There probably aren't many reasons why existing Red Hat Linux users will want to rush out and buy Red Hat Linux 6.2. It's an incremental update at best, and anyone wishing updated components (kernel, Netscape Communicator, KDE,GNOME) can easily surf the next and grab them.

For new users, Red Hat Linux 6.2 actually represents something of a step backwards. The printed documentation has been dramatically scaled back in favor of less-useful CD-ROMs. There's really been nothing of value added, and something quite useful--StarOffice--has disappeared.

Can we recommend Red Hat Linux 6.2 over Corel Linux 1.0 or Linux-Mandrake 7.0? Not really. Both those products come with more extensive documentation and a better-conceived desktop interface. In addition, both of those products are just as easy to install and have the same level of support.

For many years Red Hat Linux has stood as the leader of the Linux distributions--but now the rest of the pack has caught up with and in some cases surpassed it. This speaks well of the maturity of the Linux marketplace, but at the expense of Red Hat.

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