INTRO: Those of you familiar with the Microsoft anit-trust trial have heard a good deal about operating systems other than Windows. Microsoft says competition is healthy, what with operating systems available for Macintosh, Java, UNIX, the BeOS, Amiga and something called Linux. This last one, a free variant of UNIX, is financially supported by Intel and Netscape and does have Microsoft worried. We sent out Rich Dean, our intrepid computer guru, to install and tryout Linux and give us a report.

RICH: First, a little history. Linux is free because a man named Linus (LEE-nus) Torvalds wanted it that way... a truly useful operating system not controlled by any one company. Thousands of Linux experts from around the globe work together to add new features, fix bugs, and answer questions. It's like the ultimate public works project, except the only cost is time spent by volunteers. Thousands of companies use Linux as do millions of users. So, can we really look forward to a day when you truly have a choice of operating systems to run on your home computer? Several magazines have run stories recently on the quest for a Microsoft-free PC, so I wanted to check it out for myself.

I grabbed a free copy of Linux from the internet, pulled out an extra hard drive and set to work getting my Macintosh to run Linux. Yes, Linux can run on both Macs and PCs. Getting it up and running is another story. 8 hours later, after some scary moments editing of my hard drive at a very low level, I got it running. Now I'm no slouch when it comes to computers, but I must tell you that installing Linux is not exactly easy or for the faint of heart. If you don't know how to edit boot variables and disk partitions, then you're probably not ready to dump Windows just yet. That being siad, Linux is a great operating system. It is amazingly zippy... my Mac ran significantly faster and it is way faster than a Windows PC.... its also more stable than Windows, and considering its free, Linux is a heck of a lot cheaper. It's just not quite ready to take on Microsoft at the consumer level right now. 130

There are other alternatives to windows...one of which is calledthe BeOs.

The Be operating system was created by one of Apple's gurus, Jean-Louis Gassee, and the influence shows. Be is both very pretty and very powerful. Like Linux, it's aimed at the tech-savvy crowd, especially multimedia producers. Be can be installed on PCs and many Macs, but it doesn't run on my particular computer, so i couldn't try it out first hand. What I have seen though is impressive and worth checking out. And while at 70 bucks it is cheaper than Windows, it's not free. 210

The big drawback however, to Linux of Be or many other systems, is that certain applications like Microsoft Word don't run on them. So although I have installed Linux on my Mac, if i want to do word processing, I have to find an alternative program. That may not be that big a deal, since there are some chaep ones available and since most of these programs can save files as a Word document. But home banking software like Quicken or games like Myst just aren't available...at least not yet.240

No, Linux and Be and Java...especially Java...don't seem terribly close to threatening Microsoft's dominance in your home. But don't be fooled - that's not where the battle is about to be fought anyway. That fight is in the computer room of your employer. Imagine paying thousands of dollars for an operating system that crashes constantly...then consider that there is a free and stable alternative. That alternative is Linux. And while Microsoft's next generation operating system - WindowsNT - has been delayed and delayed. Linux is being updated by its cadre of volunteers constantly. And while it might not quite be ready for the mass of new computer users online, it inches closer every month...one desktop at a time. 330