PCLinuxOS Operating System

PCLinuxOS, often abbreviated as PCLOS, is a desktop operating system. It is a free operating system for personal computers aimed at ease of use.

PCLinuxOS was first announced in 2003 by Bill Reynolds, better known as "Texstar". Prior to creating his own distribution, Texstar was already a well-known developer in the Mandrake Linux community of users for building up-to-date RPM packages for the popular distribution and providing them as a free download. In 2003 he decided to build a new distribution, initially based on Mandrake Linux, but with several significant usability improvements. The goals? It should be beginner-friendly, have out-of-the box support for proprietary kernel modules, browser plugins and media codecs, and should function as a live CD with a simple and intuitive graphical installer.

• Pros: Out-of-the-box support for graphics drivers, browser plugins and media codecs; fast boot times; up-to-date software
• Cons: No 64-bit edition offered; no out-of-the-box support for non-English languages; lacks release planning
• Software package management: Advanced Package Tool (APT) using RPM packages
• Available editions: MiniMe, Junior and BigDaddy editions for 32-bit (i586) processor architectures
• Suggested PCLinuxOS-based alternatives: Mandriva Linux, SAM Linux Desktop, Granular Linux