| Have you ever wanted to try Linux but didn't want to take the time to install it or take the risk of wiping out your Windows operating system? A Linux boot CD allows you to run Linux completely from RAM and CDROM.—DistroWatch |
To run Linux in a window see /VMware.
KNOPPIX is a bootable CD with a large collection of free software, automatic hardware detection, and support for many peripherals. It's not necessary to install anything on a hard disk.
Ubuntu / Kubuntu is a complete Debian Linux-based operating system, freely available with community and professional support.
Dyne:bolic GNU/Linux is a live bootable distribution, an operating system which works directly from the CD without the need to install or change anything on the hard disk. Shaped by the needs of media activists, artists and creatives. With it one can manipulate and broadcast both sound and video with tools to record, edit, encode and stream. It is user-friendly, recognizes your hardware devices (sound, video, firewire, and USB) and offers a vast range of software for multimedia production, streaming, 3D modeling, photo, peer-to-peer filesharing, web browsing and publishing, word processing, email, encryption, and networking. It also includes games and a world navigator. It does automatic clustering, joining the CPU power between any other dyne:bolic on the local network, and works on modded XBOX consoles as well.
LAMPPIX is a Live CD with the web server Apache, the database MySQL and the programming languages PHP and Perl. It's based on Klaus Knopper's KNOPPIX and Damn Small Linux. LAMPPIX allows you to easily run your dynamic web pages off a CD-ROM.
GeeXboX is a standalone media player Linux distribution, similar to MoviX?. It's a small bootable CD which allows you to play your favorites video and audio files. It is based on MPlayer, and can be used on every x86 computer. It supports TV-out for various cards such as S3, nVidia, and ATI. It also supports network and is able to play medias on a Windows/Samba? share. It also supports TV tuners and WiFi? cards.
MoviX is a small-sized (~50MB) Linux "live CD" distro containing all the software to boot from any media you like and start automagically X-window and within it the GUI version of MPlayer, which can play DVDs, VCDs, DivX, AudioCDs and many more.
WOMP! is a micro linux distribution focussed on multimedia. Basically, it takes only 13 to 30 MB depending on the selected options on a bootable CD, and allow playing a wide range of multimedia files (video/audio/image) without installing any software on the computer's hard drive.
Bioknoppix is a customized distribution of Knoppix Linux Live CD with open source applications targeted for the molecular biologist.
Vigyaan is an electronic workbench for bioinformatics, computational biology and computational chemistry. It has been designed to meet the needs of both beginners and experts. VigyaanCD is a live Linux CD based on KNOPPIX v3.3 containing all the required software to boot the computer with ready to use modeling software.
DNALinux is a Slackware Linux distribution with bioinformatics software pre-installed. [DNA] and protein sequence manipulation software is included.
CDMEDIC is a Knoppix variant appropriate for Radiologists, Nuclear medicine and Radiotherapy Physicians and MD, Neurologists and Neurosurgeons and also other branches related to Medical imaging as Physics and Informatica.
GISIX is a KNOPPIX-based, ready-to-run work geographic information system (GIS) environment which comes with ready-to-use spatial data.
GIS-Knoppix is a bootable Linux CD with pre-installed GIS software.
Public IP provides hotspot operators with an extremely simple, highly versatile, FREE, open source hotspot solution. Public IP's ZoneCD is freely distributed software that has been created to help implement safe, free, WiFi hotspots.
LLGP: Linux Live Game Project is a Knoppix fork with many installed games.
KnoppixQuake is a bootable Quake Meta Team Fortress server on a CD.
Hikarunix is the only operating system dedicated to Go, designed especially for Go players of all levels.
Damn Small Linux is a very versatile 50MB mini desktop oriented Linux distribution.
Feather Linux is a Linux distribution which runs completely off a CD or a USB pendrive and takes up under 115Mb of space. It is a Knoppix remaster and tries to include software which most people would use every day on their desktop.
SLAX is a small bootable CD based on the Slackware Linux distribution.