I am writing this review in WordPerfect 8.0 for Linux. Word - it is not. It's not even WordPerfect for Windows. But I'll live with it for the duration of the review. I've purchased Linux Corel like many who have been wanting to see what the hoopla is all about. Now, I've used Linux in the good old days when most of it was command-line with the ugly xWindows tacked on the top of it. KDE was just getting started back then and I saw no reason to use Linux in everyday computing or any other computing for that matter. The software that was available for it was, to say the least, underwhelming. That was then and this is now, post-hoopla.
Because there are many facets to Corel Linux and not all of them are evenly implemented, I've divided the review into three sections: Good, Bad and Ugly. I'll start with the ugly, because that is how my experience started.
Once I unwrapped the package, I was pleasantly surprised that it contained a manual (yep, no need to rub your eyes. Some companies still ship manuals). The manual plainly stated that one of the installation options was to install it as a file within my existing Windows partition. Once started, Linux automatically decompresses itself into a virtual file system, sets itself up and runs. Great, that means that I wouldn't have to repartition anything. So I popped in the CD (which is bootable by the way), selected the standard install into the DOS/Windows partition. Up came a progress bar and off we went. The installation coasted from 0% to 98% in about 2 minutes and then it took it 25 minutes to get from 98% to 100%. Memo to Corel, don't use a freaking progress bar if it isn't used for anything. Anyway, finally I rebooted and started Corel Linux. Tons of initialization commenced with DOS like messages popping up on the screen. Some were quick, others took forever. Finally I logged on and my troubles began. First off, the mouse movements were real jerky. Anytime there was anything remotely processor intensive, the mouse would just lock up for a while. Come on folks, this is supposed to be a multitasking OS. The entire OS just seemed so slow. I double-clicked on the WordPerfect icon and nothing happened. So I went to get an apple from the fridge. I came back and to my amazement, the splash screen was just coming up. Netscape was even slower. Needless to say, I didn't have a very high opinion of Linux at that moment. I could deal with the speed, but the jerkiness of the mouse was just driving me nuts. I figured, maybe tomorrow it'll be better. Well, I was never able to boot into that Linux installation again. The boot process was stalling on checking the hard drive for something. Anyway, I decided that to give Corel Linux a real chance, I would need to repartition the hard drive and install Linux for real.
So I grabbed a copy of Partition Magic, resized the main partition and created some free, unpartitioned space. Then I booted off the Corel Linux installation CD, told it to take over the free, unpartitioned space. The installation ensued, again with all the whackyness of the progress bar, but flawless, nonetheless. I rebooted, the graphical boot manager came up, 2 minutes later I was looking at the Linux desktop. This time Linux was pretty snappy. The performance was similar to what you'll find in Windows 98. However, there were some problems. Linux could not set the video refresh rate to the one I am accustomed to in Windows, so I had to play around for a while before settling on an acceptable combination of resolution, color depth and refresh rate. The OS could not detect my WinModem. Come on, folks (Memo to Corel) - if you want Linux on the desktop, you must have support for WinModems. Period. An article on Linux.com claimed that somewhere, maybe they are available, but I could not find them. On top of that I tried all I could but my PnP sound card, which is built-in to the motherboard, would not be detected. Article in Corel.com claimed that if the sound card is PCI and PnP, it would easily be detected and setup. This was not the case. And finally, the mousewheel on my beloved Logitech wireless mouse did not work either (this is still under investigation - there maybe some hack that will allow me to use the third wheel). Generally speaking, Plug & Play support is sorely lacking in Linux. I saw no way, for example, to enable my Acer Prisa USB scanner. This is as far as Linux as a standalone OS goes. Corel bundled several products with the OS - some are good and some are bad. One of the largest bundled products - WordPerfect 8 Light Edition. Right off the bat, it had significant problems. For some reason, it could not handle my resolution (even though everything else could) and the toolbar became unusable (see screen shot). The toolbar looks lovely, doesn't it. In addition, the spell checker was totally schizophrenic. Some words that I use every day were on its no-no list. Words like toolbar, standalone, unpartitioned, reboot for instance. WordPerfect kept on insisting on changing word 'toolbar' to 'tollbar'. Corel, what the heck is a tollbar???
