2008 Woodie Awards
Linux for real live people
By: Mike Schaefer
Issue date: 3/5/07 Section: Entertainment
Now is the age where computer operating systems really start to shine. With the advent of the 64-bit processor to the consumer market and memory coming down to a reasonable price, we can do much more with much less.
The problem is over-zealous user-friendly operating systems like Windows Vista that try to make everything automated without you knowing too much about what's going on.
Don't get me wrong, I think Vista will eventually be a good thing-we saw the same things with Windows XP when it first launched. The thing is that people eventually get tired of things and want change and change should work and not have performance issues.
Here I give you Ubuntu.
Ubuntu is a Linux distro that is the best. Here is where your brain says 'Linux is too complex for me.' I know; my brain just said it. But the thing with Ubuntu is there's finally a Linux that works with the user and provides a very complete user experience.
My favorite thing about Ubuntu is the support offered for it. Every piece of hardware I've ever thrown at Ubuntu has had a device driver for it. For experienced Linux users who know how hard it is for some things, there's little to nothing you have to do for it. This point especially lays on wireless network cards and video card drivers (ATI, specifically). No more doing backflips just to see color.
Ubuntu comes loaded with a load of programs for just about everything you need to do. From burning cd's, listening to music or doing word processing or slideshows, it comes with it all. There's even an iTunes-like program that syncs up with your iPod without doing anything extra.
Curious about Ubuntu? Check out ubuntu.com for more information. Since it's open-source, Ubuntu is 100 percent free. All you have to do is download the .iso, burn it, stick it in your CD-ROM and restart your computer, making sure that your CD-drive is your first boot device.
The problem is over-zealous user-friendly operating systems like Windows Vista that try to make everything automated without you knowing too much about what's going on.
Don't get me wrong, I think Vista will eventually be a good thing-we saw the same things with Windows XP when it first launched. The thing is that people eventually get tired of things and want change and change should work and not have performance issues.
Here I give you Ubuntu.
Ubuntu is a Linux distro that is the best. Here is where your brain says 'Linux is too complex for me.' I know; my brain just said it. But the thing with Ubuntu is there's finally a Linux that works with the user and provides a very complete user experience.
My favorite thing about Ubuntu is the support offered for it. Every piece of hardware I've ever thrown at Ubuntu has had a device driver for it. For experienced Linux users who know how hard it is for some things, there's little to nothing you have to do for it. This point especially lays on wireless network cards and video card drivers (ATI, specifically). No more doing backflips just to see color.
Ubuntu comes loaded with a load of programs for just about everything you need to do. From burning cd's, listening to music or doing word processing or slideshows, it comes with it all. There's even an iTunes-like program that syncs up with your iPod without doing anything extra.
Curious about Ubuntu? Check out ubuntu.com for more information. Since it's open-source, Ubuntu is 100 percent free. All you have to do is download the .iso, burn it, stick it in your CD-ROM and restart your computer, making sure that your CD-drive is your first boot device.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Brad Calvert
posted 3/05/07 @ 1:31 PM CST
It really does just work. I have been using it full time on my laptop since Thanksgiving and on my PC since around Christmas. Two weeks ago I formated my Windows drive on my PC and am now 100% Windows free. (Continued…)
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