My Company, NorhTec has tried our share of commercial Linux distributions, including Mandrake, Caldera, Lycoris, ELX, and Xandros. Initially, I saw that the commercial distributions, while often more cosmetically appealing, would be less functional and harder to install software outside their distributions. When I first wrote about Linux on the desktop, I received several critical responses to my praise of Microsoft XP, and statements that Microsoft XP was more mature than the then-available Linux Desktop distributions.

In the Microsoft Windows world, Vista is now the current offering. Microsoft's Vista has received mixed reviews. Despite its supposed security enhancements and additional eye candy, there remain several issues discouraging wide adoption. Among these are:

Compatibility issues
Hardware requirements
Performance issues
Confusing versions with different feature sets

Additional centralized control over desktops by Microsoft
Four years ago, I standardized our company on Mepis Linux for our office workers. Our engineers used Microsoft Windows because they needed it to run their CAD/CAM software, and we use Centos for our server for accounting software and hosting our website.

I have continued to test new Linux distributions. I have held back on reviewing my results because there is always a catch-up from one distribution to another. One distribution will leapfrog another, or a given version of a distribution might not support a critical piece of hardware.

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