Back in May Kammie Kayl wrote the official Sun article to go with JDS 2, it''s well worth looking at.

I agree with Greg:

>>JDS is even better then Solaris x86 and is much faster as

>>well.. Besides this a much better second release than
>>MS Windows or OS/2 ever was...

I don''t see what the issues that people are having.. I have installed JDS on at least 100 desktops, servers and laptops. I had very few failures (5). Those failures where most attributed to out dated hardware, or it needed the firmware (BIOS) to be updated to the most recent versions.

I also have installed this software on Virtual PC v5.1 (as this is last version before MS changed it). Not to mention I have installed on VMWare as well.

So all these negative comments are really baffling to me. JDS is even better then Solaris x86 and is much faster as well.. Besides this a much better second release than MS Windows or OS/2 ever was...

The appearance of "Java" in "JDS" slapped on this ... package ... is enough for me to know that this is all positioning without substance.

Though I did not try for days to fix the problems, I was unsuccessful in my 2 attempts to install "JDS" in VirtualPC, using reasonable resource settings. (However, Xandros, Lycoris, Lindows all installed with no problems in VirtualPC.)

Sun needs to focus on being a good Linux server company, take their Solaris experience into that base, and leverage their strengths in the server room. If you''re doing a good job at this, *THEN* try something new. Else, you''ll dig too fast into that cash reserve.

Sun is not a desktop company - never has been successful there. (Anyone have a Ray still running?)

And Sun still cannot focus on a successful profitable software strategy. Its most valuable IP in software is Java, but where''s the money-making strategy there?

Consolidate your server-room base. Make that solid and defensible. Else there will be *NO* successful business area in Sun.

I have installed JDS 2 on an older machine as the support for newer cards is still catching up. P4, 2GHZ, Dell, 512RAM,20 GB HD, LiteOn DVD ROM. I hope they get the hardware manufacturers to see this as a good product for extensive driver support.
I had the smoothest of clean installs and was up and running in 40 minutes. It detected all of my hardware and zipped through the three CDs. After two months, I am yet to reboot my machine. GUI definitely can improve compared to the slick look and feel of XP. But from a utility perspective, its more than enough for an average or corporate user unless one needs to use some of the windows-only products. For that one will have to buy a product called Crossover office which runs MS programs on linux.
The email client feels almost same as Outlook minus the security issues (or have these not been uncovered yet?)I dont like the size and memory consumption of mozilla 1.4 so I downloaded mozilla Firefox(most impressive performance, IE better watchout!). BTW, there is a JDS specific Firefox download available at mozilla.org, one has to look closely in the download page. This version of firefox installs without problems.
I feel that the control center (management console) that came with Release 2 is a wonderful addition and very useful for system administrators as it is quite easy to push policies into a set of JDS client desktops. Other linux distros are just catching up on this. Perhaps this came from Sun quickly due to their extensive experience with Solaris compared to the relative inexperience with corporate needs of the other linux distro companies.

I have seen some minor problems as reported by the reviewer about some apps like java instant messenger not showing up, unable to add apps to the Launch menu. And I think the Java name is more a branding issue. No issues here as long as I have a stable OS which this seems to be.

Overall, my experience has been very pleasant and from a corporate point of view, it is a very good and cheaper alternative, and most importantly, with potential to improve. There is also the benefit on not being hit by the cost of containing a worm attack on your corporate network that uses MS infrastructure to propagate.
If Sun stays at it, and does not lose focus, this could evolve into a good competitive product. After all it took many years for MS to get to their current stability levels and they still have a long way to go on security.

I started looking into various linux distros around a year & half ago. I started with first trying to get an environment where I could test the various installations. Given the kind of resources I had, I settled with a dell optiplex gx110, 733Mhz with 512 RAM and 32MB video card.

In the very beginning itself, I had to sadly do away with a handful of the popular distros based purely on unsupported hardware. My first clean installation was Mandrake, loved it. But then came along SuSe and have not gone back to any other installations yet.

Interested in trying out the JDS, I did a clean install over my stable SuSe expecting it to be better than SuSe. Sadly, even though it is built on top of SuSe, the installation did not come out with flying colors. Where Suse went through smoothly, JDS was that much difficult to handle. I was amazed at the kind of resources it required for displaying the video components slowing down the response time. Besides that, 512MB proved to be too little dragging the response much lower.

Not the one to give up, considering that JDS was touted as an out-of-the-box substitute for windows, I finally decided to dual boot it on my everyday use Dell Dimension, 1.7Ghz, 256MB ram with 32MB video memory. Sadly, it crashed my whole system, including my windows and my harddisk was irrecoverable.

I recently installed Lindows but am yet to form an opinion on it based purely on resource requirements. I have reinsalled SuSe on the optiplex and has been trouble free since. I can appreciate the path that SUN is taking with the JDS, but it still doesn''t seem to be at a stage to be a substitute for windows. Hopefully, with the open source environment maturing and linux making big strides, it''ll manage to do it with time.

One question does remain though. If SuSe is a commercially successful product with a whole company based just on marketing and evolving it, why did SUN base their JDS on SuSe instead of partnering with them and trying to strengthen SuSe as a brand and with it market the JAVA brand?

Just some thoughts!

Installed JDS release 2 without any problems; handling via GNOME for all desktop activities compared to SuSE 9.1 worked without any problems. The installation and using of the Java development tools went smoothly.
In my opinion the article has some negative touch.

