I have been using Mandrake Linux 9.1, Pro Suite version for about six months, as I write this, and find it easy enough, with a few quirks. It comes on seven CDs, and one DVD is provided that contains the full contents of the first six CDs. The boxed edition (only edition available for the Pro Suite version) comes with a very basic quick start guide, a getting started guide, and a bare bones introduction to Linux in general. Version 9.2 is currently available, yet I will not being installing, nor reviewing, it at this time.

I currently use a Compaq Presario S4010CL as a firewall, two ShuttleX computers as servers and test platforms, and a Polywell computer as a workstation. I have installed, and used Mandrake Linux 9.1 (hereafter referred to as Mdk 9.1) on the Compaq, before settling on IPCop 1.3 for the firewall. I have Mdk 9.1 installed on one of the two ShuttleX machines, and Gentoo 1.4 on the other, while I run Windows XP Professional on the Polywell computer. I have also installed Mdk 9.1 on another Compaq Presario S4000 series computer in the past. As I add a new computer, or two, in the future, I will be installing and testing Mandrake 9.1.

I have had good results in the installation of Mdk 9.1, no matter what computer it may be, while I can't say the same about Microsoft Windows products. With the Compaq computers I have encountered problems installing MS Windows XP - both Home and Professional versions. As the computers did not come with a full Win XP restore disk, it has been a problem to do a clean install of Win XP, and you need to have Compaq ship a set of CDs (even the restore partition on the HDD is of limited use). The problem stems from the fact that a number of the basic functions, such as sound and graphics, are built into the motherboard, and not supported directly by MS, but only by HP-Compaq. This has not been the case when installing Mdk 9.1, and it has proved to be not only easier, and a more assured way of detecting the hardware, but also quicker (under an hour for Mdk 9.1 with a wide range of programs, to about an hour with just the basic services for Windows). Both of the Compaqs have DVD drives, while one of them also has a CD drive. While the Compaq with only the DVD drive installs without problem from the DVD, the other computer needs to be booted with the first installation CD, then it can automatically switch to the DVD.

I have been able to install Mdk 9.1 on both ShuttleX computers without a problem, and in about the same amount of time. For testing, I just did a clean install of Mdk 9.1 on one of the two, and it took less than fifty minutes from the first boot-up till an end-user would be ready to use the machine, even with a couple tweaks to the environment. Again, I have installed Win XP, both versions, on these computers for testing, and find that Mdk 9.1 has a quicker installation to ready-to-run time than I can hope for with Win XP.

The installation of Mdk 9.1 is rather straight forward, and can be preformed by almost anyone, even someone new to computers. While the on-line help is a bit lacking in some areas, when doing the initial installation, it is self explanatory enough that this doesn't pose a real challenge except for those that have trouble finding the power switch on their computer to begin with. The default settings are good choices for most people, and very little will need to be fiddled with. You always have the option of customizing the installation for your needs, such as dual booting with another operating system, selecting the programs to be install, and what boot loader to use at start-up. One area that a person should pay special attention to is the selection of software packages - they are grouped under general headings, such as work station, Internet, and multimedia platform. You may chose the general groups, and then refine your package and program selection in the screen that follows - this is worth spending five to ten minutes on, and doesn't add that much to the installation time. You also create the root account, along with at least one end-user at this time, and proves to be rather simple, yet effective.

Unlike MS Windows products, you are not required to reboot a number of times while during the installation, nor are you required to go through the first-time-user set-up session, if you don't chose to. After the installation you are required to reboot, and in the optional set-up screens you are able to configure a mail client, set your default desktop theme and windows manager, along with a couple other basic things. You may want to view the Drak control panels after the installation, and make a few tweaks, and see about downloading updates, security patches, and bug fixes. These updates could be the most time consuming process, while being less painful than doing so for a Win XP installation. The one "gotcha" to look out for is that the updates may offer a number of versions for one package/program, and doesn't always make it clear if you need to install one before the other, such as patches and fixes.

