Windows Versus Ubuntu
Richard Whitfield - PhD, Manufacturing Engineering; Professor, USJ.
Like most people I use Microsoft Windows and Office on my computer at work, and up until recently I had a similar setup for my home computer. But I recently changed to use the Ubuntu version of Linux and OpenOffice at home and and feel that both systems perform comparably.
I have never been a big fan of Windows or Office. To my mind Windows and Office have always been clunky and unreliable, and I have always begrudged the price for them. I have also never been a big fan of Macintosh products either, for similar reasons and have never liked their higher pricing. But up until reasonably recently I felt that there was no comparable alternative.
I actually worked extensively with Unix during the 1980’s, and have long known about Linux, but felt it was too difficult to maintain. Ubuntu has changed my mind. The installation process is as easy as Windows, and the system’s configuration has similar levels of automation. Using Ubuntu’s software installation manager it is also very easy to go online and find, download and install all kinds of software.
I do normal stuff on my home computer. I surf the web using the Linux version of Firefox, whereas I use the Windows version at work. I also use OpenOffice for writing documents, creating drawings and presentations, and spreadsheets. I find it as easy, and as comprehensive, as using Microsoft Office at work. OpenOffice also opens Microsoft Office files and lets you save documents back into Microsoft Office format. The only complaint I have with OpenOffice is that it is slow to open documents when I use it on my Windows computer at work. I use the GIMP image manipulation package and find it an acceptable alternative to Adobe Photoshop. I watch videos on my home machine using the same VLC package that I use at work. At home I use the Thunderbird email client program, which I find comparable to Microsoft Outlook. Finally, I use a package called Rythmbox at home to listen to my music, and find it as good as Winamp, which I use in the office.
The only significant problem area I have found so far is that I cannot find a good alternative to Quicken for managing my share portfolio and home finances. At home, on my Ubuntu machine I have installed Quicken on WINE (which is software to emulate Windows so you can run Windows software on Linux systems). I am listening if anybody can recommend a good home finances package for Linux computers.
My home Ubuntu machine is also set up to periodically check for updates to all the installed software. It works as easily as automatic updates in Windows.
One of the things I am amazed about for the above software is that all the Linux software is free and open-source. I see very little difference in performance from a user’s perspective, and using free open-source software has saved me several thousand Patacas by not having to pay software licensing fees.
I am convinced that Ubuntu is a viable alternative for most work computers and can save businesses and other organizations considerable amounts of money. I also believe that it is an excellent alternative for children and parents for home computers.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GnuCash
I wish I could, as I want to move from windows vista (xp or all) to Ubuntu or Mint. Seems you have to go thru hell to get wireless to work. luv_hot_chiles@hotmail.com
Linux is ready for the masses.
My printer, digital camera, tablet, and other peripherals worked without having to hunt for drivers.
My retired parents use Mandriva Linux with no problem.
But I do have a mention something: you have choice with Linux. Especially important when youre talking about desktops.
When I first tried Ubuntu, I was dismayed at the depressing Ubuntu 8.04 that my wife compared to Windows 95.
Luckily, my Linux mentor (14yr old neighbour) told me about Kubuntu which is Ubuntu using the Kde desktop instead of the GNome one. And it made all the difference in the world. Like most of the planet, I have used Windows so logically you want to switch to something that wont be alien to you.
Gnome-Ubuntu copies the mac interface. The same track bar on top with the text
always showing, the same look and feel of things like fonts.
Kde is a beaut, it is sleek and it can be modified much more to my liking (bad eyesight means that lines and flow arent important like.... visibility).
Had there not been a choice of desktops, I can honestly say we wouldnt have gone through with the switch.
One more hint for switchers: use free software on Windows because a) its good-better than most b) it respects your freedoms and c) it makes the switch to Linux painless.
When I switched my folks to Linux, they were already using Firefox as web browser, Thunderbird for their pop3 email, OpenOffice instead of Office Suite, VLC the greatest video player around, on their windows machine.
I even installed the non open source Opera browser and of course Skype on their Linux machine just like they had before.
My tech support time for my family has almost disappeared into nothing now, we have a new OS that gets updated every 6months as well as daily fixes and with low demanding desktops like the ones found in Xubuntu (its the XFCE desktop) I can run my old hardware like P3s and P4s we still have so its both green and economical since we dont have to buy new hardware just to make an OS work.
Btw, having tried other distros (dont burn LIVE cds just to throw them after, use Unetbootin and install them with a USB key. Its greener.), I have realized that Ubuntu is no different or better than other top distros. It has fanbois and buzz going but I am writing this from my Kubuntu Linux laptop, i have my Mandriva Linux desktop open as well and my netbook also running a KDE desktop and I dare anyone to show me the differences outside of a few icons and wallpapers.
There is no good or bad as much as there is a distro that suits your needs.
And thats what I think people want... a desktop that suits THEIR needs, not the needs of someone else who tells you "Its this way and you will like it!!"
I still have my XP partition in the dual boot because I still game on my desktop (kids get the console) and I wasnt going to wipe it clean and not pay games I payed for.
But after being a Mac user (during the horrible OS 8 and 9 garbage that we were convinced was exceptional and a Windows user since the DOS days, I dont foresee anything that would make me pay for an OS again.
(I have nothing against Windows btw)
For the finance manager - Gnucash for similarities to Quicken, and Homebank for ease of use. Both are in synaptic / software centre
IMPORTANT (This should always be advertised) For the OO applications taking time to open- go to : Preferences - memory - it should be set by default at 20 megs. I have plenty of ram on my computer, so I put it at 80 megs. A document will now open in a flash!!!
You can also install the starter application, not sure about that on windows
Have you ever installed Windows XP or previous versions!? Every desktop GNU/Linux installer is much easier. Vista and Win7 improved their install routines because the *nix installers were magnitudes better.
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