What alternative to Windows are you using?

oneweb

Just wondering what alternative Operating Systems people are using. I've come across some uber cool desktop shots on boards, but I don't know what OS they are. I AFAICR, Typedef, Moist and Dazzer were guilty of having the best looking OS.

I'm looking for potentially great GUI based OSes. It'd be great if you could post a screen capture of it, the pros and cons of the OS, and a link to get more info.

Should there be an OS that really appeals, it'll be part of a dual boot.

(Or, if there are any great Explorer shell replacements too)

Preferably FREE, or cheap and easy to acquire (ie in a normal computer shop).

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Stark

I'm using Mandrake which is basically yet another linux variant.

The pros are unparalleled ease-of-use combined with power user features and great server setup. Comes with wide variety of up-to-date software. It's totally free to download, download comes on 3 cds. You only need to 1st cd to get the operating sytem itself, but if you want cool applications like office suites etc., then it is recommended to download the second cd as well. You could probably get away without the 3rd cd.

Can't really see any cons with it compared to other linux distros. You may find cons compared to windows - websites optimized for internet explorer, windows specific applications etc., but no technical cons.

Snaga

There are lots of different window managers for the unix/linux variants out there. Lots of people really like enlightenment but afaik theres been very little work on it recently.

As for windows shell replacements Im a big fan of litestep, there are plenty of themes and theme managers out there to help you out and they can look extremely nice, go check out google for some links.

Spunog UIE

for shell replacement i'd try Talisman2 I've used loads others and think its the best and very easy to change things around, there are loads of cool themes out for it too if you don't want to make your own.

http://www.lighttek.com/talisman.htm

and check out other customise sites like:
http://www.Deviantart.com or http://www.Deskmod.org for skins and info on other shell's. Tried litestep ages ago but kept feckin up my comp?! have been using Tailisman now for ages and haven't gone back to the basic windows one like i have with all the others. Tis just class. Ya can actually run it under windows till you have it all set up and then set it to the actuall shell and replace the windows one.

daveirl

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Dingatron

I also use Mandrake 8.0 and also W2K. Theres no cons that I can see. Its free. It has some serious applications which are also open source. I think it broadens the mind to try a few different ones. The only downfall is that if things go wrong your into alot of CLI stuff but thats half the fun. Heres a good link to lots of free operating systems. http://www.freeos.com/

zAbbo

I`m currently dueling Xp pro with Red Hat 8, going back to mandrake 9 soon

Kali

My desktop in work is a Debian (woody) install, running Fluxbox as the window manager, OpenOffice for general Word/Excel/Powerpoint stuff and Ximian Evolution (highly reccomended) for my mail.. Mozilla 1.21 as a browser.

Which is strange enough in itself cos I'm a network admin with completly Windows-based servers and clients.. ahh good old VNC

Dingatron

Agreed. Vnc is pretty cool and free! If you have a multiple of clients to monitor try VCON although its only windose. Very handy when you've 400+ clients to babysit :-)