Xandros Server Goes into Second Beta, Due in Spring

Published: January 31, 2006

by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Desktop Linux specialist Xandros is running a little bit behind in getting a server version of its Linux to market, but it is now promising to deliver the software sometime in the spring, and with a new name: Xandros Server.

Xandros Server has entered its second beta, with the first beta (when the product was to be called Xandros SMB Server) hitting the street in May 2005. The final product, which is based on the Debian implementation of Linux, was expected sometime last fall.

The key feature of Xandros Server is something called the Xandros Management Console, which the company says is more akin to the management programs used in the Windows environment. For Unix shops, Linux is very familiar in that the same file structures and management tools are often used; if you know Unix, Linux is a relative snap. But if you don't know Unix--as many Windows shops do not--then Linux is a pain in the neck. The differences between Windows and Unix/Linux are a barrier to Linux adoption, and Xandros Server is about breaking through that barrier by making Linux look more like Windows as far as management of servers is concerned. And, as a plus, it plugs right into existing Unix and Windows networks and starts speaking their own DNS and DHCP language.

Xandros, which is based in New York and which was founded in May 2001, created its desktop Linux based on the former Corel Linux V3.0, which was itself a commercialized version of Debian Linux that Corel sold off in August 2001 to Xandros. Xandros still does its development in Ottawa, where Corel is also located.

If you want to participate in the Xandros Server beta or find out more about the software, follow this link.