Tired of cleaning windows? This time FREE really is something for nothing
Written: Nov 06 '05 (Updated Nov 06 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: It's Free, it's Fast, and it Works.
Cons: It's not Windows, so there is a bit of a learning curve.
The Bottom Line: A lot of value for no money. Solid and stable.
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| xyzwyatt's Full Review: Canonical Ubuntu Linux |
Tired of fighting to keep your Windows clean? Try Ubuntu Linux, it may change the way you use your computer for GOOD.
Free is good
Tired of paying for Windows or Mac OS upgrades? There aren’t a lot of choices for a home user. Ubuntu is a Linux based operating system which is perfectly legal to download for free. In fact, through the Ubuntu website you can order any number of CDs which will be shipped to you at no cost. Updates the core software are released every 6 months.
For detailed information on why the software is free, screenshots, and to order or download the software see their website at www.ubuntulinux.org or www.ubuntu.com for more details.
Award Winning
“The Linux Journal Readers' Choice award is the latest in a line of awards that Ubuntu has won recently, including the UK Linux & Open Source Awards 2005, Tux magazine Reader's Choice 2005 for Favourite Linux Distribution, and Ars Technica's best distribution award (www.ubuntu.com).”
Which Ubuntu is which?
Ubuntu comes in several flavors. There are versions for 32bit processors and 64bit processors, then there's the selection of Intel, AMD, and PowerPC. Once you know which version for your processor then you have the option of Ubuntu with the GNOME desktop, or KUbuntu featuring KDE. For the purposes of this review, we selected the 32 Bit edition of Ubuntu for X86. Review the table below for assistance in selecting the version of Ubuntu Linux that's right for you.
Ubuntu x86 - Ubuntu with the GNOME desktop for 32bit computers featuring Pentium and AMD CPUs.
Ubuntu x86_64 - Ubuntu Linux with the GNOME desktop for 64bit computers featuring AMD64 and 64bit Pentium CPUs.
Ubuntu PPC - Ubuntu Linux with the GNOME desktop for computers featuring the PowerPC CPU.
KUbuntu x86 - Ubuntu with the KDE desktop for 32bit computers featuring Pentium and AMD CPUs.
KUbuntu x86_64 - Ubuntu Linux with the KDE desktop for 64bit computers featuring AMD64 and 64bit Pentium CPUs.
KUbuntu PPC - Ubuntu Linux with the KDE desktop for computers featuring the PowerPC CPU.
For more information about KDE and GNOME visit the project websites for these technologies at http://www.kde.org and http://www.gnome.org.
Installation
Stage 1:
Installation of Ubuntu Linux is done via a text based wizard. When you insert the installation CD and start your computer you are presented with a boot prompt. You have the option to do a default install (for workstations) or a server install by typing server and pressing enter. For the purposes of this review, we selected the default installation.
Once in the installer you are prompted for a variety of options beginning with the language you would like to use (We selected the default "English"), followed by the location you are using Ubuntu Linux in. (We selected the default "United States"), as well as an "American English" keyboard layout (also default). Ubuntu then attempted to detect our CDROM drive, and then scanned the packages available for installation. A screen flashed by as it installed additional components and another when it attempted to configure the network interface via DHCP (Which was successfully detected and configured). We were then prompted to select a hostname for our computer which we selected "Charlie" after roughly 3 seconds of collaboration. Once past the toughest part of the installation (coming up with a good computer name is usually more difficult than any other aspect of OS installation) we were prompted to partition our disk for installation. Selecting "Erase entire disk" brought us to a "WARNING: This will destroy all data on any partitions blah blah blah" which we selected yes to since we were sure we didn't need anything that had been on the computer. Ubuntu happily deleted the existing partitions, formatting new ones for its use and began installing "the base system". When installation of the base system completed the Ubuntu installation wizard copys any remaining packages to disk for easier installation in stage two of the installation. After the packages finished copying to disk you are prompted for a time zone, where we selected "Eastern" bringing us to a screen titled "Set up users and passwords". Ubuntu, and most other Linux distributions strongly recommend that users create an account to use for day-to-day operation. This account is a non-administrator account meaning that it can not install software, or destroy your system should you run something bad or try to clean out a system directory (accidentally of course!). We entered a full name, then selected a "username" which is a short name used to identify yourself to the system at login. After entering a password at the password selection screen Ubuntu configured "apt" and then installed a "boot loader" to the boot record of the hard drive so the computer would know where to look on the hard drive to start the Ubuntu system. If any Windows partitions are on the hard drive that were saved, it will look for these and offer to allow you to boot them when the system is started in addition to Ubuntu Linux.
