Wal-Mart's $300 computer. (Up Front).(Microtel Sysmar742)(Product/Service Evaluation)

Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, now offers a line of 9 desktop computers through walmart.com that are noteworthy on two counts: They're among the cheapest, with some priced around $200, and they're the first widely available machines driven by something other than Windows or Macintosh OS X.

We weren't impressed. The computer we tested was OK for Web browsing, e-mail, and letter writing, but not much more. And anyone who equates "low-priced" with "basic and easy to use" will be frustrated. Instead, we recommend that you spend another $200 or so for a low-priced Windows computer, like the ones we covered last month.

We tested the $298 Microtel Sysmar742 (since replaced by a slightly different model). It uses Lindows, an operating system that looks and feels like Microsoft Windows but is based on the Linux operating system. (Linux is a free operating system intended to be updated and improved by volunteers.)

Windows, Lindows, what's the difference? At first glance, the Lindows desktop may seem familiar. But the Lindows directory and file-naming ...