MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Seriousness Should I switch to Ubuntu, or stay with Windows XP?

Gideon · 05-07-2009, 04:04 PM

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.

05-07-2009, 04:04 PM	#46
Gideon Wearer of Pants Posts: 1,050 Karma: 7634 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Norman, OK Device: Amazon Kindle DX / iPhone	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.