Stage 2:
New to Ubuntu Breezy is a graphical boot screen which is visible when stage one completes and the computer reboots into stage 2 of the installation. Stage 2 installs the remaining packages copied to disk during stage 1. The process takes about 35-45 minutes from start to completion and requires little further intervention. When package installation was nearly finished, we were prompted to select a screen resolution. After selecting that, installation finished and we were brought to the login screen of our new OS installation.
First Impressions
When logging in using the username and password selected during installation we are presented with a login sound indicating that the sound card in our computer was detected properly. When arriving at the desktop the first thing that we noticed was a balloon informing us that new updates were available. Clicking the balloon requested that we enter our password again to ensure that we weren't a bad person sitting at the computer trying to do bad things to it. Ubuntu Linux uses a tool called sudo meaning assume another user or assume administrator as its configured. The administrator of a Linux computer is called "root". When you are prompted for your password inside the desktop environment it usually means that you are trying to do something that requires "root" rights and can be destructive to your computer. Entering the password brings us to an "available updates" screen which details all of the packages that updates are available for with checkboxes and an install or close button (along with preferences, and several other options outside of the scope of the review). We opted to install the patches, so we selected install. A few minutes later all of the patches were installed and we closed out of the update system. Amazingly, patch installation was a piece of cake and no reboot was required.
Once the patches were installed we were left with a plain looking desktop with a brown background. I'm not so fond of the default brown desktop, but it's easy to fix by selecting System -> Preferences -> Themes and choosing another theme. Getting around Ubuntu is pretty much the same as it would be in Windows, only the applications bar (similar to the start menu on Windows) is at the top of the screen while the task bar is at the bottom.
Along the applications bar at the top of the screen are Applications which contains the installed programs, Places which includes your home directory; access to network servers; a "my computer" replacement titled "computer"; search; and any recent documents that have been opened. System is located here also which holds system configuration as well as your desktop preferences. This is also where you would go to take a screenshot or log out of your desktop and shut the computer down. By default, there is an icon for Web, Email, and Help access your systems volume control and a clickable clock on the application bar as well. Right clicking any menu bar in Linux brings up options such as "Add to Panel" which is the container for lots of wonderful gadgets like a post-it notes like program, a battery monitor, and a weather tool to display the weather right in the menu bar. Preferences for the menu bar include the ability to position in any number of locations and sizes as well as making the panel transparent to the desktop.
The taskbar menu panel contains a "show desktop" button, any running tasks, a workspace switcher that allows you to put applications into "zones" if you will allowing you to place them wherever you want on the screen and switch zones to keep them from cluttering your desktop. Also on the task bar menu panel is your waste basket or trash can.
The default desktop environment is very clean and appealing, and I felt that it was very easy to find my way around.
Desktop Applications
Ubuntu Linux comes with a multitude of applications out of the box allowing most people to immediately begin enjoying their computers. Here is a short list of necessary applications included with Ubuntu Linux.
- Archive Manager (Think Winzip)
- 17 Games (Simple Solitare Minesweeper type games)
- GIMP Image Editor (Photoshop / Paintshop Pro type of application)
- XSane Scanning program
- Firefox (Internet Explorer replacement for Windows, Linux, and many other platforms)
- Evolution (Groupware package; calendar, email, and much more. Like Outlook)
- GAIM (MSN, AIM, Yahoo, Jabber, ICQ, and more all rolled into one program)
- Terminal Server Client (Incase you need to connect to a Windows desktop remotely)
- OpenOffice 2.0 (Word Processor, Spreadsheet, Vector graphics, and a Simple database)
- Rhythmbox media player (Similar to Itunes)
- CD Player (Do people still have CDs? hah)
- Totem Movie Player (Similar to Windows media player, must add codecs and DVD support seperately)
- Network Tools (Traceroute, Ping, Finger etc all in a GUI)
Also available is a tool called "Add Applications". This contains many applications not installed such as AbiWord or GNUmeric. Another wonderful tool used to install software is called Synaptic. I didn't see a menu item for it, however it can be executed in a run command or a shortcut can be created to it on the desktop.
