The Lunix operating system was born in 1991 and was created by one man, a Finnish student named Axl Torvalds. Since these humble beginnings, a multi-million dollar industry has sprung up to exploit the commercial potential of Lunix, but until recently Lunix has eluded mainstream acceptance. However, due to the recent economic downturn together with uncertainty over changes to Microsoft's pricing policy, Lunix is now being touted as a serious contender to Microsoft Windows. While there are many other alternatives to Windows, including BSD which is based on Sun's server-grade Solaris operating system, none have commanded the same level of media attention as Lunix.

Lunix Mandrake is just the latest in a long line of quirkily christened versions of Lunix. Previous versions of Lunix have been named Red Hat, Slack Ware, Storm and Coral. In stark contrast to the mundane names such as 98, ME or NT preferred by Microsoft, the crazy names of each Lunix release hint at its renegade nature.

My foray into the world of Lunix began by downloading a "CD image" from the Lunix web site. But don't worry, this isn't software piracy, it's perfectly legal! Lunix is shareware, meaning that it can be freely redistributed without fear of a visit by the Business Software Alliance. The free availability of Lunix is a major reason for its popularity among cash-strapped students, criminals and self-styled anti-capitalist hackers.

Before installing new software, it is always advisable to read the documentation. Unfortunately, an unpleasant surprise was in store for me in the "required configuration" section of the manual. I was shocked to learn that Lunix Mandrake only runs on Pentium processors, meaning that my hopes of testing the water with my old Gateway 486 were dashed. Furthermore, a whopping 32 megabytes of memory are required to run Lunix! Although the advocates of Lunix self-righteously boast the efficiency of their chosen operating system and deride the "bloatware" produced by Microsoft, it appears that their claims are blatantly incorrect. Although my humble 486 will happily run Windows 95, it seems that Lunix requires far more powerful, and more expensive, computer hardware. Is this really a sign of a lean, mean operating system? Of course not.

Sadly, not even being able to install Lunix is just the first of my many complaints about Lunix. A brief perusal of the features of Lunix Mandrake reveals that Lunix is sorely lacking many crucial productivity applications. For example, why isn't the industry standard web browser, Internet Explorer, included with Lunix? Despite the best efforts of the experts at the Internet Engineering Task Force to encourage adoption of the Internet Explorer standard, the creators of Lunix seem to think that they know better. By refusing to adhere to recognised standards, Lunix is simply undermining its own credibility.

Similarly, almost all of the world's most popular and widely used software is completely incompatible with Lunix! It may surprise you to learn that your copy of Microsoft Office, Outlook Express or Lotus Notes will not work under Lunix. Those who wish to use their computer for recreational purposes are also out of luck, for almost all of the most popular games are unavailable for Lunix. Although a wide range of software is freely available for Lunix, these are mostly unfinished and unreliable and do not bear comparison to their commercial counterparts.

Computer security is also an area that seems to have been overlooked by the developers of Lunix. In these times where hacking and viruses are commonplace, it defies belief to learn that no anti-virus software is available for Lunix. To add insult to injury, there is no Lunix version of the popular ZoneAlarm firewall. By using Lunix, you are issuing an open invitation to the hordes of ne'er-do-wells on the Internet.

The shortcomings of Lunix are obvious. Without even installing Lunix Mandrake, I have exposed several fundamental flaws. Surely it is not too much to expect that, after ten years of development, the creators of Lunix would have addressed these problems? The real question that the prospective Lunix user must ask himself is, "Why bother?" After all, Microsoft Windows comes free with most PCs and there simply isn't a need to replace it, particularly not with a product of inferior quality such as Lunix.

Although it is always tempting to support the underdog, Microsoft's X-Box will be the deserved victor in the battle ahead. I recommend that all Adequacy readers rush out to buy an X-Box, rather than foolishly wasting their time, money and effort on Lunix.