Instant Pictoguide to Knoppix 6.0

The latest version of Knoppix represents a radical remake of the venerable Live CD Linux distribution. Knoppix 6.0 is leaner, faster, and more versatile than ever. In addition to that, the new version brings another significant improvement: the amazingly fast boot process. Even when Knoppix runs from a CD, it takes less than a minute to boot to the graphical desktop. More importantly, the improved boot process doesn’t affect Knoppix’ legendary hardware detection capabilities.

The latest version of Knoppix is based on LXDE, a lightweight graphical desktop environment, and it is lightning fast even on low-end machines and netbooks. Unlike previous versions, Knoppix 6.0 comes with a trimmed software bundle, but key productivity applications like OpenOffice.org, Iceweasel (aka Firefox), Icedove (aka Thunderbird), Pidgin, and the GIMP are still there.

Knoppix has always featured excellent hardware detection and support, and the latest release is no exception. What’s more impressive, it detects and enables wireless cards on popular netbooks like ASUS Eee PC 701 and 900 as well as Acer Aspire One right out of the box.

If Knoppix 6.0 detects that your graphics card is capable of running 3D desktop effects, the distro automatically enables the Compiz Fusion engine which boasts some impressive eye candy.

The new version of Knoppix features a new flash-knoppix tool that allows you to install Knoppix on a USB stick or a flash card. When you boot Knoppix from a USB stick, the system prompts you to create a persistent home to store your settings. This way, you can have a fully functional Knoppix system without installing it on the hard disk.

If you want to install Knoppix 6.0 on your machine’s hard disk, you can do so using the hard disk installer utility which guides you through the entire installation process.

Knoppix 6.0 makes it easy to set up a GPRS or UMTS connection using a dedicated utility. This is a boon for netbook and laptop users on the move.

Since Knoppix is a Debian-based Linux distribution, you can choose between thousands of software packages. And the Synaptic package manager makes software installation a breeze.

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