Current desktop OS
This evening I’ve installed FreeBSD 6.1-RELEASE on my desktop machine; it’s triple-booting with Windows XP and Ubuntu Edgy Eft for now. I’ve used Windows once: to mess around with the shocking driving theory test software I borrowed from Liam.
I decided to give FreeBSD another go for one reason only: Win4BSD. Yep, this is Win4Lin, except compiled natively for FreeBSD. In addition, it has one superb new feature: the ability to run a single application without all of the regular clutter that comes with the Windows desktop. I believe this to mean that I could fire up Photoshop CS2 and have it appear as a regular window managed by my GNOME window manager (metacity).
Right now Windows XP Pro SP2 is installing and I’m hoping to test a really simple application like notepad.exe later on this evening. If it works as expected, I do believe that Win4BSD is an absolute winner. With any luck the feature will be ported over to Win4Lin soon afterwards so I can continue to run Ubuntu. Don’t get me wrong, FreeBSD is a great OS, but it’s not quite as simple to manage on a desktop machine as Ubuntu.
More to follow.
Tags: General