Ubuntu OS review
You use Windows. Your designer pal uses a Mac. But what about your IT guy? Why does he use a weird brown-themed operating system? And why does he look at you as a sucker who is being ripped off for using an inferior set-up?
Just what the heck is Ubuntu?
This week I made it my mission to find out. Turns out Ubuntu is the third most popular computer operating system in the world. It works like Windows and is packed with every application you need, is lighter on processors than Vista and completely free.
Funded by internet gazillionaire Mark Shuttleworth, Ubuntu is what Microsoft executives talk about in panic-stricken meetings.
Two weeks ago the latest version, Intrepid Ibex, was released. So I declared “Ignorance be banished!” For my education and your enlightenment I vowed to install and use Ubuntu for a week.
The verdict? Ubuntu is easy to use, fast and an attractive alternative to Windows and Mac OSX. For basic users it is preferable to Vista. Geeks, as the blogosphere will testify, already love it.
But those of us who are competent but not fanatical about technology… it is close but no banana.
Here’s why…
Installation
If installation were the key issue, I’d tell you to ditch Windows and OSX right now. Because Ubuntu is oh so easy to fire up. You don’t even need to install it permanently. Just load from a CD, known as a Live CD Boot and have a play. When you want to install for good just hit the Install icon.
Here’s my guide:
1. Download from Ubuntu.com. The file is a .ISO.
2. To check the download is uncorrupted perform a checksum test. This reads the file and creates long string of digits. For example: 24ea1163ea6c9f5dae77de8c49ee7c03
Compare your checksum to the official checksum. If they match your file is A1. If they don’t, download again. Full list of checksums is here.
To perform a checksum, download MD5SUM and unzip. Then drag and drop your ISO file onto the MD5SUM icon. It will generate the checksum. Compare the result with the official checksum.
3. Burn the ISO onto a CD using a free programme such as CD Burner XP. Install, open and click “burn as ISO”. Select the ISO file and burn onto a blank CD at a slow speed to ensure a perfect write.
4. Now reboot (Non-nerds: this means switch your machine off and on again). You may need to alter the order in which your machine boots. To do this, as your PC starts up, hit F2 or F12 or Tab or Delete to enter the boot menu. Select CD as the first boot option.
Permanent or Temporary Install?
The menu will ask whether you want to simply take a look at Ubuntu or install it permanently. A temporary Live Boot install will give you a full look at Ubuntu, but any changes will be lost when you turn off your PC. First timers should opt for Live Boot.
What you get
Ubuntu is pre-loaded with Firefox internet browser, OpenOffice and Evolution Email. For basic users this means everything they need is fitted as standard. Ubuntu will automatically recognise your WiFi settings, connecting you to the internet at a stroke.
There are even a few games, such as chess and solitaire thrown in. If all you want to do is surf, email, word process and use a spreadsheet, the review ends here. You have a perfect package at your fingertips.
If, like me, you want little more from your computer, life is trickier.
Take the movie player. Ubuntu comes with one. But it won’t play DVDs for obscure copyright reasons. If you want to watch KungFu Panda on your PC you’ll need to install an upgrade. Which means you’ll need to use… The Terminal.
Remember when using a computer involved typing gibberish into a black screen? Ubuntu takes you right back to 1983. To play DVDs requires inputting stuff like:
sudo apt-get install gstreamer0.10-pitfdll gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad-multiverse gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly-multiverse gxine libxine-main1 libxine-extracodecs ogle ogle-gui
Agony. And there’s more misery: the fonts are blurry. I’m not kidding. In an attempt to make the fonts look rounded and smooth, the developers at Ubuntu have gone too far.
The damn things make you squint. I took the heretical choice of installing Microsoft TrueType fonts. Which required using the accursed Terminal again.
Cue four hours of trawling the Ubuntu Forums to work out how to do this, typing sudo apt-get mumbo-jumbo. Though by the end Ubuntu was looking sharp.
And then I really started smiling. Installing new programs turns out to be easy. Really easy. Via an application call Synaptic you just scroll through a near infinite list of programmes, clicking those you like. And then hit “Install”. And it does. No fuss or bother. And no payment! No reaching for your credit card. Free really does mean free.
Using applications on Ubuntu is no different than on Windows or a Mac. Same double clicks to open, same shortcuts, same layouts.
