Seriously thoughtful Should I switch to Ubuntu, or stay with Windows XP?

[Gideon]

I voted for Mac... I think it's the best OS out there, and you can virtualize the others in it. But.. to go deeper and really answer your question (I used Windows for about 15 years before switching to Mac 2 years ago - best computer decision I ever made. I'm a power user, and the Mac keeps up. Not only is it a robust OS, but there is so much amazing software out for it.)

I play with Ubuntu with every distro. And 9.04 is VERY compelling. I can do almost everything I do in Mac/Windows in it and without a whole lot of work (though you never know, manually compiling a sound driver is a real pain.) And I'm tech savy... but I'm not that tech savy. The ubuntu forums are a huge help, though and most problems you have you can find walkthrus that make it so people allergic to the command line can do things.

So recently I setup a bootcamp partition and really, seriously, used Ubuntu. And I really enjoyed it. I even got Office 2007 running very well under Wine. It's DEFINITELY better than Windows, but not better than the Mac - but I'd not switch from either right now to it for these reasons:
1) My iPhone. It works best with iTunes, iTunes isn't available with Linux and the alternatives don't do as well with it.
2) Online video - flash works, but other proprietary online video systems usually don't. Hulu works, NBC.com or Netflix doesn't. I watch most my TV/Movies online so this is a problem. Anything that needs DRM'd WMA won't work either.
3) A few pieces of software that do not currently have analogues - OneNote/Curio, MobiPocket Creator, picture/video editing as easy as iPhoto or iMovie. I also have programs that work wonderfully at streaming my content to my game machines and PlayOn which does that with online services and is Windows only (inside a virtual machine).

It really does depend on what you do. If I was setting up something for my mom on her laptop right now, I'd install Ubuntu. It has all the word processing, email, and web functions she uses. But I'd not install it for my GF who wants to be able to watch Grey's Anatomy online.

System maintenance time is much more intensive on linux - if you don't know how to do something, or break something, (and this will almost certainly be the case as you learn the new system and deal with the particularities of linux) you're going to most likely spend a LOT more time fixing it than you would on Windows or Mac.

Windows can also be time intensive for maintenance, defragging, viruses, etc, countless updates.

Mac.. well, after two years and having three systems in the house I've hardly ever spent much time doing anything but what I WANT to be doing on them.

Some last things.... Install virtual box, play with Ubuntu inside whatever you have. You won't have all the bells and whistles, but get an idea what it is like. REALLY use it - don't just use a live disk or browse the web. Neither give you a real feel for having to deal with it. (Also, Mint IS beautiful.)

If you go with Mac or Ubuntu, setup a virtual machine for Windows XP. It's invaluable, and I find myself using it all the time. It makes you long to be using something else, to be sure, but there are things only Windows can do.

For now.

Ubuntu 9.04 was a big leap forward... I'm hoping we see more like it. Linux still needs some top notch software in various fields, and more interoperability with popular consumer electronics (iPhones, etc.) Hopefully codecs will be developed in the future for the other issues and as more things happen in a browser these issues may be increasingly moot. But they're not now.

I'm absolutely mercenary myself.. I have no brand loyalty. The moment Ubuntu (or Windows, for the matter) is better for what I need and what I do than Mac OSX, I'll jump ship. But right now it's not.

[roger the rabbit]

Originally Posted by roger64

I advise you to try it now. Things change. My take is Ubuntu (ie with Gnome). It's getting better at each release and very friendly.

Hi roger 64 I'm with you (if only because you may be a 'brother' ) I agree totally the current version of linux (ubuntu 9.04) is magic

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by TadW

My suggestion: Install Virtualbox (free). Then install Ubuntu within a virtual machine. Now you can give Ubuntu a try without messing with your harddisk partitions. If you don't like what you see, you can easily erase the virtual machine and uninstall Virtualbox.

This one's a very sound idea to get a feel for an operating system. Heck, you can even create a virtual machine for different distros and go with the one you like best. One frustrating part of dual-booting is you'd have to reboot to switch operating systems. If you're a "Windows" power user like myself, you likely have an arsenal of software utilities which may or may not have a Linux port. One of the reasons I didn't stay with Linux is because I didn't have the luxury of having the time to find Linux equivalents for software that I use a lot. I had to switch to XP quite often to get things done quickly and after a few weeks of running XP, I eventually forgot the password I used for the Kubuntu installation (I liked KDE much better than Gnome ). If you just keep Linux in a virtual machine, it's much easier to switch OSes back and forth and it makes the transition more gradual.

[roger the rabbit]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

This one's a very sound idea to get a feel for an operating system. Heck, you can even create a virtual machine for different distros and go with the one you like best. One frustrating part of dual-booting is you'd have to reboot to switch operating systems. If you're a "Windows" power user like myself, you likely have an arsenal of software utilities which may or may not have a Linux port. One of the reasons I didn't stay with Linux is because I didn't have the luxury of having the time to find Linux equivalents for software that I use a lot. I had to switch to XP quite often to get things done quickly and after a few weeks of running XP, I eventually forgot the password I used for the Kubuntu installation (I liked KDE much better than Gnome ). If you just keep Linux in a virtual machine, it's much easier to switch OSes back and forth and it makes the transition more gradual.

I believe Ubuntu 9.04 also gives you the opportunity to run within Windows if you wish - no need to dual boot.

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

Get a Mac, get VMWare Fusion (or Parallels), and run Win7, Ubunto, FreeBSD, and whatever else takes your fancy in VMs on it

[=X=]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

, that's hilarious. The DoD still believes in security through obscurity?

