First up, I obviously needed to get it installed so I downloaded the latest 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon Ubuntu x86 iso from the ubuntu website, easy. I decided that I would like to keep Vista installed on the same machine (just in case) and so I started researching dual boot options. There seemed to be a lot of horror stories around of partitions getting corrupted. I then discovered a little tool called Wubi...
Now Wubi is a very special little tool. It is a specially designed for people like me (and probably you), and it allows you to easily, and safely, make the transition from windows to ubuntu. From the Wubi site:
"Wubi is an unofficial Ubuntu installer for Windows users that will bring you into the Linux world with a single click. Wubi allows you to install and uninstall Ubuntu as any other application. If you heard about Linux and Ubuntu, if you wanted to try them but you were afraid, this is for you."
To find out more about Wubi, go to the Wubi homepage.
So, installation went by easily. Within the hour I was up and running with a fresh Ununtu installation. When my computer starts up, it would ask me, do I want to boot into windows vista, or ubuntu, and then boot into the chosen operating system. So far, I was very impressed!
Next, I wanted to rev the engine, see what this new toy could do, so I went to turn on the advanced visual effects. This was where I hit my first challenge; to enable the fancy effects, I would have to install some new graphics car drivers. So, I fired up my package manager (if you don't know what that means, have a look here) and installed the nvidia-glx-new drivers. I was told to restart to enable the changes, and I did... And then I hit a road block. When my computer restarted in ubuntu, I was presented with a black screen, nothing at all. This was not good, but being the problem solving type, I booted back into windows and started trawling the internet for similar problems. I found a lot. They all seemed to reference GFX card compatibility issues and I was getting nowhere. I started to get frustrated and told myself "This wouldn't happen with windows!". Out of desperation, I turned on my secondary display ( a projector for films etc.) and wha'd'ya know, it was showing a picture! The new drivers had set this to be the default display of my computer. After a little big screen configuration, I had my monitor back to normal operation. This was, I feel, a problem that I shouldnt have had, and one that I wouldn't have in a more polished operating system.
Anyway, with the gfx card problems behind me, I enabled the visual effects and wow! This blew vista away, this blew leopard away for that matter! The effects were smooth, natural, effortless and endlessly customisable! To see for yourself, have a look on the Compiz Fusion homepage here.
One of the places where linux (ubuntu atleast) excels, is the place where I thought it would be worst: the installation of new programs. To install the new program, you don't have to find the homepage, make sure you have the right dlls etc. like you would in windows. All you have to do, is open the add/remove programs section, find the program you would like to install, tick a box, click apply and it does the rest for you. It will download all the dependencies that it needs itself and will put an icon in the neatly arranged applications menu and then you can start using it right away. And it's the same (well inverse) to uninstall, no need to restart the computer, nothing. This is a breath of fresh air when compared to windows.
Now don't got thinking that linux won't have the applications that you want, because while it's true, it may not have ms office, adobe photoshop, itunes, or others, there will certainly be great, free, open source alternatives (eg. openoffice.org, gimp, amorak)! Also, it's worth noting that ubuntu comes with a great deal of things installed by default, such as firefox, instant messenger, office suite, games, gimp, media player, cd ripper, cd burner... the list goes on! There are also a lot of drivers included in ubuntu by default, for example, I just turned on my epson printer and the OS detected and installed it correctly!
Ubuntu is much much faster to start up that Vista, but that's just the start of it. Ubuntu uses far less ram and so there is far more left for your programs so it makes a much better multitasker.
Ok, ok, so I've been raving about ubuntu for a while, surely it's got some downsides you cry!? Well, of course, it does. I have, many times, had to use the command line, but bad as this sounds, I've learned to enjoy the liberation and power that you get from this, I actually enjoy using it now! Ok, the real downside to linux is third party support. The gfx card companies are only just starting to get their acts together and release driver, apple is shunning its unix roots, nearly all high profile games do not work, there is no ms office (there are some things that openoffice cannot do yet), new mobile phones do not work etc. Now, all credit goes to the open source community here as you can almost guarantee someone will create the driver or software that you need to get something working, but it takes time.
So, is it better than Windows Vista? I'm not sure, in some ways, most definitely, in some ways not. If you have a lower end system, I would recommend it without a doubt, because it is so much less resource hungry than Windows. It does, however, still have its niggles. These are the reasons that it will not yet go mainstream. I really hope that one day linux is the main operating system on this planet, and that all computers don't come with the Microsoft tax. Using linux will also make for a much more computer savvy user as they will quickly learn whilst doing.
I have been sat typing this, using a free blogging service on a free web browser on an exceptionally good free operating system and I can't see the downside. This is what computing should be like. So if I can ask you one thing, it's that you give linux a go before you judge it.
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