I would like to begin by stating that I am a user of both Windows (Vista, in particular) and Linux (Ubuntu). Being the computer geek I am, I thought I might as well try Ubuntu. I’ve been using Ubuntu for 1 year now, and I tested Vista during its Beta stages. However, I am now running the full Business version now. I decided to write a small bit on the pros and cons of both operating systems: Vista and Ubuntu.
I’ll start with Vista. Vista is pure eye-candy…It has awesome graphics and I use Aero more than I have to. During the beta stages, some of my drivers didn’t work, for example, I had no sound. However, it seems to work fine now. If you are used to the interface of previous Windows Operating Systems, you should be able to maneuver easily through this new version. Although I’ve heard much of the code is new, the interface remains somewhat the same. You’ll be able to access Internet Explorer for the internet (or Firefox if you download it), and keep your stuff organized in Documents, Pictures, and Music (remains the same, but just dropping the ‘My’ Documents). You can change settings through Control Panel, and it’s fairly intuitive. What was Network Places and all that is now under Network and Sharing Center. It is somewhat different, but not impossible to figure out. I had one concern, though. I have not only made my network secure through a WPA key, but I also made it hidden. In Vista, they aren’t so hidden. They appear as Unnamed Network. One must still provide the SSID, the name of the network, but I still had my concerns. Another thing, which I know bugs me along with many other users of Vista is the UAC, The User Account Control. Before you try to make some sort of change, such as installing software or changing a setting, it pops up as a box. It can be turned off, though. It is meant as a means of protection so unauthorized changes do not occur, as from a malicious program. In addition, just before it pops up, your screen goes black for a second. There is a supposed fix for the blackout, but it makes the system less secure allowing malicious programs to still run. If you are interested, it can be found here http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/make-user-account-control-uac-stop-blacking-out-the-screen-in-windows-vista/. Vista supposedly hogs system resources; my tablet with a dual core processor at 2.0 GHz and 1 gig of Ram, even with integrated graphics, runs Vista Business fine. I have a feeling running the features for Vista Home Premium or Ultimate may require more resources (HP recommends 2gigs of RAM for those versions). I’ll be getting Ultimate soon, so I’ll write more about its features later. To sum up, Vista should be easy to get used to if you have used XP or a Windows Operating System. The good thing is, almost everything you will need is available for PCs, and thus will work in Vista.
Ubuntu is a distribution of Linux. Ubuntu is great in the sense in that it has a somewhat intuitive interface, and has many important features built in. It comes with Firefox to surf the internet, and OpenOffice, the free equivalent of Microsoft Office. You are pretty much all set software wise. If you need to download other tools, you can find them in Synaptics, a package manager. You can search for something, and if you find it there, just click on it and select download. In addition, although you can download a firewall and antivirus, it is not necessary; Ubuntu and other Linux distributions are built on UNIX which is very safe. There are also some PC games and programs, such as older versions of Office and Internet Explorer which can be run in an emulator called Wine. It can be a bit tricky to set up, though. In addition, if you need to do anything more advanced, you may have to be good with the shell, the “command prompt”. For example, I wanted to use BlueJ for computer science. I could not find it in Synaptics, so I downloaded it off the BlueJ site. However, it was in a .jar file and I wasn’t sure how to install it. Thankfully, I know some people who are good in Linux. However, not everyone has that kind of person to guide them in the beginning. There are forums and IRC channels to help, though. One of the coolest things with Ubuntu is what you can do with the graphics. You can download either Beryl or Compiz, and get a cube desktop that you can rotate through, and cool effects such as flames when you minimize a window. It just may be cooler than Aero. However, the greatest selling point of Ubuntu is, it’s completely free! It comes with everything you need, but not everything may work, and you may have to search through forums or google problems as they come up. If you want to try Ubuntu, you can download the Install CD, and try it in LiveCD mode. It is slow because it is off of the CD, but it gives you a sense of how it works and looks. For more, visit www.ubuntu.org
Where Ubuntu is free, Vista can be quite costly. With Vista, everything will work for the most part, though, with Ubuntu, you may get a headache every now and then. Linux was generally reserved for the tech geeks. Ubuntu may still be to a point, but packaged with the essentials, more people can use it more easily. It just depends how much new you are willing to embrace.
