Windows-friendly desktop Linux launches

The latest version of Xandros desktop Linux has arrived, continuing the operating system’s mission to welcome Windows users–a mission that’s led some in the Linux community to dismiss it as “Linux with training wheels.”

Xandros 4.0, the first version of the operating system in 18 months, includes features to read and write Windows-formatted drives and import user settings from Windows installations. It’s based on v3.1 (“sarge”) of Debian, with improvements from the Linux Standard Base (LSB), thanks to the DCC Alliance’s Common Core.

Xandros’ distinctive feature is its effort to carve out a commercial niche as an easy replacement for Windows. “The target audience of Xandros is primarily corporates looking to switch their workstations from Windows NT/2000 to Linux,” commented one user on a Debian discussion board. “They’ve gone to great lengths to mimic the look and feel of Windows for this reason.”

The OS includes Paragon Software’s NTFS for Linux, which allows users to read-write to Windows-formatted drives, so they can add the operating system and still have access to work they did in Windows.

It includes the WINE-based CrossOver Office from CodeWeavers, an emulator that allows users to run Windows applications. It also imports settings and data–including e-mail, photos, desktop sound and music–from Windows XP and other versions, using Versora’s Progression Desktop.

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