The documentation that is included on the disks is great. It duplicates the documents that are located on "The Linux Document Project" website, and the links in the text has been changed, as appropriate, to access the local versions, while the links to the official maintainer's site is still active as well. The one shortcoming of this is that you end up with help files in a number of places, such as where a program installs it, where the o/s installs some basic help files and man pages, and where the other documents are located. Also, the documents and manuals are a snapshot, frozen in a moment of time, and so may be outdated by the time you see them. This doesn't make it any less helpful, as mentioned above, the links still work, so you can always find the latest information on-line, as long as you have a connection.

The printed manuals that comes with the boxed edition is nice. The quick start guide is just a couple 8 ? x 11 sheets of paper folded in half, and saddle stitched. The other two books are around 220 pages long, and provide a good starting point. I would suggest that you read the installation and getting started guild if you have any special needs, such as dual boot, or partitions on the HDD. Also, it has a couple hidden gems, that you would miss of you just use the basic installation - such as drakwiz, which installs a control panel for Internet servers. If you are new to the world of *nix, and have the desire of being a power user, or just like the idea of a command line, then the second manual is must reading. It covers the basics of how Linux is laid out, the commands and utilities that you will use most often, along with how to compile almost anything, including a new kernel.

I like Mdk 9.1 for the most part, and find that it can do things MS Windows can't. It was able to detect the built-in Ethernet NIC on the Compaq Presario computers, while Win XP was not able to unless I provided the needed drives. Mdk 9.1 detected a second NIC when I installed it, just that it would not enable it by default without me adding it to the LILO command line. Windows would see both NICs after the special driver for the built-in NIC was installed, and would even do Internet connection sharing, when first enabled, but would not maintain the connection after a reboot, and it could not be re-establish without a clean installation. After telling Linux to look for, and enable the second NIC at boot, I was able to use a Drak control panel to configure an Internet connection to be shared, and it survived a number of reboots. I understand that Windows does better for the most part in supporting ICS, yet I haven't had a chance to test it with hardware that tends to be more mainstream, so this may not be fair criticism of Microsoft.

The thing that I find most odd is that when you do the installation you are asked for a password for the root account, and then you set up a regular user account. After that, you can set up the computer to act as a server, offering everything from web pages to DNS. You can also install software packages for office applications, along with a multitude of games, code development, and XFree86. The problem arises in that you are not advised that when offering internet based services that you should not be running anything else on the machine, not even XFree86, nor does it mention the security implementations. Microsoft put forth the idea of having a personal web server on your computer is a good idea, and you can share files with someone across the world, while ignoring the matter of security, and Mandrake is not doing anything to dispel this misguided behavior. If you have a small family network, or just a couple computers in the office connected together, and no-one has a connection to the internet, this might be acceptable, provided the computer has the necessary horse power to support it. Also, Xfree86 along with IDE may be nice if you are using the computer as a development and testing platform, yet again, I would recommend against anything else, or use in a production environment.

The drak control panels makes it a breeze to set up the operating system, and customize it some to your own liking. It is intended for the first time users, and even some intermediate users, but not for the power user. The drak wizards, such as for setting up an Apache web server, or BIND DNS service is nice, and lets you start testing immediately, while it doesn't offer the fine controls that another program offers, such as webmin, and should not be mistaken as such.

In conclusion, I find Mandrake Linux 9.1 to be a gem. It is Linux, and so that may scare some people, yet it can, and should, compete with Microsoft products. I have found it to be more stable, offer better hardware support, and easier to install than Windows 98, ME, and XP. Out of the box it does lack one thing, that my friend, who uses the other Compaq Presario computer, needs (or thinks he needs), and that is ActiveX, which is only available with full support through MS IE. If I start adding a number of computers that I need all configured the same, then Mandrake 9.2, with the support for USB Keys, and the software features they are calling Move, will be the next step for me. Also, if you support computers with an USB port, and don't like the idea of carrying a Linux Live CD to boot from, then version 9.2 may be worth investigating. For a first time user, or someone who needs to install Linux on a wide variety of computers, Mandrake 9.1 is hard to beat.

About the reviewer:

Mike Fehse has been using Linux since the summer of 2003. He has tried installing Debain on a Gateway LE500 computer in the past, and currently uses Mandrake and Gentoo on his two of his three personal Linux boxes. This is a hobby of his, and not by any means a full-time job.