Netscape Communicator 4.7, for some strange reason donned black & white buttons on a toolbar (see the screen shot), and looked sort of ferocious. Even Mozilla (with its neutral blue scheme) looks better than NS 4.7. Not a pretty picture. Let me tell you.
Among other annoyances I've found that you can't change a video card inside the Control Center. You have to start XF86Setup command (from command line, of course) and try to understand how to work this program that is has neither the feel of KDE or Linux. Anyway, after using this program, my screen reverted to 640x480 & 256 colors and no amount of trying, tweaking, etc¼ would fix the situation. The Display Settings dialog box (almost identical to the one in Windows) also would not comply. No matter what resolutions or color depth I set, it always reverted to 640x480 & 256 colors. I basically had to reinstall the OS to fix the situation. Hardly user-friendly.
When I tried to change the default OS to boot into, I again had to go to the command line (per instructions on Corel's web site) and type ridiculous commands. For instance to set Windows as the default OS, I had to type: "lilo -D MS_Windows". To set Linux as the default, something even more ridiculous: "lilo -D []_{}". Here is how it should have been: "Click on the Start button and go to Programs menu, then Utilities menu, then select Boot Manager. Click on the OS of choice and then press OK." But I guess, that was too difficult to implement.
Right off the bat, I want to say that Corel Linux (not Linux, but Corel Linux) has the best installation procedure in any OS ever. It has its problems, but the idea is great. The installation CD is bootable, so you pop in the CD, reboot the PC and off you go. They do have to perfect the installation routine (see my comments at the top of the article), but I see where they are going and the direction looks right. No dealing with floppies or other BS ways to install an OS. In general, if you compare Linux with its older Red Hat 5.0 incarnation of year ago, it has gotten much, much better. For instance, the KDE UI, that installs as a part of Corel Linux is very good indeed. It is almost as smooth as Windows 98. The KDE-built apps have a consistent, smooth look with tons of functionality. For instance, I was able to use all the familiar Windows keyboard shortcuts while in a text editor. The KDE is also highly skinnable (themes in Windows). The included skins look really good. And there are a lot more out on the internet. The skins allow just about any type of change to the look & feel of the UI.
The Control Center (akin to Windows Control Panel) is excellent as well. I actually preferred it to its Windows equivalent. Whereas, the applets in the Control Panel are disparate program, all the selection in the KDE Control Center (screen shot) had a consistent interface. In general, KDE apps are very functional, look great, while WordPerfect & Netscape looked drab and totally out of place. My only criticism of the Control Center is that the Display and Theme Manager applet overwrote each other's settings, sort like changes made to the Desktop Themes applet in Windows overwrite the settings in the Appearance tab of the Display Settings. That annoyed me in Windows and it does in Linux too.
Another substantial app included with the distribution is the Corel File Manager (screen shot). This file manager goes a long way from what was available in Linux just a year ago. It mimics Windows Explorer in many ways and yet has its own character. On the left side is the directory tree, on the right side are either the contents of directories or web pages. Yep, it supports viewing HTML pages as well. My only complaint about the Corel File Manager is that once in a while it would lock up and not come back to life for close to a minute (???). The file manager does away with ridiculous Linux problems of the past, where you had to type commands at the console window just to get your CD out of the drive. Finally, one spot that has access to all the system's disk-based resources.
Among other items that I found noteworthy is that Linux effortlessly saw my FAT32 partition.
The MIME editor has caught my eye as well. This app is analogous to the little applet in Windows when you pull down the View menu and select Options. Except this application is a little more complete, allowing you to perform a whole host of operations. It also conveniently arranges the MIME types into Audio, Image, Video and other groups making it easier to locate the needed file type.
