Knoppix

Imagine running Linux without affecting your Windows installation. What's more, Linux will not even touch your harddrive (unless you want it to). Knoppix runs off the CD and only needs access to your RAM.

Check it out here:

www.knoppix.com/

Nice review by TomsHardware:

www6.tomshardware.com/howto/20040303/index.html

Ahh what a coincidence.. I'm currently downloading Knoppix 3.3 over my dial-up connection

I'm a big fan of Knoppix, its incredibly well done, and makes for the ultimate recovery tool when you lose a windows or *nix box.. Never leave home without the CD.

In fact I started downloading it because I read somewhere that it was using the 2.6 series kernels however about 200 MB into the download I realised its still on the 2.4 series and the version with 2.6 will be out later.. still after downloading 200 meg at 5k I really don't want to stop the download

Anyone know which distributions are shipping with 2.6.x kernels ? I totalled my Redhat 9 box trying to upgrade and since then havent had the time to try and get it up and running again.. I use SuSE at work but thats on 2.4 as well...

Frankly I think the 2.6 series kernels are the best thing to happen to linux in a long time.. there is such a perceptible difference in the speed at which apps load and the improved mouse movement.. just that itself contributes to a user experience that is very important.. up until now Windows has always felt snappier in the GUI department, but with 2.6 I think Linux smokes it.. all someone needs to do now is rewrite the X server to make it snappier and there is no reason why Linux cannot start biting into the desktop market.

Yknow I spent about one week in a W2k3 environment setting up AD for a client, and when I came back and fired up Mandrake I was just floored by how much I'd missed being root

That said.. if you beat the learning curve (which is getting progressively flatter) you'll be converted for life...

Knoppix is very awesome!
Everyone should have a copy just for the recovery if nothing else!

Sahirh,

I believe that the latest Fedora release is the first distro to use the 2.6 kernal. However I hear that it is incredibly buggy and has some real issues. I would wait until another distro is released witht he new kernal.

Yeah you're partially right ghost, Fedora core 2 is going to release with the 2.6.4 kernel, however the reason its buggy is that right now the release is still on test-2.. and its about a month away from actually being released...

What most reviews of Fedora Core 2 have said is that its been really really worked on -- in fact they say its the best desktop distro of Linux out there. I'm waiting very eagerly for the final release.. and it will be the last time I'll be looking at the name Redhat on the desktop -- Redhat 9 was just a half hearted effort that didn't go anywhere for the desktop.

That said I really should be taking the trouble to just recompile and install 2.6.x but after getting seriously burned with upgrading RH9 2.4.20-8 to 2.6.0, I just don't feel like trying.