Hey everybody!
At first I saw the Graphic Design/Web Design apps iLinux has preinstalled. Then I noticed the number of built-in fonts. Then I stumbled upon the image effects/converters and pdf creation embedded in the file manager. And I said to myself "you gotta try this out"...
Putting aside the enormous download (I later understood that what you download is what you get) iLinux is a graphic designer's heaven as far as linux distros go. For a distro hopper iLinux feels very weird at first but after two months I find myself going daily back and forth between my Mac and my iLinux rig exchanging files with Dukto (what a great app!!!). iLinux's bulk image effects/converters/rotator in right-click submenu of the file manager are incomparable. No special apps, no terminal commands, NO TIME WASTED. Just point and click and you have a copy of the image file(s) with the effect/conversion applied. Also the right-click PDF/ISO creator is a great addition. Right-click menu bulk SVG converter is a fantastic tool for converting SVG files to any DPI resolution image (WOW!!!) without opening Inkscape or any other app.
The time you need to do things in iLinux is way less than in any other OS or linux distro. It has so many options built in the right-click menu that my everyday flow is now noticeable quicker and so much smoother leaving me more time to focus on the creative part of my job. With iLinux I now find myself doing more graphic design work in linux with Inkscape rather with Illustrator in Mac, something I didn't do with any other distro.
A special mention for the Semantic Folders: this right-click menu option is one of my all time favorites in iLinux. I can group my folders/jobs in both color and symbol and make my workflow easy peasy! Color alone just don't cut it and folder labels are too small. The big logos in Semantic Folders are fabulous and you can take that to the bank!
To the small things now: all these small tools preinstalled in iLinux make my life as a user/designer so much easier that in those two months I don't distro hop anymore. Color pickers, ruler, screen magnifier, QR and so much more. Easy Access is a life saver and Extras are pretty cool even though I wished for a free clip art section there. The buit-in collection of free fonts is amazing and the embedded Google Web Fonts browser/installer rocks!
Last but not least I really dig the interface themes a lot. Whether you come from Mac or Windows there is a theme for you. Being a distro hopper I have seen countless themes in many distros. What I dig in iLinux themes/folders is the pastel colors and the lack of blinding high contrast in colors. But most of all I dig the visual consistency whether I open an old app or a relatively new one. Most linux themes fail in this matter, especially new ones.
p.s. Servers look exciting too but not my thing. Glad they're there though if I ever need them cause they look pretty darn simple.
Conclusion: iLinux is certainly not the norm in linux distros but it nails it like no other distro can. The more you use it the more you get hooked in it. It may not get updates as often as other distros but who cares when everything rolls so smooth and with so much candy at your fingertips?!