The speed of Ubuntu is eye-catching. It flies. My mum’s 1.6ghz Duo Core laptop with 4gig of RAM runs so slow on Vista she thought it was broken. Ubuntu is at least five times faster than Vista on her machine. Literally.
It even has a few features neither Windows nor Macs can boast, such as a Workspace switcher to give you multiple desktops and a variety of themes and layouts. As with Macs, viruses are non-existent.
Other things to consider
Ubuntu is a Linux distro, which means software written for Windows and Macs won’t work on it. You can use an “emulator” – something requiring a degree of technical competence.
If you can’t master an emulator your very expensive edition of Photoshop won’t work on it. Nor will games. Some peripherals won’t work with Ubuntu, though manufacturers are getting pretty good at supplying Linux drivers.
Do these things matter? You tell me.
My verdict
Ubuntu is close to being brilliant. Damn close. But that Terminal! And those fonts!
If you’ve got Vista and hate it, try Ubuntu. You can install both on the same machine, known as dual booting. The speed alone will make this worthwhile. For old machines running Windows 2000 or earlier Ubuntu could provide another few years of usage.
For XP users there is nothing to gain. Apart from two things. The first is money. With XP at £260 and Vista at £166 you’ll save money on a new-build machine. Plus the galaxy of Linux software you can install at the touch of a button will cost you not a penny.
And there’s the warm glow using Ubuntu will give you as you become part of a world-changing utopian movement. The goal of Linux operating systems is to bring cheap computing to the masses. Kids in Africa can’t afford XP. They can’t afford Office 2007.
Free software such as Ubuntu will revolutionise access to the internet. Which makes me want to cheer on Shuttleworth and shut my cakehole about that blasted Terminal.
To sum up: I really, really wanted to love Ubuntu. Maybe when the Jaunty Jackalope is released in April it will be 100 per cent ready. The fonts might not be blurry and Adobe might have got off their complacent arses and created a Linux version of Photoshop. Until then I’m sticking with XP.
PS: My mum just called. A week on and she now only uses Ubuntu on her dual-boot laptop. She prefers the speed and the layout to Vista. This from a woman who calls the cursor “that pointy thing”. No glitches, no problems. Her review gives Ubuntu five stars.
Did you hear that Mr Gates?
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Comments
RussellInteresting post. I have had none ofthese problems when I switched from XP to Suse Linux ...
http://russellcavanagh.com/2/
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Charles OJ UPDATE BY THE AUTHOR:
Read how the French police saved 50m euros by installing Ubuntu and open source software.
http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/03/french-police-saves-millions-of-euros-by-adopting-ubuntu.ars
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CharlesOJ UPDATE BY THE AUTHOR II: My mum still loves Ubuntu. And I've now installed a widget called Wine so she can run all Windows programs should she so desire (such as Spotify, which doesn't run on Linux natively). Superb!
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reader The reason your mom finds it so great is becuase it's a new install, give any computer incompetent user a fresh install and when you return 2 months later, it's running so slowly you can't believe they havn't smashed the thing. I really believe anybody who doesn't know how to maintain a computer shouldn't by law be aloud to own one, becuase hackers just love people who don't have a clue. Another thing, when a computer 'gets slow' it's really funny to watch incompetent users taking their machine in for repair and shouting at the sales people in PC world.. Moments like that are priceless. Windows 7 even though in beta is a dream to use, lightening quick compared to vista.
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CharlesOJ @reader: Not true. Vista was a clean install and it was dreadfully slow. Ubuntu is so much faster I reckon she could fill her machine to 80 per cent full an it would still be faster. UPDATE III: I'm buying a new PC and will go with Ubuntu as the operating system. Perhaps with an XFCE interface (see I'm learning). Why would I want to pay £150 for Windows XP and then £200 for Office? Plus £50 on anti-virus (and no, I can't use AVG Free as I'm a commercial user).
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ActionParsnip Awww noes I gots to use the keyboard. Don't make me laugh. The terminal is where the power of Linux lies for many repetative commands that simply is not an option in Windows without install powershell. The DVD codecs are not on the install CD for legal reasons but XP doesnt read DVD either. You need extra software. If you don't install your video drivers (as in windows) you will get a shoddy display.
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