David.R.Gilson

Software Review: Ubuntu 9.04

Jun 8

Reviews David 9 Comments
compiz, debian, floss, linux, open source, Review, ubuntu

Approximate reading time is 4 minutes

Unfortunately, I haven’t been posting so much lately as my life has taken a less technology orientated direction, thus less to write about. However, there is one significant tech related thing I’ve been doing which is worth writing about now – that being I finally switched from Windows to a Linux based operating system, “Ubuntu 9.04“! This isn’t going to be a technical or in-depth review. This is a very brief user experience report of Ubuntu 9.04 aimed at non-technical users – because it’s all you non-geeky people who I want to start using this operating system!!! The geeks are already there.

My reason for using Linux is that it is “open source” software. What does this mean? Well, it basically means anyone, subject to a peer review type system, is free to contribute and to distribute this software. Unlike proprietary software like Windows or OSX, where if you try to modify that software, the company that makes it could take you to court!

I’ve been using it for a whole month now and I haven’t looked back, yet. Due to having a custom Windows rescue partition boot loader I didn’t dare risk it getting over written with Ubuntu’s boot loader (“GRUB”), I decided to install Ubuntu via “Wubi”. This was a straight forward and painless process. The difference with Wubi, is that instead of partitioning your drive, a large file is created in your Windows drive that the computer sees as a drive in its own right. When you boot up your computer you get an option of booting Windows or Ubuntu.

The environment you get in Ubuntu is called “GNOME”. If you’re used to Windows, it won’t be too confusing to you. Instead of one bar at the bottom, by default you get two, one at the top and one at the bottom. You get menu’s and equivalents of “quick launch” icons and the system tray at the top, and then application tabs on the bottom bar. The good thing about open source based software is freedom, and it’s the same here. The desktop environment I’ve outlined here is totally customisable, you could move things around so that it’s more Windows like, or something completely different.

Unlike Windows, Ubuntu comes pre-installed with applications that you are actually going to be familiar with and will want to use on a daily basis. Although adding and removing software I personally find a lot easier in Ubuntu than in Windows. In Ubuntu there is an applications called the “Synaptic Package Manager” where you can simply point and click at software in an on-line catalogue. There’s no more of this Windows style searching the web for an installation .exe file and running the install. Everything is automated for you in Ubuntu. If you’re a little more adventurous you can use this same automated system via the “Terminal” which is a way of controlling your system by typing in text commands (not everyone’s cup of tea).

I’ve tried Ubuntu several times in the past, but not all of the hardware in my laptop was supported, most notably my webcam. This time my webcam works! Getting to grips with Ubuntu 9.04 wasn’t without little hitches. I found that their default media player somehow broke the function of the volume keys on my laptop, the only fix I had was to change file associations so that application doesn’t get used. Also, the touchpad didn’t work, until I Googled around and found a single text command to type into the terminal that fixed it.

There’s a whole lot of other features new to Ubuntu 9.04 which are well covered elsewhere. I haven’t mentioned them here because I simply haven’t had to use them yet.

If you’re in the Windows or Mac world and like the 3D desktop effects that Vista, Windows 7 and OSX have, then you won’t be disappointed with Ubuntu. When you initially turn on desktop effects you are asked to give your permission for Ubuntu to install drivers for your video card, once this is done it sets up your desktop effects. The desktop effects software is called “Compiz” and you can optionally install the Compiz Settings Manager to get greater control of how your effects work. I’m still fine tuning my settings to get more productivity, but less pointless distraction (and you can easily go from one extreme to the other!). Once you do have your desktop effects set up, I promise you, what you get is far more impressive than anything Microsoft or Apple can give you, and remember, this doesn’t cost you a penny.

I’ve even got a few indispensable Windows applications running in Linux thanks to the WINE application (think of it as an adapter for running Windows software in Linux). One exception is my current favourite computer game, Team Fortress 2. I can play it, but it’s not completely stable and performance isn’t really satisfactory, even with all settings turned down. I’m working on this, but gaming isn’t my top priority.

If you’re not a techie, but you’re still reading this, then well done, and I’d like to encourage you further to try out Ubuntu by pointing out that I’ve had my mother using this too, and she didn’t even notice the difference from Windows XP – she’s just doing her web browsing and e-mail as normal. So if that’s all you do on your computer – take the plunge, go open source and enjoy the freedom.