PCWorld.com looks at a beta version of an upcoming Lycoris Desktop/LX release. “Looking for an inexpensive, simple-to-use alternative to the Windows operating system? Linux may leap to mind, but since Corel abandoned its effort, no vendor has concentrated strictly on making Linux friendly enough for newbies. Now, the $30 Desktop/LX distribution from upstart Lycoris demonstrates that Microsoft's monopoly on friendly operating systems for the PC could be coming to a close.”
For office work, Lycoris has KOffice. Its apps can import Microsoft Office files but can't export them. I would rather have gotten Sun's StarOffice or its free sibling, OpenOffice.org; both of these suites closely match Microsoft Office in features and read and write Microsoft formats. Also included are Acrobat Reader, the Gimp (a Photoshop-like image editor), CD writing software, and a solid update utility.