For years, computer users have put up with the bugs, security holes, and viruses on Windows because they had no choice. Until recently, there has never been a good alternative to Windows. But now, Windows users can switch to Linux, the reliable, secure, and spyware free operating system. Linux is easy to use, runs on almost any PC, and enables you to perform all the tasks you can do with Windows. Getting to know Linux has never been easier, because now there's a way to test-drive Linux without changing, installing, or configuring a thing on your computer. It's called Test Driving Linux: From Windows to Linux in 60 Seconds. This latest release from O'Reilly comes with a Live CD called Move, that allows Windows users to try all the features of Mandrake Linux, a popular Linux distribution without the hassle of actually installing Linux. Users simply place the Move CD into their CD drive, boot from the disc, then watch an entire Mandrake system run on the fly from the CD-ROM. Test Driving Linux: From Windows to Linux in 60 Seconds is a detailed step-by-step guide to the Linux operating system and several popular open source programs. With this guide you can quickly learn how to use Linux to perform the tasks you do most: surf the web, send and receive email, instant message with friends, write letters, create spreadsheets, and even how to enhance your digital photos. Test Driving Linux: From Windows to Linux in 60 Seconds provides both home and business users with a hassle-free way to investigate this operating system before they purchase and install a complete Linux distribution.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 15 Ratings

Take It For A Spin - 2005-08-24
Reviewer Rating:
This book is in effect a "user's guide" for checking out the Linux operating system without having to "commit" one way or the other. You insert the CD included with the book in your CD drive and start up your computer, voila you have a Linux machine. The CD contains a number of different Linux software, including web browsers, OpenOffice.Org, email program, file organizer, even software to play music and videos.

The book describes all of the software on the CD and guides your "tour" as you check all of it out.Starting off with a description of what Linux is and the KDE desktop, it then goes on to describe using the various programs included on the CD: web browsing, file management, Linux games, email and chat, digital image editing, Open Office, even a chapter about typing commands direct from a terminal screen command line. It brings back memories of using Unix prompts at various companies I used to work at. Linus increasingly has more and more excellent software available, and the book's next to last chapter describes some programs that aren't on the CD, but can be easily found elsewhere. And for those who decide to "take the plunge" and switch to Linux, the book's final chapter explains the major Linux distributions available. There's even a troubleshooting section at the end of the book. This book besides presenting an excellent introduction to Linux makes a great argument for leaving behind the world of Windows for something better.

A great introductory Linux book - 2006-02-03
Reviewer Rating:
Of the books targeted at people who want to give Linux a try, I believe this is the best. It allows you to run Linux on your computer without having to install it and exposes you to many of the basics. (Note: it will not work equally well on all computers. I would say it has a high likelihood of success with a desktop PC and a low likelihood of success with a laptop. The reason is that the hardware used on laptops is more "specialized" in many respects than that used in desktop computers.)

Unlike many other computer books aimed at a "beginner" audience, Test Driving Linux does not start out almost "too easy" and then quickly turn so complex that the person becomes confused or discouraged. If you are thinking of "trying out Linux," I doubt that you could make a better choice than this book.

A worthy attempt at sharing GNU/Linux with Windows users - 2005-10-06
Reviewer Rating:
As a daily GNU/Linux user, it is easy to find fault with any CDROM-based "run-in-place" operating environment. The first thing one notices is that the speed of the operation is limited by the speed of your CDROM drive. Also, if you do not use a USB key, you have no configuration parameters or persistance of data across multiple boots.

The Amazon.com price point for this book makes it a very reasonable way to experience Linux to see if there are features of it that you may want to exploit in your business or home computing environments. While Linux is certainly an option that is gaining traction and respect in households and offices around the globe, it still isn't quite as easy or useful as "premium" paid options from Microsoft.

I tested Test Driving Linux on a home-brewed PC at least two or three generations old and on a new Dell Inspiron 2200 notebook. The old desktop PC featured an AMD Athlon 1.05GHz processor while the Dell notebook has an Intel Pentium 4M at 1.6GHz. They both had about equally fast CDROM drives that are also both DVD reader/writer drives. The AMD box shares video memory from its system memory, which made ~191MB available to Linux while the Dell had some 1200MB of memory available to Linux.

The Test Drive CD failed to bind an IP address to the Ethernet device in the Dell, but worked properly in the older AMD box. Attempted use of the Open Office-based Writer program (similar to Microsoft Word, but free) on the notebook was sluggish at best, a testament to the speed of the CDROM drive--or lack thereof. Due to the limited memory of the AMD machine, I decided not to try it, but I'm guessing that performance isn't going to be very exciting on a much slower machine with less memory even if the CDROM drive is the performance bottleneck.

I found that navigating the Test Drive was annoying, but that's probably because I use Linux everyday and a newcomer to Linux may not find it annoying at all, but exciting and new. Something that is missing on this (and other) CDROM-based run-in-place distributions are that the programming tools, which probably take up too much space to warrant their inclusion.

I didn't use a USB key, but I suspect that it will save your configuration information such as accepting the licensing agreement and your login username and password.

The benefit of most computing platforms is the ability to customize the system to your computing needs--it made Microsoft a very wealthy company and changed the way we all think of computers in the process. This book and enclosed CDROM are not going to do much more than give its reader the opportunity to explore Linux and some of the very useful mostly free tools associated with a regular commercial or free distribution. For that purpose, I commend it with a 3-stars rating. I'd be more inclined to rate it with 4 stars had it been Knoppix-based rather than Mandrake "Move" based. Either are fine for a test drive, which is really what this book is all about, but not the only purpose for a CDROM run-in-place based distribution. The author does tell us about Knoppix and recommends it because of its better hardware detection capability and goes so far as to recommend an excellent O'Reilly book on the topic.

