New Delhi:

LiFY is an educational version of Linux that provides cost-effective educational software solutions to a large cross-section of the Indian population. It includes tens of applications for educational needs. It is totally free for any personal and business use. It is developed at LFY Labs, New Delhi.

Says Linux For You editor Rahul Chopra: "The support of all major Indian languages in LiFY will make it a universal choice for all Indians, all across the country. Till now, the basic language for computing was English. Now Indians will be able to user their own languages in computers using LiFY."

Linux is alternate to the commercial operating systems (Windows NT, Windows XP). It has active support of various government bodies, industry organisations (MAIT, Nascom) and commercial organisations (IBM, Oracle). LiFY has expanded the utility of Linux for the educational platform. A CD-ROM containing a complete version of multilingual LiFY will be available for free with Linux For You magazine's July edition.

LiFY is intuitively designed with a Windows XP like interface (XP Desktop Environment). It has a separate menu for educational applications. All applications are based on Open Source, which means that they can be used totally royalty-free for various business and personal applications.

The source code of the applications is also available for free for modification and reuse by programmers. LiFY has also been integrated with applications devised by Indian programmers. The operating system does not need any installation and can run directly from CD-ROM.

LiFY has been integrated with many applications that are useful for education. These include applications meant for students at school-, college- and research-level. It also includes all applications that are needed in common personal and business uses.