Pinguy OS 11.04 review

You may remember in April that I reviewed Ubuntu 11.04 (on my general blog) and gave it my initial impressions and thoughts. Well, since then I have really used and abused Ubuntu 11.04 like no other OS before it. It has been a real work-horse and performed really well, however it did do something I had never experienced with a Linux distribution before... it crashed! Not a blue-screen error type windows crash, but a more subtle re-set to log-in screen crash, that while not serious, was just annoying and meant that sometimes some of my work was lost.

So, the search was on for another OS. I still wanted Ubuntu, but I wanted it to be a more stable version. At first my search took me to Linux Mint 11.04, but reading through the forums and watching various reviews I noticed there was a new distro in town, something called "Pinguy OS 11.04". Based on Ubuntu 11.04, but using Gnome 2.x instead of Unity, this distro mashes up all the best parts of Ubuntu and Mint and in a meaty 1.4GB download gives you an OS that has everything you ever need straight out of the box. This time, even the codecs are included in the download, so even a Live CD runs perfectly!

So, I installed Pinguy, and the first thing that blew me away was the speed of installation. It took no more than 10 minutes for the full install, that's the quickest I have ever installed an Operating System! On using the OS for the first time, you notice that Pinguy has a huge (and I mean HUGE) selection of software installed. The only tweaking I performed was to add UMPlayer and Banshee as they are my favourite players, and Pinguy uses VLC and Clementine as the two main music players (both are great, but just not what I use). And, for those worried about Flash Video, Pinguy OS runs full-screen Flash Videos perfectly out of the box!

Talking of installed programs, "Libre Office" is the main office suite, "Shotwell" is the photo management program, "Firefox 5" is the default browser, "Skype" is installed as standard, "Ubuntu Tweak" and "Ubuntu Software Centre" are present plus "Thunderbird" and "Empathy". This list just skims the surface though, as there is so much available.

"Wine" has been built into the OS, so if you download a Windows .exe file then Pinguy will just treat it as part of the system. No configuration or anything needed, and if you're coming from windows, this makes it such a doddle to use.

Considering everything Pinguy has to offer, you'd think it may be lacking in speed due to all the software, however, nothing can be further from the truth! This OS speeds along faster than any distro I have used before it. Things open up quickly and considering the age of my system (1GB memory, 3.2Ghz AMD Athlon) Pinguy really is fast! That's the beauty of Linux, the size of the download for the Operating System really doesn't make a difference, its how well everything fits into place that matters.

The desktop of Pinguy is a little different to Ubuntu 11.04. There are two docks, one on the left of the screen and one on the bottom. Each one can be configured and added to/deleted at will and the use of "Docky" is excellent in this case.One thing I would change though is the way that Docky interacts. By default it is always on screen, a quick play with the settings and activating "auto-hide" makes them an even better product.

One brilliant thing is that anything available for Ubuntu also works in Pinguy OS, so I still visit and use the "OMG Ubuntu" website for all my Ubuntu needs. That really does make a difference, 100% compatibility with Ubuntu is such a sweetener and makes your life so much easier.

So, who is this Operating System for? Well, anyone who wants a great and easy to use Operating System with everything ready to go out of the box. Anyone experiencing problems with Ubuntus Unity interface,  or anyone just wanting a change. Pinguy OS 11.04 is a new distro, and the first version was only back in 2010. As it stands they are already climbing the way up distrowatch, so its a real distribution thats making waves as we speak!

After using Pinguy for the last month and installed on all my PCs, I am surprised that although it is based on Ubuntu it is so much more stable and user-friendly. Once more, the Pinguy forums are some of the most helpful forums around should you have any problems. The guys (and gals) on there are genuinely helpful and don't talk down to you like they do on other forums. This is another huge plus as far as I am concerned for Pinguy OS.

Mark Adams
Updated and re-written August 2nd 2011.