There are many people on this earth who believe that Microsoft’s Windows range of operating systems are the be all and end all for the PC. Not so, matey! Linux has been bubbling quietly away in the background for a good few years now and has been the operating system of choice for tech-heads everywhere.

Why would Linux be needed? Well for one thing it is free. Well, you can download it off the Internet free of charge. This does however take a bit of time. You can also buy prepackaged and easier to install mail order or off the shelf versions of which Red Hat Linux v5.2 is one.

Installing can be done in a number of ways. One way is to wipe your HD and boot the CD (yep, it works without CD drivers should your BIOS allow it). Another is to defragment your HD and partition it using a Linux partition creator FIPS. This is very handy if you don’t want to use your whole HD for Linux. Windows or whatever OS you are currently using can still be booted thanks to a boot up request allowing both OS’s to reside on the same PC. Once the partition is created the CD can be booted and the software installed as normal.

Right, lets get to the meat in this sandwich. What is Linux like? Well, if you have used a Unix before it should be pretty easy to get to grips with. For the Windows 95/98 junkie things could seem incredibly daunting compared to the rosy, cotton wool covered (in initial comparison) world of Microsoft (usually referred to by Linux-Philes as Micro$oft!). Command line instructions and all files are case sensitive which can be irritating and the commands can be cryptic to the uninitiated.

Linux is highly configurable. If you think Windows is configurable then you would not believe the changes you can make to Linux. The changes that can be made are practically infinite (in so far as no-one will try them all in their lifetime). Some main points include:

• Able to choose your window manager (RedHat has 4 by default)
• Able to choose the look and feel of your WM (change way mouse works, sounds, way windows open, how screen updates, how menus look and act etc)
• Able to choose what features your OS has and remove unwanted ones. (For a comparison try to fit Windows 98 on a single floppy disk – it is possible with a very basic Linux kernel!)

Of course the detail to which you go is up to you. Everything can be changed. In fact, thanks to Open Source distribution, anyone who can code in C can add whatever they like also. This means that the system is constantly improving and features are constantly added. These can be downloaded off the Internet, examined and compiled when you feel like it.

Red Hat Linux is an OS I would recommend to anyone who wants to really use their PC rather than being used by their PC. I wish them well. I use it.

? / 10

I can't give a proper mark as it is co configurable. It is a try and see mark. sorry. Bit pointless really then wasn't it