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I have a very underpowered PC that sulks a lot and reboots. Over the years I have done several reinstalls of Windows ME - various methods – but after a few weeks it’s back to it’s unreliable ways. It started life as a Duron 600 and now it’s an Athlon 1100 simply because that’s as fast as the motherboard would accept.

I duly backed up all the files I thought I might need though the PC has sat more or lest idle for around six months so that likelihood is not great. Now to note all the things other Linux installs have required, Graphics Card, Sound Card, Modem, being a belt and braces person I also noted the CD drive and hard disk makes.

Switch off and then restart, enter the Bios and make the first boot device the CD. Insert the Linspire CD and switch off after saving the new Bios settings. Have a cup of coffee, yes I am still a coward at heart and only then do I switch on. It finds the Linspire CD and asks the first question Do I want to run from the CD or install on the hard disc, I choose the latter. Next question do I want it to take over the whole hard disc, answer yes. Third question give the PC a name, question four do I want a password. That’s it and installation starts, twelve – yes twelve – minutes later it is running the tutorial.

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It does not ask any further questions about graphics card, sound card or modem. I reduce the screen resolution to 1024x768 but it could be more and indeed it defaulted to greater than that. It asks me to move a sound slider till I can hear music at a level that is comfortable and that’s it.

I do get an error message when I boot from something called the Network Docklet but I assume that’s because I do not have a network card installed and it’s only a click to lose it. The keyboard works fine – nothing to install – as does the mouse and it even makes use of right mouse clicks.   

This is a UK version - £ sign in the right place etc - and as such you can have UK date and time formats, in the initial zone setup you must select Europe and then London. I did not have to change time or date as the machine still had those correct, but the module looks very like that found in Windows so no problem there.

In fact some of you may remember something called Lindows that Mr Gates managed to get withdrawn on the grounds it was to like Windows. This is it in a new format and it’s called Linspire 5. Linspire is a version of Linux developed for use on desktop and notebook computers.

The desktop and all the things I’ve tried so far need little learning as it is still very much like Windows but seems to run happily on hardware that Windows will not. Booting is not that rapid at 2 minutes 35 seconds and shutdown is 25 seconds. As yet I have not managed to connect to the Internet as I need to get Linux drivers for my Alcatel Speed Touch modem and possibly some from my ISP. The current price is £49.95 from dealers or the same for a download. I think there should be a discount if you download but not appently at the moment. The site below lists $49.95 for the downloaded version but that is probably only for a US version.

http://support.linspire.com 

Making further enquiries I find that the UK version includes a one year CNR (Click and Run) subscription something not included in the US product. If you buy the boxed UK product you also get a printed manual. The UK package can be purchased from www.computrolly.co.uk