I also liked that most Linux applications allow resizing of modal dialog. This has been a pet peeve of my main for years. For instance, in VB you open the References dialog and you can't see what half the descriptions of the ActiveX DLLs. Same situation exists with the Component dialog box. Even more annoying is when trying to assign an icon to a shortcut. Windows, as a default, points to shell32.dll which has tons of icons. However, you can only see several of them at a time. I understand that Microsoft must program to the lowest common denominator: 640 x 480. Perhaps, seeing Linux as a competitive threat will prompt them to include resizable dialog boxes. The Task Manager is yet another application that is comparable to the one on Windows NT, but with a lot more detail.
Linux boot time was too pretty nice. Once I changed the network card not to look for DHCP server ('cause I ain't got one), which for some strange reason was a default, the boot time (to the login screen) was just under a minute, compared to Win98's 2 minutes. This is an unfair comparison to Windows because it loads a lot more drivers (since it recognizes ALL my hardware). Will see how Linux fares when I will have found more drivers for my hardware.
A final nice touch is that Alt-Tab still switches between apps, just like in Windows. In general, throughout Linux KDE UI (screen shot), I've seen features that mirror or copy the ones in Windows. It is nice to see that KDE developers didn't buy into the anti-Microsoft stance, so characteristic of Linux faithful, and instead designed an excellent UI where any Windows user will feel right at home. If you take a look at the screen shot of Linux KDE desktop, most you will find it familiar. Not only does it look familiar, it acts familiar. So as far as competing with Windows, KDE team is using a familiar Microsoft tactic: first achieve feature parity, and then one-up them.
Linux has improved tremendously on the
desktop. I can see how in the near future it can handily compete with
Windows. Many parts of Linux KDE UI seem to have taken the comparable
feature set of Windows as a base and then added improvements on top of it.
To be sure, Windows 98 is still a better OS by a stretch. So what do
various Linux teams have to do to beat Windows? For starters, Plug &
Play must be vastly improved. A Device Manager - like application would be
nice. This app would allow the user to add, remove and change the devices
like video cards, modems and others, while bypassing ridiculous programs like
XF86Setup. Once that is done, manufacturers will be more likely to write
drivers for Linux. Support for DSL and Cable Modems along with some type
of wizard would also be nice. It can be done now but what a pain.
I've already mentioned lack of support for WinModems.
The KDE UI itself needs to be a bit more refined.
It is great as it is, very stable and functional (didn't crash once). I
just didn't get the feeling of full comfort while making my way around the OS,
particularly executing commands from the console. So more graphical admin
tools are needed.
To anyone who will buy Corel Linux OS, I
recommend that you ditch the installed apps like WordPerfect Lite and go for the
equivalent KDE app or better yet just upgrade straight to WordPerfect
2000. When installing Linux do not install it into the Windows partition -
you will be disappointed by the results. A Linux partition is the way to
go.
There are several places to get
help on Corel Linux and its bundled software. The most helpful (to me, at
least) was the Knowledge Base on the Corel site itself. It didn't have too
many articles, but the ones that it did hit the spot. A bit less useful,
but with tons of information is the Linux.com portal. It has information
on the latest happenings, drivers, projects and everything else that is
Linux-related.
To get the applications you need, look for the free
ones. First, check out various KDE efforts. Their applications are
in various stages of development, but they have a full-fledged word processor,
spreadsheet, database, presentation program, illustration program, and tons of
other miscellaneous stuff. Sun Microsystems is giving out StarOffice for
free. While not MS Office, the suite is strong nonetheless. Keep in
mind that because it suffers from feature bloat, no PCs under 300-400 MHz should
apply. It also sports a word processor, spreadsheet, database,
presentation package and other miscellaneous apps. Finally, there is the
excellent WordPerfect Office 2000 for Linux, which everyone is probably already
familiar with.