No he is incorrect, quite the opposite. The DoD is embracing Linux they're installing it on ships and have gone so far as worked with IBM and Red Hat to make Realtime Linux part of the kernel via a module.

=X=

[kovidgoyal]

Originally Posted by =X=

No he is incorrect, quite the opposite. The DoD is embracing Linux they're installing it on ships and have gone so far as worked with IBM and Red Hat to make Realtime Linux part of the kernel via a module.

=X=

Good to know, thanks.

[Moejoe]

Originally Posted by =X=

No he is incorrect, quite the opposite. The DoD is embracing Linux they're installing it on ships and have gone so far as worked with IBM and Red Hat to make Realtime Linux part of the kernel via a module.

=X=

That's a weight off my mind. I had this image in my head of a nuclear submarine plastered with blue screens just as they're trying to recall a missile! (Although I'm probably thinking about a different branch of the military altogether).

[tirsales]

Dont forget - there are a couple of submarines (her majesties navy for example) who got infected with Conficker (they are in good company, e.g. computers in the US Army, the Bundeswehr, etc).

[Greg Anos]

Not to disrupt but....

I too am thinking of shift to Ubuntu. My reason is a little different that what has been mentioned on the thread, so I thought I'd add my reasons.

Software should be immortal. I've used MS-DOS back to 1.1. I'm tired of paying through the nose for upgrade after upgrade. I keep a Win ME pack (all my desktop computers have StarTech removable pack hard drives for all hard drives, data and OS both), and use WORD 97 for my word processor. Why? 1. I does everything I want a word processor to do and 2. It's paid for.

To me, we're past the point of any real advantage to using a new operating system, (or even most apps level software). It's all about getting more bucks out of the consumer. I want an OS that I can install and forget about, without having to upgrade to the latest whizbang. If it does what I want, and is stable, I'll be happy as a clam. From what I can gather, you can install a version of linux and (theoretically) keep running it forever. Am I right? (I'm still running some Win 3.1 software, under Virtual PC, because I like it.)

Of course, I'm the guy who wants an e-ink reader using AA NIMH batteries so it will last forever and not become junk when the custom LI-ion battery fails....

[wodin]

Originally Posted by =X=

No he is incorrect, quite the opposite. The DoD is embracing Linux they're installing it on ships and have gone so far as worked with IBM and Red Hat to make Realtime Linux part of the kernel via a module.

=X=

Only on tactical systems or networks that don't touch the public internet. There are a few specialized exceptions, and those are few and becoming fewer.

Can you imagine the logistics of training a quarter of a million office workers on an entirely new office automation platform? And what about engineering support? There is no other company even remotely capable of providing support on that scale.

[tirsales]

Can you imagine the logistics of training a quarter of a million office workers on an entirely new office automation platform?

Yes. Its entirely possible.

And what about engineering support? There is no other company even remotely capable of providing support on that scale.

Provide the need - others will fill the gap.

[=X=]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

From what I can gather, you can install a version of linux and (theoretically) keep running it forever. Am I right? (I'm still running some Win 3.1 software, under Virtual PC, because I like it.)

Forever is such as strong word

I have a PC running Linux since 1996. I never turn it off, its a 200MHZ Intel Celeron overclocked to 300MHz. It's gone through several hard drives, power supplies and a fan, several versions of Mandrake and finally using Ubuntu. But the PC is still used heavily without any fear of obsolescence.

In PC world I believe it's approaching forever .

Linux OS tends to support older hardware better than any OS, what it does not handle well is bleeding edge hardware or specialized hardware, this is where windows is just better supported.

Ubuntu works best with 512MB RAM and 1.2GHZ processer for anything less I'd recommend Xbuntu.

=X=

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by =X=

Forever is such as strong word

I have a PC running Linux since 1996. I never turn it off, its a 200MHZ Intel Celeron overclocked to 300MHz. It's gone through several hard drives, power supplies and a fan, several versions of Mandrake and finally using Ubuntu. But the PC is still used heavily without any fear of obsolescence.

In PC world I believe it's approaching forever .

Linux OS tends to support older hardware better than any OS, what it does not handle well is bleeding edge hardware or specialized hardware, this is where windows is just better supported.

Ubuntu works best with 512MB RAM and 1.2GHZ processer for anything less I'd recommend Xbuntu.

=X=

Thanks =X=! I run from the bleeding edge in computers nowadays. When you add up all the costs of for profit companies' upgrades, you can spend US $200-300 a year just in upgrades. I'd rather spend that on things like e-books, music CD's and DVD's. But I'm a cheapskate...

[phenomshel]

Originally Posted by frabjous

Let's just say I've become very annoyed with Microsoft lately. Lots of reasons, and you can probably guess what they are.

In principle, the idea of a community-based software platform rather than consumer/vendor model also greatly appeals to me.

From what I've read there are also a lot of advantages to Linux.

But there's no substitute for familiarity, more ready availability of software, and a broader user base.

What do you think?

P.S. If it makes any difference, I'm a very fast learner with computers in general, I've done some minimal programming, but by and large, I'm not actually an "expert".

I had the same experience as you about becoming annoyed with MS, about the time Vista came out. I switched to Linux for a year, mainly using PC LinuxOS and Fedora. The only problem I ran into after I got accustomed to the way Linux works was the lack of two main software programs. If you are not tied to a specific program that there isn't a Linux alternative for (and there are a few of them left, believe me), then switch.

I ended up switching back to Windows after a year because I could no longer bear being without those two programs. There was not, nor was there hope for, Linux friendly alternatives to either program, so I gave up and migrated back to Windows.

I also had live in Linux troubleshooting and help in the form of my husband, who had migrated solely to Linux before I did, and so I never had to worry about not being able to figure out how to do something vital.