Posted on Tuesday 8th of May 2007 at 06:44 in Linux

Most Usable Linux 2007 - new distros needed

I wrote about my quest to find the most usable Linux release in 2007 over a month ago, outlining what I'd be looking for and who I figured would be the key contenders. Well, we've reached the end of Q1 now so it's worth discussing the state of play.

It's not hard to imagine how much impact the release of Ubuntu 7.04 has had on the landscape; a distro that has always focused on usability and a positive experience. Feisty Fawn brought with it excellent levels of functionality and performance and clearly won over some important people. Dell have now decided that Ubuntu is going to be one of the packages they offer so that equals major points for the Canonical produced system.

Ubuntu rightfully takes it's place at the top of the pile

It's not difficult to understand why Ubuntu has propelled itself to the top of my "usable Linux '07" list (especially after reading my review). I noted in the original article that there were some key contenders; PCLinuxOS and Gentoo were named specifically but I've become more aware of some big players in his competition.

SimplyMepis
I reviewed SimplyMepis 6.5 last month and was astonished by how easy it made things. With default SAMBA share support this could be a really good prospect.

PCLinuxOS 2007 - update
I originally reviewed PCLOS2007 at the end of March (on it's beta 2 release) and was very impressed with it. I recently reviewed test release 4 and found that some things still didn't work correctly. Therefore PCLinuxOS' affect on this landscape will be determined by the final release; it's one of the most promising developments this year yet it sometimes feels like it's being rushed to meet deadlines. I hope it gets released and fully meets it's potential because this really is one to rival Ubuntu.

Recommendations are required

One of the most marvelous things about a community driven thing like Linux is how much wisdom crowds bring and it's because of recommendations and worth of mouth that I've played with releases like Sam2007, DreamLinux and a few others.

What I need you to do is recommend me some releases that you think are the best in terms of usability. Here's what I have on my list to review so far:
openSUSE
Gentoo 2007.0 (released yesterday I believe)
DreamLinux (hopefully revisit it soon)

But what else? Comment which distro you think should be included because there is so much choice I need your thoughts.

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