Red Hat 9, First Impressions

I was not going to upgrade to "Shrike," especially since I just upgraded from 7.3 to 8 two weeks ago. However, I tried it on a test machine and was very impressed with the improvements. Probably one of the best improvements is how it interoperates with a Window$ network out of the box.

If you opt to install Samba client and server, an interesting shortcut called Network Servers appears in the Gnome application menu. Curious I clicked on the shortcut and there was my Window$ network. After authenticating I was able to access my domain. I know there are third party pieces of software that also enable this, but I thought this was pretty impressive, especially right out of the box.

Overall I am very impressed with RH 9. Even though I am usually the last on my block to upgrade, I am glad that this time I am one of the first.

I love it so far.

For a Windows-centric person I think Redhat is the best way to delve into the Linux world. Using Gnome or KDE lets you play with Linux in an evironment familiar to a Windows user.

The Redhat 9 installation and configuration is smooth and simple. You can opt to just take a default workstation or server or other setup or you can custom select which applications and services you want installed.

Like David Anasco mentioned the Samba / SMB configuration is easy and straight forward. I installed RH9 on a spare computer to play with Linux, but also to house my MP3's to offload them from my main computer so I want to be able to access them from my Windows machine easily.

I have seen much debate and opinions on various versions of Linux and I know that many feel that other flavors are more technically superior. I also believe you have to eventually have to get out of the X-Windows environment and learn to get around *Nix in a text environment to really learn how to use it.

But, RH9 is a great way for a Windows user to jump into the Linux world without reinventing the wheel. The more you become comfortable with Linux the more you can get away from the X-Windows and really see how it works.

And how about those fonts? RH8 did a pretty good job with fonts, but I still had to tweak Mozilla and Galeon a little bit to get web pages just right. RH9, no tweaking needed. Fonts in these browsers and Star and Open Office look great. The more I use Shrike, the more I discover things that I really like.

Yeah i like it just fine, the install went without a hitch. It had no problems recognizing all of my hardware and thank God it recognized my mouse. Tonybradley is right it is probably the best way to get into the linux world. My brother liked it so much he's even going to install it on his box and he was a bit apprehensive about linux so.. :thumbsup: to RH 9.