VIXTA IS INTENDED to be an easy introduction of Linux to people who are familiar with Windows Vista. It comes on a bootable DVD that will install on your hard disk, but can also function as a live disc. The KDE graphical interface is used for a look and feel very similar to Windows. There even a Start menulike button that resembles Vista, including a two-paned view and a search box. Linpus Lite (another distro) is showing up on a number of "netbooks" and UMPCs (Ultra Mobile PCs) due to its low hardware requirements and an interface that is tailored for smaller screens. It attempts to be different, all the way down to the screensaver that shows images of galax- ies and supernovae in space.

By default, the desktop package included is pretty good with a browser, email and chat client, office suite, photo viewer, multi media players, and so on. Linpus shines with quick bootup time (about 12 seconds on recent hardware). Once booted up, the desktop can be viewed in two modes simple and advanced. By default, the LiveCD will boot into the simple mode to be able to navigate quickly and get to
work. The simple mode has applications grouped into tabbed categories and the items on screen are all application shortcuts. The advanced mode is the conventional desktop environment with a main menu (think Start button), icons, and files on the desktop with menus that appear when you right-click them. An icon at the bottom-left of the taskbar is labeled "switch-desktop" allows for switching between the two modes.