Product: Linux-Mandrake 7.2 PowerPack Deluxe
Company: MandrakeSoft Inc.
Website: http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/
Estimated Street Price: free to download (GPL) or $69.95 for the boxed version
Review By: Benjamin Wolman & Julien Jay

Introduction

    Since the ActiveWin.Com inception no Linux software was ever tested. Indeed our site is primarily dedicated to the Microsoft world, and so it doesn’t cover Linux. However there's a growing anti-Microsoft feeling, which we don't share at all, and Linux is surely its best competitor. That’s why we have decided to review and test Mandrake Deluxe 7.2 what we consider to be one of the best compromises between the ease of use of Windows and the several advantages of Linux. Linux is a free and open source operating system, everyone can tweak, change, and modify to best fit his or her need. However this liberty has some limits since the main drawback of Linux is that it remains hard to use. That’s where MandrakeSoft focused their efforts to bridge the gap in the 7.2 Mandrake distribution between the unrivalled Windows Millennium ease of use & the unprecedented power of Linux. This new release 7.2 has been thought to simplify further our hard lives. Is that true? That’s what we’ll see in this review.

New features of Linux Mandrake 7.2:

• Simplified DrakX graphical installation
• Easy partitioning with DiskDrake, integrated to the installation process.
• Improved auto detection of your hardware with HardDrake (new release)
• Laptop profiles and synchronisation management with DrakProfile and DrakSync
• Microsoft Windows font back up with DrakFont
• New printing system: more efficient and user-friendly : CUPS /QtCUPS
• Surf the web and exchange email with Netscape Communicator 4.75 (with Plugin Flash4), Konqueror and KMail
• Watch videos with RealPlayer
• Online chat with Everybuddy (AOL, ICQ , Yahoo and MSN compatible)
• DrakNet - a new Internet connection assistant supports dial-up modems, DSL, ISDN and Cable
• Internet connection sharing assistant with DrakGateway
• Development :
  • C, C++, Perl, Python, Java, ...
  • Qt Designer: integrated development environment
  • Glade: graphical environment for creating applications
• Web Development :
  • Apache 1.3.12: the best web server
  • PHP 4.02: powerful scripting language
  • Perl - CGI - PHPNuke (community management system)
• Servers :
  • GroupWare: PHPGroupware
  • Mail delivery: IMAP, POP3 and SMTP
  • Directories: LDAP, Yellow Pages (NIS)
  • Instant messaging platform: Jabber
• Databases :
  • PostgreSQL 7.0.2
  • MySQL 3.23
  • Interbase 6.01
• Video: New drivers for i810, GeForce, GeForce II, many others.
• Automatic 3D hardware acceleration for:
  • Matrox G200/G400
  • Voodoo III/V/Banshee
  • Intel i810 & i815
  • ATI Rage 128 / Pro, 3D Rage XL/XC, 3D Rage LT, others.

Linux-Mandrake 7.2 contains the latest KDE2 including KOffice and also the latest version of GNOME 1.2.