2004.05_Sun Java Desktop.pdf

Sun Java Desktop

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“Sun Java Desktop” is an operating system aimed at facilitat-

ing the migration from Windows to Linux for small to

medium-sized enterprises. BY FRANK WIEDUWILT

develop a system that would emu-

late the look & feel, and usability,

of Windows as closely as possible. Sun

Java Desktop [1] is based on the current

version of the Suse Linux Enterprise

Server [2].

Mozilla 1.4 is the

default browser, de-

scribed by the menu as

the Web Browser .

Evolution version 1.4.5

takes care of email, contact and

appointment management, and is

simply referred to as Email and Calen-

dar by the menu. StarOffice 7 is

provided for typical office work. Acrobat

Reader 5.0 allows users to view and

print PDF files. MrProject handles

project management, and the developer

version 1.3.18 of the Gimp is available

for image processing.

As the creator of Java, Sun refers to the

Java programming language in the name

“Sun Java Desktop”. However, the sys-

tem has only five pre-installed Java

applications, discounting the Java envi-

ronment itself. There is a simple

presentation graphics program called

JGraphpad, jDictionary – a program that

accesses online dictionaries, a network

analysis tool, and a multimedia player.

Then finally a Java application that will

not disappoint users with its lack of

features, the jEdit text editor.

A single-user license

costs £63.41 (US$100,

92Euros) and includes

one year’s support, and

60 days installation sup-

port by Sun. A special 50

percent discount offer is

available until June 2

2004. The fact that

StarOffice 7.0 costs £52

(US$80, 65Euros) as a

stand-alone application

helps soften the impact

of Sun’s pricing policy.

In contrast to other

distributions, Sun Java

Desktop –

with its stable

but slightly outdated Gnome desktop –

has very little to make it stand out from

the crowd. This said, there is no denying

the usefulness of the desktop for office

applications. Linux newcomers should

have no trouble with the install. The

desktop provides everything you need to

get on with your office work with a mini-

mum of effort. In fact, most users should

feel at home in the clear-cut menu struc-

ture right from the outset.

Why on earth does Sun insist on

including the “Java” moniker in the

product name? After all, the “Sun Java

Desktop” only has a mediocre offering of

Java applications, and none of them are

worth writing home about.

Quick Launch

The installation went off without a hitch

in our Linux labs, even when we tried it

on an older laptop system. Although Sun

has changed the appearance of Suse’s

YaST installation program, the function-

ality has been left untouched.

After installing the basic system, and

rebooting, YaST set up the applications,

prompted us for the root and user pass-

words, and set about configuring the

GUI, before going on to configure the

network environment.

After logging on, users are taken to a

Gnome version 2.2. desktop (see Figure

1, below), which unfortunately, does not

look quite state of the art. On the upside,

Sun has modified the menu and program

names to help the inexperienced feel at

home.

■

INFO

[1] Sun Java Desktop: http://wwws.sun.com/

software/javadesktopsystem/index.html

[2] Suse Enterprise Server: http://www.suse.

de/en/business/products/server/sles/

index.html

Figure 1: Sun Java Desktop.

Frank Wieduwilt

originally studied

history and has

worked for several

years as a freelance

technical author for

several publishing

companies in Berlin,

Germany, where he writes manuals

for database software solutions. Frank

is a regular contributor to Linux

Magazine specializing in SOHO topics

such as office and graphics programs.

www.linux-magazine.com

May 2004

Sun Java Desktop

S un Microsystems’ aim was to

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