lindows.

i must say I won't be taking them up on this offer. If I want to use windows I'll use windows, not their windows clone. Let's get real. Linux is not for everybody. It's not even for most people and it probobly never will be. Linux is, however, very good for its niche users. It is extremly customizable, and it has a great hippie appeal to it. Linspire fails on both counts.

I like Debian, mostly for it's community oriented development. Debian is extremely opensource, and not at all commercial. This is good for both customization and hippie appeal. New users should use a debian based live CD like knoppix.

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