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You've grown weary of Windows and the rising level of processing power each new release requires to run smoothly. Or maybe you just want to try something different. Is there a viable alternative operating system for PCs? Maybe. Red Hat's Linux 6.0 is a stable, full-featured server operating system that will run on just about any PC, and it costs less than $100.

Red Hat's Linux versions have a deserved reputation for being well designed, and release 6.0 is no exception. Priced at $79.95, Red Hat Linux 6.0 is a strong, Internet-oriented server OS that will take well to an old 486--and fly on a Pentium PC. The new release is relatively easy to install and configure, gives you lots of setup options, and comes with two different graphical user interfaces--one of which is as stable and intuitive as Windows.

This generation of Red Hat Linux isn't quite as impressive as its predecessors in terms of performance, which may indicate that open source development has reached a plateau. Benchmark tests conducted by a number of organizations show that Windows NT outperforms Linux by a large margin, thanks to some fundamental deficiencies in the Linux OS design. The challenge for the Linux and open source communities will be to rectify those problems in the next release, kernel 2.4, expected to come out this fall.

But what the benchmark tests don't tell you is that in terms of value for money, Red Hat Linux 6.0 beats Windows NT hands down. There are no license fees for Red Hat 6.0, and the package includes a plethora of free applications that would cost thousands of dollars with NT. Plus, these applications are usable on machines that NT (not to mention Windows 2000) simply wouldn't run on.

Even so, Linux is at its best as a server operating system, and in my opinion, it's not quite ready for mainstream desktops. However, an initial look showed me that Red Hat 6.0 makes the best progress I've seen yet toward a mainstream Linux OS, so I was eager to dig deeper.