If you have a computer and don’t have the money for Windows or you just fancy a change, there is an alternative! Yes and not only that, it is completely free and legal!
Ubuntu (Pronounced oo-bun-too apparently) is potentially a Windows crusher. Just ignore the fact that it is Linux for a moment. That scary code-based operating system that has existed for years but only now has managed to grab my attention is surprisingly good! With this version of Ubuntu, the Linux geek’s have gone to a whole new level of creating their operating system, for the first time ever – people can actually use it!
The Good…
By going straight to here you can download yourself – for free – the entire Operating System, that’s right – the whole thing. Not only that, it has its own version of Microsoft’s unimaginative Office package (compatible with word documents and such of course) built in. For free. No trials, no extra bundled rubbish. Just great quality rip off’s of the original. This is throughout Ubuntu, Pidgin compensates for lack of MSN Messenger or Google Talk by combining them all together in a rather nifty package. In fact there is pretty much an alternative Linux version of a Windows counter part, with the exception of games which aren’t supported well. It has Firefox web browser as standard, if you don’t know what Firefox is, you probably should stop reading. Go play with a ball of yarn or ideally, smash your stupid head against a wall.
What makes Ubuntu great, not just because it can be downloaded in an hour and free (and legally too). But that they even give you the ability to try it out, like a demo. Only it’s nearly completely functional. Nothing is restricted without good reason.
How? You burn the file you got to a blank CD-R and when your pc boots up you can simply run the entire operating system off the CD. Free of charge and without touching the precious Windows operating system. As far as a demo goes, this is outstanding!
After trying out the “Live CD” as they call it – running Ubuntu off the CD – pretty much everything worked, it auto detected the mouse, keyboard, sound card etc. For a Windows OS this is standard but for a free, independent system, such an automatic and simple system is fantastic to have. No need to find any drivers. Within seconds I was able to browse the web and download pretty much anything I wanted.
The Bad…
But that’s where the problems occurred. Adding or removing software is still Linux’s downfall. To do anything you pretty much always need to use “the terminal” – a ‘notepad’ where you type your commands. No nice buttons or interface here, just shitty code that no one except the Linux goblins understand. For experienced users, having the terminal is not only a welcomed return, it’s vital for them as the majority of their tasks are done through it. Us normal people however really would like to be able to click stuff. Still cannot view youtube or other Flash web sites because I am unable to understand the many codes and work-around’s needed for the operation. *Sigh*
The Great
That said, the Add/Remove is kind of like what Windows hopes to achieve. It displays all the software you have installed, giving you the usual options to repair, install and uninstall but has taken it to a new level, the same sort of box you are familiar with in Control Panel is here but instead of it showing you just what you have on your machine, it shows you what you could have on it too. From a list of applications suited to your machine, to just the entire range. Then all of a sudden the Add/Remove job disappears, you forget it. Suddenly you are browsing an enormous library of download, free content to enhance the experience.
The Awesome
The visual effects, while trivial are easily the most impressive aspects of Ubuntu and admittedly, what got me interested. As Vista was promised to be the operating system to make you go “wow” – it’s been regarded by pretty much every user of it as being “okay”. It looks nicer than XP but it’s hardly a fantastic experience for the amount of power required. With Ubuntu, you get to make your windows wobble, you can have multiple desktops (seriously) and you can rotate them in a “cube” way. There’s quite a lot of other visual effects, all taking no way near as much power as the Windows counterpart does.
The Really Quite Handy
Norton f**king anti-virus. We are lead to believe this single, memory hugging whore of a program will save us when a virus hits or a bit of spyware becomes ultra devious. So when trying out the demo I did wonder what I was meant to do in terms of protection against all these threats until I found out this very simple, relieving bit of information: You don’t need one. Not to get too technical but on Windows, programs are like boxes. Microsoft made Windows so that anyone could open these boxes so that “cool things” could happen on web pages. However, this also means people can open these boxes and butt-fuck your computer right in front of you. With Ubuntu Linux, this is never a problem. As every program, every box requires your direct permission to be activated. It means that as long as you have a rough idea of what you are doing, no nasty virus should infect your machine. It’s not bullet-proof of course, Linux in itself has its own bugs that need ironing out and nothing is ever 100% full proof. The amount of hard disk space and RAM saved from Norton’s fat flabby arse is certainly a noticeable amount and even with all these extra plug-in’s installed, all the effects turned on, on a machine that’s quite old now (Pentium 4, 512MB Ram, GeForce 6 graphics card) – it performed everything swimmingly, taking a total of 350MB Ram, as opposed to the windows equivalent, taking 512MB of ram JUST on Norton.
The End
Running from the CD is a fantastic way to test out Ubuntu and after trying it out, I felt compelled to get the full product in action and installed it and being able to get stuck in helped me realise and see that pretty much the entire operating system can be customised. The only thing stopping you is your experience with Linux.. It’s just a shame that there is still a lot of hunting around for answers on the web and installing programs, for the average Windows user is quite problematic. Overall, the features, functionality, brand new user friendly interface all makes for a fantastic alternative to Vista. Did I mention that a new version of the system gets released annually and is a ‘free upgrade’ ? Along with any other updates for it, all free, all applied instantly. Excellent stuff that could become a serious alternative for the masses if they can tweak the user interface to even greater heights.
