Fabrice Roux Posted October 9, 2006 Report Share Posted October 9, 2006 Today I received 2 hard disk trays for my laptop. This allows me to switch between my 3 HDDs. I whiped out my good old test box HDD and installed the latest release of Mandriva One 2007. Mandriva One is a Linux release that is aimed at the Average Joe... but it's packed with great features. The lastest version integrates the XGL ontop of X which allows to get some "usefull" 3D features. You can see in action. Even if it's not breakthrough features that everybody will need on his PC... I find it far more interesting than the transperency and the antialiased 3D alt-Tab found in Vista.You can try it directly from the Live CD... and if you like it... you can run the install program than sits on the desktop. Winthin 10 minutes you'll have a nice functionnal secure box packed with lots of usefull apps. (Firefox, GIMP, OpenOffice,...) Head over to Mandriva download page and select either a Gnome or KDE version that fits your language. I prefer the slick look of the Gnome desktop... but it's a potatoe and potatoe situation. Just avoid the Purely free version since they don't include the accelerated nVidia drivers. (because they are proprietary binaries) If you want to be really scared... whatch .ps: other good point it runs from GeForce 4 Ti4xxx and up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Lead_Factor Posted October 16, 2006 Report Share Posted October 16, 2006 Wow...Now, are these drivers actualy capable of running 3d graphics at a reasonable speed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabrice Roux Posted October 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 You must have mixed up the base legacy 2D driver that comes with almost every distro. This version of Mandriva comes with the nVidia binary driver... which comes directly from nVidia. So yes it handles 3D pretty good. The good thing is that you are able to test it directly from the CD. Which means that you can use it if you have a doubt on your graphic card. Download the CD (700 Mb is not that big and mirors are all over the planet). So yes you can play 3D shooter while watching a DIVX in the background. (check second screenshot) :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Lead_Factor Posted October 18, 2006 Report Share Posted October 18, 2006 Well I want to try this now but I don't have a blank cd :) Is there any way to install this from a virtual drive or something else or do I HAVE to buy a blank cd? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabrice Roux Posted October 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2006 You need to actually boot it... since if you use a Virtual Machine you'll end up without 3D driver... therefore witout eye candy. Don't you have a least a CDR that sits in a drawer or a shelve... I have 2 DVD-R and one CD-R on my desk that serve the sole purpose of OS testing. Otherwise... you'll need to step in real life... and buy a CD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Lead_Factor Posted October 18, 2006 Report Share Posted October 18, 2006 Well its just that my cd burner is smashed :) ....So yea, I guess ill just have to use someone elses burner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabrice Roux Posted October 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2006 *mental note: never buy Alienware stuff* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Lead_Factor Posted October 19, 2006 Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 Well as long as they don't drop off a 4 foot bench, it should be fine :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabrice Roux Posted October 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 You shouldn't take your laptop outside... superglue it to the desktop and use a power saw to dig a hole to get fresher air. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HockeyPhool Posted October 19, 2006 Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 Hopefully, NOT in that exact order. :) You shouldn't take your laptop outside... superglue it to the desktop and use a power saw to dig a hole to get fresher air. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Lead_Factor Posted October 19, 2006 Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 Well if I wasn't going to take it outside then I would've gotten a much cheaper and better desktop instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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