The Linux Chronicles...
Those who know me well know that I've done a fair bit of mucking about with various linux distros over the last several years. Lately though I've noticed that even some die hard Windows users have started to express interest in trying some form of Linux. I suspect that as much as any other reason it is the high price of Microsoft's Vista OS and the fact that most Linux distros are available for download/use for free. And some of the flavors of Linux have gotten very user friendly indeed.
While I have experimented with a large number of "Live CD" Linux distros recently, I've until now avoided the "Desktop" full install versions since I didn't want to deal with "dual booting" Linux with Windows - my experience with this has been somewhat spotty. Recently though, I built a new Mini ITX box based on the Intel D945GCLF2 main board and with an extra monitor and keyboard/mouse/speakers I had around I decided to give the new Ubuntu 8.10 "Intrepid Ibex" release a shot. From the look of things the install routine is about as straight forward and easy as that for Windows XP/Vista. The only glitch if you can call it that was that the install program didn't get the monitor resolution right during the install - resetting it to the correct 1024x768 resolution after set up was easily done however. And the internet connection and other hardware was detected and set up "out of the box" and working from the start. I am impressed! Before this, setting up a desktop Linux system took a LOT of fiddling and playing with to get everything properly configured and working.
Appearance wise the "Regular" Ubuntu release uses the Gnome desktop and in some ways looks a lot like an Apple/Mac desktop. The only fault I can find with it is that I prefer to use several applications that are dependent on the KDE desktop - primarily the Amarok media player which is my preferred Linux media player. So a switch to Kubuntu is likely before I invest too much more time in the Gnome based version. I also have downloaded a copy of Xubuntu which uses the Xfce desktop manager which I'll likely play with on my HP laptop after I swap out the hard drive so as not to mess up its Vista install. When all is said and done I'll post back here with the results.
All for now - early wake up tomorrow to go get the car serviced - its first oil change since I bought it in March.
While I have experimented with a large number of "Live CD" Linux distros recently, I've until now avoided the "Desktop" full install versions since I didn't want to deal with "dual booting" Linux with Windows - my experience with this has been somewhat spotty. Recently though, I built a new Mini ITX box based on the Intel D945GCLF2 main board and with an extra monitor and keyboard/mouse/speakers I had around I decided to give the new Ubuntu 8.10 "Intrepid Ibex" release a shot. From the look of things the install routine is about as straight forward and easy as that for Windows XP/Vista. The only glitch if you can call it that was that the install program didn't get the monitor resolution right during the install - resetting it to the correct 1024x768 resolution after set up was easily done however. And the internet connection and other hardware was detected and set up "out of the box" and working from the start. I am impressed! Before this, setting up a desktop Linux system took a LOT of fiddling and playing with to get everything properly configured and working.
Appearance wise the "Regular" Ubuntu release uses the Gnome desktop and in some ways looks a lot like an Apple/Mac desktop. The only fault I can find with it is that I prefer to use several applications that are dependent on the KDE desktop - primarily the Amarok media player which is my preferred Linux media player. So a switch to Kubuntu is likely before I invest too much more time in the Gnome based version. I also have downloaded a copy of Xubuntu which uses the Xfce desktop manager which I'll likely play with on my HP laptop after I swap out the hard drive so as not to mess up its Vista install. When all is said and done I'll post back here with the results.
All for now - early wake up tomorrow to go get the car serviced - its first oil change since I bought it in March.