Even if JDS is nothing more than another Linux distro, I see it as a positive move for Sun to market it as a desktop alternative to Windows. Linux is perceived as a hacker's environment, so any effort to offer something more mainstream serves to loosen Microsoft's stranglehold on the desktop.

Of course, the mainstream world is even more sensitive to poor execution, so it's disappointing to hear about the problems. Then again, there is no shortage of problems in running Windows, so I can't imagine what the loyalty is about. I guess it's a simple case of the devil you know being preferable to the devil you don't.

I would imagine that in fifty years, we'll look back on this period in computing technology and wonder how people ever survived.

I wonder about it every day.

I agree strongly with a previous poster that doing an update instead of a fresh install doesn't sound like a wise install decision. Especially if the original install was less than satisfactory.

Secondly, it's a pitty that the reviewer didn't explore the management tools that come with JDS. Those are the big differentiators between JDS 1 and 2. JDS Configuration Manager allows an organization to centralize all the "Preference" options of applications. Like setting the browser's proxy server settings, or the configuration of Evolution for the company's mail servers. JDS Control Station is similar to KickStart, allowing large scale customized installations of JDS from a central software repository. I realize that testing this type of features takes more than a few days. But without going into that depth the review is just testing JDS as "just another Linux distro".

I have been running version one since about April. It runs on less than recommended hardware, a Pentium 233, with 200 megs or ram. It has a sun workstation monitor with an adapter. I am extremly pleased with the windows like environment and configuration tools. Staroffice has been flawless. I use mozilla for email but tried evolution and it worked fine. Mozilla seems to crash more often than the netscape I was running on redhat6.1. All in all, I think its sweet, and with a little more stability in a few areas, my opinion is that it will be a very nice alternative to a virus laden sway back horse. BTW, it is comforting to know that the microsoft viruses won't run.

-- If you're not in the mood for a negative review, please skip this one --

I was dumb enough to plunk down the $50 for it, mostly because I wanted to play with Project Looking Glass after seeing it at JavaONE.

I had to wait five days to get the package even after paying more for faster delivery since there is no online download.

The packaging is nice. A snappy Sun box with the Java logo in the corner. I guess you can''t really have an oobe without the 'b'

I installed it on a Compaq Evo D510 (P4/2GHz, 1GB RAM, an extra Matrox display adapter handed down from Fred Flintstone, a plain vanilla HP CD burner, and everything else stock from Compaq)

Alas I found it mostly disappointing.

ON THE MINUS SIDE
=================
The install program failed to detect a dual display system and after much fiddling with yast2 I've given up.

I had to download and compile special video drivers from Intel to get it to recognize the hardware 3D acceleration features of a two-year-old video card.

The mouse pointer has a mind of its own and will follow you to where you're going but then decide to go its own way.

Every attempt to install Mozilla's firefox bombs out because it is looking for some wacky package somewhere.

IBM WebSphere Studio Enterprise Developer for Linux gets "stuck on stupid" whenever I try to install it.

ON THE PLUS SIDE
================
I'm confident that with enough fiddling, tweaking, and the odd rain dance I will be able to get the dual-head to work.

Project Looking Glass is really cool but I have trouble explaining to my colleagues just what benefit it will lend in a business environment (perhaps because there really is none)

If I use WINE I could probably run Outlook ''97 (the last version that didn''t require IE) to talk to Exchange.

JDS runs real neat in a VMWare VM. I''ve yet to try XP in a VMWare VM hosted by JDS.

The agency where I work doesn't enable the POP3/SMTP features of M$ Exchange so I can''t use that supposedly snappy email client.

IMO THE NET-NET
===============
Individuals: Red Hat's Fedora Core 2 is a free download.

Corporations: End users have just gotten used to Redmond''s products. You'll find more help-desk people who are able to support M$ Office from the start.

I'm just really befuddled as to what Sun expects to acheive with this Linux distro. (note I'm basing these opinions on screenshots, specs read from Sun's site, and others'' reviews - I won't waste my time installing this thing). For one thing, there's not much that's uniquely "Java" about this desktop system. Its a run o' the mill Linux distro, with Java preinstalled. Wow. Stop the presses.

On top of that, it's going to be competing directly with other Linux distros that have been around the block (RedHat, SuSE, Debian). Exactly what value is added to this JDS offering above and beyond those?

I do understand that they are targeting corporate use (because no sane home users would CHOOSE these klunky half-baked GUI desktops over a super slick Windows XP or OSX, even if the latter cost $500 per installation). I just really wonder if the ROI really washes out in the end when you have your corporate users struggly with inept user interfaces and GUI metaphors rather than getting their work done.

Interresting! I have not particulary looked for a substitute for Windows since Windows XP finally seems to do almost all what OS/2 did (only demanding much more RAM and CPU cycles). I have tried misc. Linux-variations though, and my impression here has been that they are too nerdish, takes too long to install / bring to work and then they are still not good enough even for a private user. They are primarily time-wasters, IMHO. Your review of JDS seems therefore appropriate and I will wait another year before I''ll have a go on JDS myself. Stabillity is the word, useability is the phrase - transparrency is the thought!

very informative. good work! thanks!

This is the first time I get to know of JDS. Although I have not installed or try it, my feel is that since the installation is on upgrade, it might not be accurate. Even when we use the current windows or office software, if we were to upgrade, the errors are higher and easily encountered as compared to a fresh installation. Maybe, if this comment is based on a fresh (new) installation, it would be more valuable. Just my thoughts.