Here's my review of PCLinuxOS 2007 Test release 3.

Let me start by saying, "WOW!" The first time I used Linux was back in 1994/5 or so installing Slackware. Man was that an experience! I have installed most distros where I always find something missing or just not ready. PCLinuxOS is the first that didn't leave me going, "I can't wait until they get this or do that". I have to be honest, the laptop buttons that work in Kubuntu, Fedora, Suse 10.2, and others do not work in PCLinuxOS, but I have a feeling these may work in the final realease.

Installed on my Gateway M675 laptop, 3ghz, 1.2gb ram, 64mb ATI 9600 video and had zreo problems. Once logged in I found a fully functional Wacom tablet and 3-D support with the native ATI driver as well as Flash 9, Mplayer, and Java preinstalled and working perfectly in Firefox 2.0.0.2!

In the menu I find all the toys I love to play with, like Compiz and Beryl, which make the desktop 3-D enabled with cool effects, already there and ready to roll. I also found Superkaramba, which provides desktop widgets like system meters, calenders, and such. In my Superkaramba meters I found things working that have never worked in ohter distros so life so far has been easy.

Now it was time to install Blogg-X, which I am using now to post this. Usually Java requires a bit of work and Blogg-X is a Java application. It installed easily without any changes by me. I did end up adding the Java paths to my bash profile, but unless you're going to do development you don't need to do anything.

Next I wanted to check out the packages available. Now I found it a bit limited, but after reading a couple of Forum posts I found that they will be adding more software soon. 2007 is a test release after all. I look forward to more software, but from what I saw most of what a standard user would need is there and are the lastest and greatest versions.

The Control Center is another great feature of PCLinuxOS. In the Control Center I found easy Apache web server setup, file and print sharing/servers, and even personal firewall setup. These are features I feel all Linux distros should have, easy setup for security features, hardware, and servers. This reminds me a lot of Suse's Yast2, but I like this much better.

If you are looking to dabble or switch to Linux this maybe the one for you. It's the best looking Linux distro I have ever seen, no complicated setups, is very fast, and even though it's a test release it's stable as hell! Think I will stick with it. If you are new to Linux you may want to wait for the official release in about a month; although, it seems pretty much ready to roll.

All in all I give this distro a 10 out of 10 and would highly recommend it to anyone. Of course the hardcore Linux guys would say it's for idiots, but only an idiot would want to hack at the command line for hours to get their Operating system working. I have shit to do and jump starting my car when I want to go to the grocery store isn't how I like to live.

Now some screen shots! Be aware, these are big.

Beryl 3-D desktop fun. 

My Current Desktop, fully themed...