Test driving Ubuntu 9.04

[Bloodwych]

Thanks for the feedback. It was your original thread that got me into trying Linux:

http://forum.classicamiga.com/forum/...ead.php?t=1351

...and I have read the various posts around this forum including yours.

Commenting on your network issue - I was lucky; Ubuntu supported my USB wireless network stick I was using right out the box. All I had to do was type in the WPA password and it connected.

I'll try Fedora next. Mint linux also looks interesting as it has loads of media codecs pre-installed. I need a break from it now however and I'm back using Windows, which funnily enough, I seem to appreciate a little more now!

At least I know how to use it for the future, or if I want to install it on a PS3.

[Harrison]

That is very true. We all moan about Windows, but use something else and then come back and you soon realise it isn't quite as bad as you thought. Its like anything. Use the same thing for long enough and you get so used to it that you notice the smallest of flaws, but use an alternative and then come back and you are glad you returned. A bit like dropping your car into the garage to be service and getting a bottom of the range smaller car for the courtesy car.

[my_lo]

Same experience here. I had tried Ubuntu a few years ago and it was great, everything worked "out of the box" and it was very fast.

Unfortunately, i had to go on using XP for some windows exclusive apps. I know i could have used them in Ubuntu via cross-platform softwares but i always refused to use Ubuntu and then emulate windows, then i'd rather use Win itself.
Anyway, the use of these softs was related to my work at that time and i always thought that the day it would change, i'd switch back to Ubuntu.

And then, a few months ago, i was finally ready for the change. Unfortunately, my wifi USB key was not working. It took me 2 weeks of reading forums, tweaking and coding before i could get a positive result. Then came an update of the kernel and all was ruined. This was my final attempt in the world of Linux.

I had already tried many other distros but Ubuntu was the only that was still tempting me.

If i have a day off and i wanna go shopping, i don't wanna spend my day on the border of the road, trying to repair my car as it is only a mean of transportation!
For OSs, it's the same, if i wanna browse the net or beat the games, i don't wanna spend my day in kernels and command prompts.

I'm still using XP at the moment but, to be honest, there's nothing really great coming out of Microsoft lately. Vista is... well, i won't go further talking about it and i have serious doubt about what's coming next. Also, the look of their desktops gives me nausea (even when tweaked).

I think more and more about Apple but their prices block me...

[Harrison]

Those that don't use Vista on a well setup system, or have only used it for short periods of time on other's system tend to all have a negative view towards it. Before I installed it as my main OS I also had very negative views. These however were mainly due to using it the most on laptops, where the focus should be on a lightweight resource optimised OS, which Vista is not, and so doesn't perform or run well, and gives a bad user experience.

In contrast, running it on a fast multi core system with a lot of ram and HDD space, plus a powerful graphics card, is a completely different experience. The argument is still there that we shouldn't have to have 4GB of ram, at least a dual core CPU and over 100GB of HDD space on the boot drive just to make Vista a nice experience, but it is true.

With such a setup Vista is allowed to breath, and Vista x64 Ultimate edition is a very nice OS to use. Since using it, going back to XP definitely does feel like a big step backwards. The file structure is nearly the same for both OSs, and even the control panels are similar (in classic view), but the completely updated File Explorer and search functionality really does improve things. Being a fan of the Windows version of Directory Opus, the adoption of a very similar folder navigation system pleased me greatly.

And while it is all eye candy, I do like the improved 3D effects such as transparancy and drop shadows used in the full aero setup of Vista. Plus the reworked start menu.

Software, contrary to many user reports also works well, even on the 64bit version of the OS. I've found relatively few software packages that don't run out of the box, and most that don't can be made to work. And that includes software as far back as 2001.

Windows 7 is offering the same feature set, and more, and with the same frontend user experience. But a lot less resource hungry and optimised to run well and much lower specs. This will be the real Vista that should have been released to begin with, rather than the hurried OS that we got due to M$ worrying about Apple's Mac OS X 10.5 due for release at the same time. I'm sure people will be much more receptive to Windows 7 than they were to Vista.

Sorry for hijacking the thread.

[Bloodwych]

Windows 7 is offering the same feature set, and more, and with the same frontend user experience. But a lot less resource hungry and optimised to run well and much lower specs. This will be the real Vista that should have been released to begin with, rather than the hurried OS that we got due to M$ worrying about Apple's Mac OS X 10.5 due for release at the same time. I'm sure people will be much more receptive to Windows 7 than they were to Vista.

This is Windows 98 vs 98SE all over again. Microsoft relese a beta OS to ramp up driver support, iron out difficulties and get the word out there, then release the finished version a couple of years later.

I have no doubt Windows 7 is going to be a nice bit of kit, but it's still going to be difficult to get people to upgrade from XP which just works for pretty much everything people do. Most people will make the jump once Microsoft abandon XP's updates or the web / computer makers find a way to force an update upon us.

[Harrison]

As always I think the majority of users upgrading to Vista or Windows 7 happens when they purchase their next PC. Hardly any non technically minded home computer users purchase a retail copy of an OS and install it themselves. I've actually never encountered any in this category even wishing to attempt or consider it, with most getting worried if they have to reinstall the current OS they are using, or even boot into safe mode. They would rather give their PC to me to do it for them.

I do agree that is is very much like Windows 98. However Windows 7 is a much larger progression from Vista than 98 SE was. The UI for example has changed quite a bit with a completely reworked start menu and minimalistic taskbar, which I think could actually confuse many used to XP.

[my_lo]

Harisson, sorry but i don't agree at all about Vista. I don't even have a laptop, my desktop is a quadcore with 4 Go Ram and yet, i can't stand the OS. It's ugly and unpractical. I have bought it and used it for a bit more than 4 months and when i decided to get rid of that piece of bugging ugliness, it didn't feel like a step backward but like fresh air. There are so many things i could use as example, i wouldn't even know where to start.

I will probably try windows 7, i have tried all Microsoft OSs since windows 3.1 (95: bof, 98: yeah, 2000/me: bof, XP: yeah, Vista: lulz, Windows 7: ???).
The more i see Microsoft's way of overbuilding instead of developing, the more i feel like going Ubuntu or, maybe, replacing all my PC setup with Apple before the 22nd october.

[Harrison]

What couldn't you get to work with Vista?

As I said, I've had hardly any issues, and those I have had I can resolve with community fixes (especially for older games). I even have games like Grand Prix 4 running very nicely on Vista x64, which I was surprised even ran at all.

And what bugs did you encounter?