Xandros' instant-on Presto Linux distro now available for download-o
By Donald Melanson 
posted March 19th 2009 2:18PM
posted March 19th 2009 2:18PM
It looks like those itching to try out Xandros' instant-on Presto Linux distribution needn't linger in drawn out boot processes any longer, as the beta version of the OS is now finally available for download from all the usual sources. Unlike some other instant-on OS environments, Presto is designed to sit alongside Windows rather than replace it entirely, with it giving you the option of selecting Windows or Presto each time you boot your computer. If you select the latter, you should be up and running in just "seconds," and have access to all of the apps you likely use 90% of the time. Just don't expect a free ride if you find yourself getting attached to the OS, as the final version is set to demand (an entirely reasonable) $20 when it launches on April 13th.
i've never heard of this before...i'm going to give it a try as soon as I get home tonight!
fyi, the tucows download link is a bajillion times faster.
download.com was throttling @130kb/s :( tucows is maxing my 10meg.
From what I've heard so far it's a letdown. Basically a regular Linux distro with XFCE, and not all that fast (in comparison with say, Ubuntu with XFCE)
ZOMG, it's minE!!!
Off to download now & give it a try.
Ok, friend-o.
I tried it a couple hours ago, very cool! Very fast, very useful, very Presto!
Anybody know what aspects/components of this thing are closed-source? I assume it'll be something significant considering the $20 pricetag.
That was my thought as well. With everyone so use to Linux being free, I see this as kind of a hard sale.
especially with moblin booting in like 5 seconds... hard sell
Skype and Real Player.
Chances are it may be open source... you just have to purchase the program to get the source.
Once someone has it, they should be free to re-publish it.
This sounds pretty cool, but I would never pay for a linux distro, no matter how fast it is.
I'm downloading it tonight and will try it. I don't see an issue with paying a company $20 for work they did to put a clean / user-friendly UI and installer on Linux. If it comes with some support, then its more than worth it! There are a lot of people out there with older machines without the know-how to run Linux. I don't see these people drawing the bight line you are - they get something (use from their older machine) that they would not have been able to do for themselves without work. (worth they might be willing to pay $20 for)
I paid for OS X, I paid for my Ubuntu Dell and hoodie, I'll pay for what's worth paying for.
..but all the other linux based operating systems aren't going to be far enough behind this to warrant the expense.
....especially with Intel solid state drives becoming cheaper by the day.
@ethana2
"I paid for OS X" - I dont think that should applie to this. OSX is linux yes, but come on you gotta understand.
"I paid for my Ubuntu Dell and hoodie" - You paid for your dell, your hoodie, and dell to install ubuntu on your dell.
"I'll pay for what's worth paying for." - I think that applies to everyone. But if I can get basically the same thing for free, why pay? I only make 15 dollars an hour.
"..but all the other linux based operating systems aren't going to be far enough behind this to warrant the expense." - Indeed sir.
"....especially with Intel solid state drives becoming cheaper by the day."- These days need to go by a little quicker, because I want one!
OS X is Linux?
WHAT?
OS X is Unix.
OS X is very obnoxiously closed source.
It will be pirated
No, it will be branched, which is 10x better.
Correct me if I am wrong, but from what I understand of Open Source software such as Linux, you can create your own version and sell it, but you still need to provide your source code. You can restrict who commits to your repository, but you can not stop people from downloading the source code.
It will be like Red Hat Linux, if you want the full version you have to pay for it (Novell I think?), but people have branched it so that there is a version that is essentially identical, but it is free.
Your understanding is correct in a case where all the code is open source(Under an appropriate licence). Xandros develop much of their distro by themselves in a closed fashion, so the rest of the community can't use it. They only need to release the source if they have used already existing code, and that code's licence requires the modifications to be made available (e.g the GPL)
I would support Linux development like this, if it stands out of the crowd.
This isn't really a development of linux, as I doubt that xandros will feed much of the code back to the community.
don't worry about the price guys, it only takes one person to write a version of this that is faster, better, and free. It'll happen
The easy guide to DIY:
Download and install Presto,
Take a look around and determine which software is included,
Use reconstructor to develop your own Ubuntu variant that does the same for free.
hey thanks for the reply. i got it to work through windows 7 but i cant find any system settings so i cant turn tapping off plus the tracking is crazy slow. other than that it's pretty fast. 6 second boot and i cant even count how fast it turns off. i guess the final will have more settings. what's ironic is by the time windows boots to where you can select presto plus presto's boot i could have booted leopard almost twice and had a full operating system.
what i want to know is who the hell actually likes tapping. it's the worst idea ever.
what the hell this is supposed to be under my post not jed's
can anyone tell me if this will work with bootcamp? i dont want to download it for no reason. im not a computer pro but i do have refit working with leopard, win7 and backtrack 3 but an instant os would be kinda cool and might give me better battery life at school.
if it can interface with EFI then it will work...or you could program your EFI to support it then it will....all the other hardware on a macbook excutes binaries the same way as a PC...
