Sunday, December 11, 2011

Ultimate Edition 3.0 vs Mint 12 vs PCLinuxOS (FM)

Ultimate Edition 3.0 vs Mint 12 vs PCLinuxOS (Full Monty)

With the big change of Gnome 2.x vs3.x many users are exploring Linux alternatives.
The information that follows is just my personal opinion and your needs or preferences may differ.
First, let me say there has been a long time since my last post and many good OS offerings to keep us busy.  Now that Ultimate Edition 3.0 is out, I feel that it's a good time for another look.
To be fair, I'll try to narrow this group down to a OS that:
1> Just works
2> Is user friendly
3> Comes with most needed applications and a lot more
4> Is easy to look at
5> Has good support
6> Is secure

Links:

 
Now, I know there are many others that would pick other Operating Systems, but these are my 3 favourites and they all have their strengths and weaknesses.  


First, Ultimate Edition & Mint both originate from Ubuntu, as does Kubuntu (KDE version)
I myself felt limited using the new Gnome 3 in Ubuntu, so like others, I went to Kubuntu.
I felt is was more powerful and allowed me to do more with my desktop environment.
Ubuntu just seemed to target the Net-book users and left us desktop folks behind.
With the release of Mint 12, and Mate, you can switch between a Gnome 2 or 3 like environment.
Ultimate Edition 3.0 is Ubuntu/Mint 11 based with many fixes, work arounds and additions.
PCLinuxOS comes in many UI flavours, including Gnome, KDE, just to name a few.
Our comparison here  is all about FULL Featured Operating System right out of the box, so I am limiting this PCLinuxOS comparison to PCLinuxOS FM (Full Monty, KDE)
While I am on FM, I would have to say that it takes on a nice approach for organising your work with (6) separate desktops.  One for Internet, Office, Gaming, multimedia, Graphics & system.
They refer to this idea as being great for the beginner or switching from other systems.  While I do agree, it is important to note you (like me) may never want anything more.

So, on to the opinion!

1> Just Works..  All do, but Utimate Edition 3.0 and PCLinuxOS (FM) a close second
2> Is user friendly.. Have to say Mint 12
3> Comes with most needed applications and a lot more..  The two best: Ultmate Edition 3.0 (if you like the Gnome UI) or PCLinuxOS (FM) if you prefer the KDE User Interface
4> Is easy to look at.. Mint 12 (very simple & clean) or PCLinuxOS (FM) (well organised) or Ultimate Edition 3.0 (If you like eye candy and the feeling of a powerful system) = you choose!
5> Has good support..  Mint 12 and also has a model documentation source
6> Is secure..  I have always felt more secure with PCLinuxOS.  I do like the user password AND root user password concept.
So there you have it.  I have left out any screen shots, so as not to influence you by the first impression thoughts.  They all look and (IMHO) work well and are worth a test drive via live CD/DVD or better yet a test install.

Note:
Dual booting of Ultimate Edition, Mint, Kubuntu (all Ubuntu based) & MS Windows worked fine for me.  Could NOT mix in PCLinuxOS, Boot loader Differences..

Dual booting of PCLinuxOS & MS Windows alone also worked fine for me.

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