Out of the box Ubuntu is a very capable desktop. Several items are missing however such as codecs for WMV, Quicktime, Real etc as well as support to play back encrypted DVDs. Support for all of these things and much more can be installed by following the instructions at the Unofficial Ubuntu guide http://ubuntuguide.org/ (not yet updated for 5.10), or as posted in the Ubuntu forums http://ubuntuguide.org/.
OH NO, it's not Windows!
I'm sure by now you are starting to become very aware that things seem vastly different than the way things get done on a Windows desktop computer. This is a common fear that unfortunately sometimes leads users feeling stuck back to the Windows platform. This is OK, however if you stick with it you will quickly become proficient with the Linux desktop and over the next few years you will save a TON of money on software upgrades that you won't have to purchase. Some obvious drawbacks to a Ubuntu (or any other Linux) desktop is that Windows applications will not work out of the box. There are several options available to make the transition easier including Crossover Office, Wine, Cedega, and even VMWare. Crossover Office allows you to install Microsoft Office, Quicktime, and many other Windows applications and use them as you would on your Windows computer. Wine allows you to run many applications as well but is not as integrated with your desktop as Crossover Office. Cedega is WINE with DirectX and it allows many Windows games to play on your Linux desktop nearly as well (sometimes better than) they play on a Windows computer. VMWare is available for Linux as well as Windows and it allows you to create a virtual environment complete with a "virtual" motherboard, hard drive, etc with which you can install Windows or Linux on and use them side by side with your current desktop.
Security
Linux is by nature a fairly secure operating system. Ubuntu is no different in that day to day use is done with a non-administrator account. It is nearly completely immune to viruses and spyware. In fact, it is not really necessary to run anti-virus on a Linux computer unless you are sharing files with Windows. Spyware is so rare that anti-spyware isn't even a catagory or installation option anywhere in any Linux system (to my knowledge). Patches don't require a reboot unless you are changing the kernel which means that they can come out daily and the only nusance is that you have to install them sometimes more than once a week. Many firewall packages are available such as firestarter and shorewall, and as you become familiar with the software installation process it is recommended that a firewall be enabled on systems directly connected to the internet. Linux is used in many enterprise environments performing a multitude of hacker detection and prevention activities making it a very robust and natural choice for desktops for security minded individuals.
12-year-old’s Thoughts
Our son installed Ubuntu a couple months ago after spending too many weekends reloading his computer because of so many viruses and spywear that he was getting from the internet. He installed the software himself and received no guidance on how to use it from us. (that’s how easy it is!)
This is what our son had to say about Ubuntu after using it for a couple months: “I think Linux Ubuntu is a 4.5 star operating system. One it can not get any viruses. Two it comes with a free open office package (its kind of like Microsoft office ). It also comes with 17 free games! You can download stuff from the internet with the synaptic package manager. The only bad part I've found is that windows applications don't work.”
Overall
Linux has changed vastly over the last few years, and several Linux vendors have a target painted on the desktop market. Ubuntu does an excellent job of providing a clean and efficient desktop environment to persons both new to Linux, and those that are veteran users. It is easy to use and maintain once past the learning curve of "It's not Windows" and in most cases it helps you work just as efficiently. It's definitely recommended to persons that are looking for something different, and want to experiment outside of the boundaries of Windows.
A special thanks to my system administrator (a.k.a. hubby) for helping me with this review.
I'd also like to thank NC10 for his help getting this added to the database.
Recommended:
Yes
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xyzwyatt
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Location: Nashville, TN
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