If I had a netbook, why couldn't I use this to replace windows? It's linux after all, and it already has Firefox, Skype, and an IM client. Install some office software, a media player, and a few games and you have most of what you need on a secondary computer.
Posting this on Firefox running on Xandros Presto installed on an old dinosaur of a computer alongside WinXP. It started up pretty fast (less than a minute, at most), though not quite as "instant" as you would expect. Then again, this is a 5-year old computer we're talking about.
First impressions:
* Quick and easy installation.
* Boots really quickly even on an old machine, and is fast and responsive once running.
* Hardware was detected without a fuss.
* User has limited control -- if there's a terminal, I can't find it.
* User interface takes a bit getting used to (eg. can't minimize applications, etc.)
Default installed programs appear to be Firefox, Pidgin, Skype, Thunar file manager, Adobe Reader, OpenOffice, and RealPlayer, though the application store has a link to where you can download or purchase more apps.
All in all, Presto seems like a good OS. I don't like that it comes with a price tag, but at least it's affordable.
If you installed Ubuntu on a 5 year old PC it is still pretty speedy.
Personal experience tells me otherwise. Minimal Ubuntu with a lightweight desktop like XFCE, maybe, but the default vanilla installs of Ubuntu and its different flavors are a bit too heavy for this relic.
I am seconding Sheep. I have several older computers sitting around my place. One is almost 5 years old, and with Xubuntu, it runs pretty much fine, but with normal Ubuntu or Kubuntu the performance drops off sharply. Boot times are very long and I notice a definite drop in performance over more lightweight linux distros.
That said, its a 5 year old machine, I dont expect the latest versions of operating systems to run perfectly on it.
CTRL+ALT+T for terminal goodness.
How big is the install?
I am wondering how hard it would be to slap this on a thumb drive rather than having it muck around in my boot sector.
Then you could take it with you to an alternate computer as long as you weren't too tied to specific hardware drivers.
Maybe I'm just unobservant, but I couldn't find a CD image file or anything to download; only an .exe file. What if I don't have/want Windows on my computer? Am I doomed? I'm guessing that this wouldn't work through Wine in Linux, right? Are they planning on releasing something other besides a Windows executable when it comes out of beta?
Presto is intended to run alongside Windows. I don't know if they plan on releasing a standalone version, but it doesn't seem likely from what I could see.
Install = quick and easy. Its super fast. Ive been wanting something like this for the average machine for a long time. Very impressive.
Reasonable? I'd say it's pretty far out of line with what most Linux distros cost.
RHEL Desktop Basic Subscription is $80/yr for "Web support, 2 business day response, unlimited incidents"
Ubuntu is $20 at Bestbuy with a month of support.
It's not out of line if the $20 includes any type of support.
@tired_, oh shut up dude, $20, paaaleeese. If you can't afford that then what the hell are you doing on a computer on the internet? How about if you work your ass off on something and then everyone refuses to give you squat for it, wouldn't that be cool? huh? huh?
Idiot.
Nice title, homo-o.
Just as with every other linux distro I try, flash video capabilities are severely limited. Pulled up youtube. Video plays back fine I guess, but the frame rate suffers. Try making a hulu video full screen and watch the OS fall to its knees. $20 for this?
And this is on a Latitude Core2Duo 2.0ghz w/ 2gb ram. Maybe the nvidia card is the problem?
What do netbook users with pre-installed linux do? Do manufacturers work out the kinks to get flash video running properly, or do the users instead lead miserable, hulu-less lives?
Streaming flash video is fine on my vostro 1400. I'd point the finger at the nvidia graphics driver. Are you running the Free or proprietary ones?
I experienced the same frame rate issues on a Dell D620 today. I also experienced the OS having other issues with the video card I think. The screen goes black and starts blinking, alternating between on and off. It's like the laptop is in a presentation mode loop. I finally held the power button down for a few seconds to shut it down and restart in Windows. Has anyone else had this blinking screen problem today?
Um, this came out on Monday 16th March, and I've been trialling it on my MSI Wind-clone since then.
It's pretty fast, and as my first ever experience of Linux not too daunting for the novice. Getting to a loaded desktop takes maybe eight seconds (after selecting Presto from the boot screen) but getting my wifi to connect takes a little longer, so it's not quite 'instant' if you want to get online. I don't really think it extends my battery life, especially as I can't turn on the Wind's underclock feature. As someone above said, however, shutting down is literally blink-and-you-miss-it fast.
Tried to install. Claimed that I have a SCSI RAID. Not the last time I checked. I'll try it on another machine.
Isn't PRESTO a brand owned by Dell ?
http://www.dell.co.uk/presto
http://www.pcpresto.com