Introducing Mepis To The Windows User

As a career Windows Washer, installing Mepis for the first time absolutely blew my socks off. I have been tinkering with Linux distros for the last year (after suffering severe Windows Induced Psychosis)and stumbled upon Mepis purely by accident (karma?).

I am currently designing a small website to promote my business and decided to include a review of SimplyMepis directed to my specific audience- the average Joe Windows user. The review is entirely non-technical, over-simplified and brief, but I thought I might share it here.

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SimplyMEPIS Reviewed (for the Microsoft User)

Linux comes in many flavors, but this creates a problem for those uninitiated to the Linux world. Which one to use? If you are a longtime Windows user, Mepis is hands down the way to go.

A single Mepis CD-Rom (currently available for free download) and a little familiarity with the basic functions of a PC is all that is required to be up and running in as few as twenty minutes. Twenty minutes? Yep. Pop in the CD and you not only have a fully functioning Operating System but a slew of useful applications ready for use.

Sounds to good to be true?

Having installed and reinstalled the Windows OS more times then I care to recall and having the installation fail in some manner (those infernal Service Packs) seems to be the status quo. Inevitably, some piece of hardware will not be recognized, driver not found, configuration convoluted, frozen BSOD (Blue Screen Of Death). You know, the typical Windows user experience. And of course, all of this occurs before installing the software which will invariably bring similar results.

Not so with Mepis. It does all of the dirty work for you. Fast. So fast in fact that it makes an absolute mockery of Microsoft. No, Mepis is not the Holy Grail of the computer world, but it might well convert you from being a believer in the pearly Gates (sorry, that's a really bad joke). And of course, the real kicker is that it all actually works.

Imagine this: An aesthetically pleasant and intuitive Desktop (configurable to your hearts content), a full office suite (compatible with MS Office documents), a pre-configured Firewall (that doesn't scream at you every five minutes), multimedia tools galore, and that's just for starters. It slices, it dices, and it will even let you create your own .PDF document with a single mouse click (no, you won't need to send Adobe $300 for this luxury). And all of this can be yours for the cost of a blank CD and some bandwidth.

Still sound to good to be true?

Without a doubt. So I put Mepis to the ultimate test and stopped using Microsoft and all of my Windows compatible software for three months. Ninety days later and I have only one complaint. And with this complaint comes a certain fitting irony of sorts. The complaint? I cannot access my Microsoft Hotmail account. Bummer.

So if you find yourself dreading the next Windows Update, the next security hole in Internet Explorer, or re-inputing your twenty digit XP license key for the tenth time, give Mepis a try. But be warned, you might never look back.

qjr