Is Solaris 10 OS worth downloading?

Question

What are the advantages/disadvantages.

NO I have never used or seen any Solaris.
This is why I'm wondering if it worth putting on my machine.

Answer 1

Are you upgrading from Solaris or another operating system? I find Solaris 10 to have some improved features over previous releases, particularly in memory configuration (less editing the /etc/system file), Service Management Framework (improved way of starting up services in parallel with dependencies and health monitoring), and Role Based Access Controls (no need to give out the root account). Oh, the license for Solaris 10 changed from earlier releases so that the OS is essentially free. You do have the option of paying for support (which larger operational centers will still do, but for most users, it isn't needed).

The only disadvantages I can think of surround application support for the average end user. Solaris doesn't have the number of games you would find on Microsoft. You may also find that some business applications that have chosen to only support the MS application won't run natively on Solaris. If working with the x86 Solaris version, you could look at virtualization technology to co-install MS Windows if needed.