I used to be a Windows Administrator and have been using Windows since version 2.0. During my career for some weird reason when teams where formed I was always matched with Unix, Linux or Novell Admins. You can imagine I had a lot of discussions around Microsoft Windows. Some fair, some and probably most were heated. One of my big arguments for the Desktop and Windows in general has always been “user experience” and “simplicity”. Everyone can install a Windows machine.
With Windows you just pop in the CD, install, next-next-finish and everything works out of the box. Yeah I know during the early years Windows wasn’t plug and play but most vendors provided you with driver disks anyway. As of Windows 2000 most plug and play issues were solved and my arguments were rock solid because there wasn’t a Linux desktop or server that could do the same.
Well I had to reinstall my home system because it was saturated again, one of the bad habits of Windows I guess, and I thought what the heck let’s give Ubuntu a try again. So I downloaded the beta of Ubuntu 8.10 and tried the live CD to see if everything would work straight out of the box or not. For 8.04 this wasn’t the case, my wireless wasn’t recognized and my videocard had some weird problems.
Hurray for Ubuntu 8.10 it worked straight out of the box. I installed Ubuntu on my disk and the first thing I noticed that compared to Windows Vista or even Windows XP it boots up fast! So let’s see what do I need to install to have the same capabilities as I had with Windows Vista…
- video media player -> VLC
- ftd -> openftd
- newsleecher -> hellanzb+lottanzb(gui for hellanzb)
- audio media player -> rythmbox, which includes last.fm and internet radio
- browsing -> firefox
- picture editting -> gimp
- office suite -> open office
- desktop notes -> tomboy
- ftp -> filezilla
These are the main applications I used on my home system, well besides VMware Workstation, but I own a license for that one so I just downloaded the Linux bundle. After a couple of weeks I must say that I’m impressed. Updating via “apt-get” or the update manager gui works perfect, same for installing new software. I love Compiz, which gives you an amazing 3D cube for your workspace, and makes switching between applications and desktops really easy.
So Ubuntu just rocks and no negative point so far?
Well, after an upgrade my wireless was toasted, the binary firmware file was gone so I had to recover it from the Ubuntu CD. And Auto-Login just doesn’t work. I tried everything, but still receive some weird error and I can’t fix it so far.
Besides these two little nags I do think Ubuntu 8.10 is definitely worth trying out. So if you’re like me and want to learn a bit more about Linux than this might be the perfect moment. Just 4 days and Ubuntu 8.10 will be released officially.
Rich says
Duncan,
I love Ubuntu! Glad to hear you converted.
Some other Windows / Ubuntu application equivalents off the top of my head:
IM (google, aol, yahoo, and more) –> Pidgen
Google Desktop –> Google Desktop (download .deb package)
Google Earth –> Google Earth (.deb package)
Also, check out some free first person shooters that run great on Ubuntu
http://treesum.vmetc.com/2008/06/15/free-first-person-shooters/
And if any of your readers want to try Ubuntu without modifying Windows then they can install Ubuntu 8.0.4 or newer as a Windows application – wubi install. Best part is that you just need about 8 GB of free space. You don’t even have to modify your NTFS partitions!
http://treesum.vmetc.com/2008/05/02/install-ubuntu-804-as-a-windows-application/
Rich says
Sorry, that’s Pidgin for the IM on Ubuntu – http://www.pidgin.im/
Scott Mortimer says
Duncan,
Did you install a beta release or the newly released RC1 of 8.10? I can help out with Auto-login if you give me some details.
Scott
Dave Convery says
Duncan –
I’ve been using Ubuntu since Feb. Just upgraded to 8.10 – love it!
Dave
Microsoft Office says
Great article, thanks for the share. Blog bookmarked 🙂
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