Q4OS a great distro for the desktop
Operating systems like GNU/Linux has become more popular as alternatives to desktop operating systems to the common Microsoft Windows, some linux distributions like Ubuntu has made big efforts in bringing user interfaces each time more intuitive and that give to the user a more uniform experience where a novice user or an experienced user feel comfortable using the operating system.
Since many years ago different linux distributions has been concentrating the efforts in building user interfaces designed to replace the Windows operating system, in practice only a few has reach that goal, the compatibility issues, complex learning curves, support limitations and in some cases the users’s customs resistance make difficult their adaptation to new desktop environments.
Q4OS
Q4OS is a Linux distribution based on Debian 8 with KDE3 modified (based on Trinity Desktop) that give a classic look very light and with an intentional similarity with Microsoft Windows XP/2K. The design of the operating system look for provide a Linux distro where a user without an advanced knowledge about operating systems can be able to replace their actual Windows operating system. The installer provide a simple and consistent experience where set up the operating system to a functional state takes only a few minutes and where the most remarkable quality is to give access to common required software like office suites, browsers, media players, and others. The operating system work very fluid even on limited hardware, actually we have running Q4OS on Raspberry 3 boards and notebooks with 512Mb of memory.
The Q4OS Installer Running
Q4OS Just running
All the applications work in a stable way and the GUI bring us an intuitive nice experience.
To install beside the Q4OS Opeating system
WPS Office: https://www.wps.com/linux
Even where there’s no a GPL office suite, WPS Office is a free suite that work great on this ditro (and others), Unlike other open source alternatives most used like Libreoffice, WPS Office has an excellent compatibility with Microsoft Office where most Word, Excel and powerpoint documents keep their design by using this suite.
… Pros & Cons …
Pros:
– The distro is incredibly light, even on virtual machines with 256Mb of ram the desktop looks fluid, on Raspberry devices you can take advantage of the light desktop environment.
– The package manager is very simple and consistent, it brings a transparent interface and make easy the installation of commonly required applications like Skype, TeamViewer, Google Chrome, VLC, LibreOffice, even third party drivers.
– As it is based on Debian 8, the distribution provide full compatibility in packages and configurations, even advanced users or users implementing servers with Linux can take advantages of this distro.
– The installation process is really fast and the image of the installers has a really small size with less than 700 Mb.
Cons:
– As the Desktop environment it is based on KDE the look of some applications based on other environments like GNOME can present an unexpected behavior (mostly its not a functional issue but aspect instead).
– Although the distribution it is based on Debian, its version does not evolve strictly like Debian, so it’s possible that the most recent Q4OS version stay away behind the most recent Debian version.
– Despite the fact of being a good distribution, since there is no a popular one (like Ubuntu or CentOS), it is possible to get some lack of documentation.
Conclusion
Even when Q4OS it is not a popular linux flavor it is a really fresh distrbution with a classic, intuitive, light and very consistent user interface that can give you an excellent alternative, specially for novice users get used to the Microsoft platforms, but too for advanced users that are only looking for a light desktop nice to use, it brings a quick installation getting the most basic features that an average user requires just “out of the box”.