Conclusions

So ... it comes time to answer the question, "does it stack up or not?".

I'll give props to Linspire where it counts. It is easy and it looks appealing. Little to no configuration is needed for setup. If you need customer support to help you out, this is a good option for you. If, however, you're a cash-strapped student who has a lot of free time anyway (or just want to do something than study all the time), take a week to find a distribution that best suits you, download it, and learn a little about Linux.

Still, Linux distros like Ubuntu, SuSE, and Fedora are becoming just as easy to install and offer more cutting-edge features for no cost to you at all. My opinion is that the CNR offerings in Linspire are nice for the newbie, but do you really want to spend $50 on Linux and then pay more for software that's open-source anyway? It's up to you ...

Paying people to develop and support Linux is important. Microsoft Windows is not the default system in some corners of the computing world.

Scoring



Overall, this is a solid Linux distribution that offers a sleek design. If you want a good linux distro with customer support, I can comfortably say this is a good choice for you. If money is a concern check out Freespire that just reached beta 1.0 http://www.freespire.org