Greetings, DLS readers. I'm reporting from LinuxWorld 2006, in cool & breezy San Francisco. Over the next few days I'll be letting you know about what's new, what's cool, and what's interesting at our annual PenguinCon.

Some of you have probably heard about Xandros Desktop, an attempt to create a Linux distro that's super easy to use and very friendly and inviting for those switching over from Windows. By and large, Xandros succeeds. I'll be honest: if you're a Linux power user, Xandros will quickly drive you absolutely nuts due to its limitations. But if you're looking for a distro easy enough for Grandma Jones or Uncle Larry to use, then Xandros may be just the thing. You can read more about Xandros' desktop offerings for the Home and Business on their web site.

That's the Desktop. What impressed me at LinuxWorld, however, is Xandros Server 1.0. The number tells you it's a new product, but since it's built on existing Xandros products, it's a bit more mature than you might expect. Basically, Xandros Server is a server OS for the small businesses that need a server on premises but really don't have anyone on staff with deep technical knowledge to administer it. With Xandros Server, it's really pretty simple to manage 24 different services - like DNS, Web, DHCP, and even Helix Streaming Server (check out the list in the screenshot) - using a nicely integrated Management Console that should be pretty familiar to anyone who's ever used Microsoft's MMC. If you happen to know enough to manually edit config files, go ahead; the Xandros Management Console will read the changes made to the configs with no problem, and won't blow away your changes. The cost? $449, which ain't bad and sure beats Microsoft on price, especially when you factor in that you don't need to buy any Client Access Licenses for each machine or user accessing the server, one of the oh-so-clever ways that MSFT extracts yet more cash from its customers.

If all this sounds interesting to you, check out the free 30-day trial. Xandros Server is just one more little bit of evidence I'm seeing at LinuxWorld that Linux is getting easier and easier for everyone to use, and that's exciting news. Stay tuned for more from LinuxWorld 2006 later today.