Corel Linux

Corel Linux

Company / developer	Corel
OS family	Unix-like, Linux
Working state	Discontinued
Default user interface	KDE

Corel Linux, also called Corel LinuxOS, was a Debian-based operating system made by Corel that was released in late 1999. Corel later discontinued the distribution, but did not remove the former Corel Open Source Development website until March 2002.

Corel did not use KFM, the standard KDE file manager. It instead used its own file manager, CFM. This, along with other modifications Corel made, meant that Corel Linux suffered at being incompatible with other versions of Linux much more so than other competitors in the industry. At a time when there was relatively little Linux software available, this was a serious hurdle for Corel and its users.

Corel LinuxOS Second Edition was released in download, regular and deluxe editions, the latter of which bundled Corel WordPerfect Office for Linux.

Xandros purchased the Corel Linux source code and development team when Corel scrapped its Linux business in August 2001. However, the Corel Corporation is a stockholder of Xandros.

Major features

Corel Linux featured a file manager that was very close in look and feel to Windows Explorer. The file manager provided an integrated Windows SMB network browser.

SmartMove

Corel SmartMove was a part of Corel Linux. This application provided the following:

1. Migrate Microsoft Windows settings to Corel Linux.
2. Automate restoring settings that are changed by SmartMove.
3. Provide an easy way to access network folders through Corel Linux.

SmartMove was built around the Wine libraries to read the Windows registry settings for the Windows applications and thus be able to migrate them. SmartMove core libraries created a wrapper for the Windows registry to easily look up the settings.

SmartMove looks for existing Microsoft Windows installations on the machine, looks a little further for individual users, and offers to transfer application settings to analogous programs under Linux. It understands how to deal with Internet Explorer and Netscape cookies and bookmarks, Outlook, mIRC, and ICQ settings, and a variety of desktop preferences, including wallpaper, color scheme, and even mouse "handedness". We tried it out with a few settings, but since our Windows installation was fairly new, we didn't have much to check against.^[1]

With the death of Corel Linux, this application faded away and is no longer maintained, however similar functionality is now available on at least Ubuntu when installing a dual-boot configuration on a machine that already has Windows on it.^[2]

References

1. ^ Hall, Michael (2000-08-07). "Sneak Preview: Corel Linux OS Second Edition". LinuxPlanet. http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/previews/2159/4/. Retrieved 2007-03-19. 
2. ^ Ubuntu feature announcement from Ubuntu 7.04 release

Further reading

• WashingtonPost: Microsoft Faces New Antitrust Probe Over Corel Deal
• Slashdot: Microsoft Buys into Corel
• Forbes: Corel Sells Out To Microsoft
• Slashdot: Corel Shuts Down Open Source Development Site
• CNN: Interview: Corel's Linux VP on the Microsoft deal
• Slashdot: Corel Linux Beta License Violates GPL
• Slashdot: Microsoft Gives Xandros Users Patent Protection
• Archived Corel Linux FAQ
• Archived version of OpenSource.Corel.com from Jan 02