PC-BSD 1.4 , geeky meets average joe!

WIth the rising of Open Source Software community, many unix based linux distros made their presence in the horizon of operating system,. However BSD based OSs were always labeled as "geeky" OS and comon people usually do not want to try their hands on it. But in fact, they can be useful and even more reliable than some linux distros.

The little red iconic satan represents the first BSD based OS for general use, FREEBSD. Also there are OpenBSD and off course PC-BSD. I will discuss my experience with the last one stated here.

PC-BSD is, as the name suggests, a BSD based OS and in a word it is 'cool'. The latest version is and it is packed with all the whiz-bangs. Latest linux desktop effect maker Compiz-fusion makes it's entrance here. No issue at all with most popular hardwares and all drivers and other stuffs are squeezed in a single CD!

The installation, in my case was a piece of cake. It came, entered in my DVD drive, booted, gathered required infos, installed, rebooted and asked me about my Graphics card and card driver and then ran peacefully. Compiz is great even at the resolution of 1280*1024 (my CRT does not support bigger) with just nVidia 5200 AGP! No mess with drivers, no frame drop or crashing when rendering windows and no hang-up during operation.

Installation of softwares are very easy to done with, they show up with PBI files, double click them and install them like Windows' programs. Also can be uninstalled form control center just like 'Add/Remove Programs' in Windows. Very similar, eh?

The UI is over all pretty and soothing to use. Windows users will feel right at home. Compiz does a great job using complex transpiracy effects, using only little resources. UI is based on KDE and like linux distros, all default apps are just in place. The default theme using Compiz is looks more like Vista and have window border transpiracies with them.

Users can also download a secondary CD with loads of PBI application for browsing, office based works etc. All popular OSS like firefox, Open Office etc. are included in the CD.

Considering all the features and facts, PC-BSD can be a great OS to look for with a compact and versatile size, great compatibility and support to do at least regular office works. If Ubuntu, Fedora or OpenSUSE does not suit you, this one is a perfect replacement. Go on, give it a try.