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I got curious about why not so many people have Solaris in their desktops and laptops. I wonder whether it's a good idea at all, or something just for the absolute geek.

Could I maybe give it a try either in an open server online or through a live-cd?

What difficulties would I expect to find and what version is good for beginners?

Joan Connel
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1 Answers1

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You can download Solaris 11 for free from Oracle. If you don't subscribe to a support contract you don't have to pay for using it (that used to be different, you had to pay for support).

As with Linux (compared to Windows), Solaris has the problem that less people are familiar with the use and administration, and therefore there will be fewer people that can help out. It depends a bit on what you want to do with the system (software development, just playing around) if that is something you should try.

Please keep in mind that some Unix/Linux software that in principle should run on Solaris, might actually only be tested on Linux, because the developers do not have access to a Solaris machine.

You can also try out a Live system for 11.1

All downloads can be found on the Oracle site

Timo
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  • Solaris is also primarily an enterprise server operating system, and continues to move more in that direction. As such, being used as a desktop is not of primary concern to Oracle--including drivers for desktop hardware.

    If you want to dabble with Solaris, you can check out the hardware compatibility list (HCL). As well as consider looking at a fork of OpenSolaris ( OpenIndiana / illumos ) which may offer better support for desktop hardware.

     – sleepyweasel Feb 21 '17 at 22:41