Linuxman's Ratings Guide
Required User Level: Beginner/Intermediate
Installation: Pretty Easy - fully graphical, might need to create partitions
Support: Excellent - Wiki, Forum and Online documentation. Mostly compatible with FreeBSD's excellent documentation
No. of CD's or DVD's: 1
Media: DVD-R

DesktopBSD aims at being a stable and powerful BSD operating system for desktop users.

DesktopBSD 1.7 is based on FreeBSD 7.2 release and KDE 3.5.10. Its main goal is to provide a desktop operating system that is easy to use, but still has all the functionality and power of BSD. DesktopBSD main features include:

Usability
DesktopBSD Tools which is a collection of applications designed to make life easier and more productive. Even inexperienced users can perform administrative tasks such as configuring wireless networks, accessing USB storage devices and installing and upgrading software.
K Desktop Environment (KDE) provides an easy-to-use interface while offering powerful functionality for both new and professional users. The DesktopBSD Tools are well integrated into KDE for a high level of usability.
Live CD/DVD feature for testing the system without installation to a hard-drive.
NVIDIA graphics driver for hardware 3D rendering.
Multiple processors support. Now has better support for Multi-core CPUs.

Stability and Performance
DesktopBSD is based on FreeBSD, which is one of the most reliable and robust operating systems in the world. The development of FreeBSD (and therefore DesktopBSD) is highly focused on performance. The system manages resources efficiently and reacts quickly even when many processes are running simultaneously. This also affects networking, so DesktopBSD tries to use the available bandwidth optimally.

Available Software
With its graphical package manager, DesktopBSD offers a simple way to install, upgrade and uninstall software using FreeBSD's package collection (called "ports"). There are about 16,000 packages currently available, containing everything from browsers and instant messengers to media players, office suites, science applications and much more. An up-to-date list of packages can be viewed and searched on the FreshPorts Web site.

Security
When it comes to security, the BSD operating systems are world class. OpenBSD for example had only one remote hole in the default install in more than nine years. DesktopBSD benefits from the work of other BSDs, such as OpenBSD, and passes that advantage on to you.

Hardware requirements and support
DesktopBSD can run on any decent i386-based computer (1500 MHz CPU or above). We recommend 15 GB of disk space and 1024 MB memory for installation. Less is possible, but will result in lower overall performance.

For specific supported hardware components please see the FreeBSD Hardware Notes.

Laptops
Users with laptops often wonder if their specific model is supported by DesktopBSD or FreeBSD. Please have a look at the FreeBSD Laptop Compatibility List (FLCL). The FLCL lists all the laptop brands and models in which FreeBSD has been installed successfully. Please note that the FLCL may be partly outdated or incomplete as newer FreeBSD versions are available. We ask that you update it if you have had success installing DesktopBSD.