On my Dell notebook, the "tap" feature of the glide pad didn't work under Move, but does work properly under Knoppix...as did my Ethernet. Little things like that lead me to believe that Knoppix is probably a better choice for that slim segment of users who want to carry a "live" Linux CDROM with them for perhaps sharing a computer with a relative or when visiting friends or other offices where one wouldn't want to "soil" an existing computer with user configuration details, cookies and browser temporary files and such mess. A CDROM-based Linux system offers a lot of convenience and security that you won't find elsewhere. I'd probably recommend Knoppix for anyone who was serious about discovering Linux.

What this book does well is describe a lot of the applications that are available through open sources. The book is very well written and works with the reader in a considerate and professional manner without being stiff or haughty. One can easily tell that the author is well-spoken and genuinely interested in sharing his Linux knowledge with a broader base of individuals. I would have liked to see more recognition given to GNU and the Free Software Foundation as a matter of practice considering that Linux is a microkernel and nearly everything else is GNU...and all of it is built using GNU tools, but it wouldn't do anything to help the reader better understand the basics of the Test Drive. I think that all Linux users need to make a stronger point of the fact that GNU is why there even is a Linux kernel...along with the help of literally thousands of contributors to Free Software. Brickner does try to accomplish this through his automotive analogy, but the two do not correlate very well, IMO. He tells us that Linux is the engine, transmission and wheels and that GNU makes up more utilitarian elements such as the belts, hoses, frame and such.

The only aspect of it that I easily agree with is the frame. If it is not for a strong foundation in Free Software, there would be no Linux kernel to be built with GNU tools so that other GNU programs, libraries and functionality could be added to our hypothetical car drivetrain. I'd probably have worded the analogy to be more like GNU is the car and Linux is a bit of gasoline we use to power it...but that wouldn't be very correct, either.

I give Mr. Brickner credit for taking the fear out of his presentation of this Test Driving Linux. It should meet with the basic needs of any newcomer trying to move away from Windows. I strongly agree with the 2nd paragraph of his summary on page 326. It basically tells us that there is an alternative to Windows and he gets us started in the right direction with this work.

Yet another Linux walkthrough - 2005-09-29
Reviewer Rating:
I've read a bunch of these linux walkthroughs now and I haven't been impressed by them, this book included. The problem is that the coverage is too sweeping. There are too many screenshots and the coverage is way too broad. It's unclear to me how simply booting up a Linux distribution and playing with it for a little while isn't just as good as having this book walk you through it.

That being said, if you are really nervous about Linux and you want a canned walkthrough to show you how to install it and use the basics, then you should have a look at this book.

Not sure about trying out Linux? This is for you - 2006-11-05
Reviewer Rating:
This is definitely the book to start with if you are new to Linux. It comes with a live CD: Move, a version of Mandrake Linux that runs entirely from the CD, with no installation required. It is written in a personable, informal style which makes it not only interesting but often fun to read.

The intended audience is "Windows users who have heard of Linux and want to find out what all the fuss is about without committing a lot of time or hard-drive space," and assumes no prior knowledge of Linux. But not wanting to exclude people like me, the book also claims it "can turn existing linux users into more effective Linux users." But it really is for people who are currently using Windows, at whatever level. There are many references to Windows features and layouts for comparison. There are also many references to Windows problems as a reason to switch to Linux. The author is an unabashed Linux apologist.

I really like the organization of the book. It starts with the obligatory introduction to Linux, but in this case the beginning introduction is brief. Introduction is what the whole book is about, so "introductory" explanations and comments are throughout the book. The first chapter goes through starting up the CD, using the KDE desktop, and a "typical" application (KWrite). Chapter Two goes into web surfing, and Chapter Three covers file management. While there is a chapter at the back with "Solutions to Common Problems," a lot of what you'll encounter is included in the main material. For example, after the CD loaded, my screen went blank. Sure enough, there in the last paragraph of the booting section, I found, "One minor problem I have found on a few computers is that the screen will go blank and won't come back up. If this happens, just press any key on the keyboard and the screen should come back up." Yep, that worked. Oddly enough, the section on "Customizing the Desktop," with all the great configuration details and tips, is stuck in between the chapters on applications. I suppose it fits there if one thinks of the chapters progressing along the virtual path most would take in trying out a new operating system.

Brickner is honest, but optimistic, about shortcomings in Linux, such as games and video. An obvious gamer himself, he devotes a lot of space to discussing the games that are available, and resources for finding them. He spends a lot less time on video, which is very briefly covered in the audio section. He also does not ignore other common programs and features available with Linux that are not on the CD, and even offers frank assessments of Linux distributions to install after trying out the Move CD.

The application programs covered are the KDE suite of e-mail, organizer and Instant Messaging, Open Office Write and Calc, the GIMP, and GnuCash. Although very little time is spent on the GIMP (an image editing program), the necessary basics are covered: scaling, resizing, and cropping. It's just enough to get one started. He includes a detailed explanation of how to remove red-eye, but only succeeds in making it look harder than it needs to be. A lot more space is given to the other programs, especially GnuCash (a finance/accounting program). Brickner gives a great explanation of how double-entry accounting works by way of explaining how to use GnuCash.

There are plenty of screenshots. Some of the screenshot images produced text that was too small to be of much use, but I found that much of the text generally didn't need the screenshots anyway. The only problem I had was trying to get an internet connection on one of the computers I tried it out on. I couldn't figure out how to get a working connection over the local netwok, and the book gave no clues.

Despite the shortcomings, which are minor, this is an excellent book. It is the book to give (or recommend) to the skeptic or clueless person who asks what Linux is. It presents Linux as a friendly, usable alternative, with a manual that is anything but dry. We need more books like this.

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