Ubuntu or Vista

Will you be throwing Vista on your new Dell notebook or saying **** windows and putting Ubuntu on it? Please answer in the poll and explain your answer too. I am 100% putting Ubuntu on it. It is a completely viable option now, everything you can do in Windows you can do in Ubuntu, and all programs are free. Also Ubuntu runs faster since it uses much less ram, and it is just as secure as a Mac, arguably more. What are your thoughts?

My brother has completely ditched windows and put Ubuntu on his laptop and he loves it. The installation was faster and easier then XP, it comes pre loaded with all the basic software you have to pay for with windows such as the OpenOffice suite, which a a free replacement of the Microsoft Office suite (Word, Xcel, Powerpoint etc.). As soon as it was done installing it automatically connected to his network and was online, automatically detected his printer without him doing anything, and everything just worked, like a Mac. Except free.

Facts about Ubuntu
- New versions every 6 months
- You can purchase technical support from them for very cheap
- There is no need to know more about computers than the average user
- You don't need to type code in to do things. Although that is an option.
- There are many cool special effects. With the new GUI it looks much nicer and cleaner than Vista in my opinion.
- All programs for it are free
- To install a new program, open the Program Manager and it will list 20,000+ free programs for you to download with the click of a button, no more searching all over the internet.
- You can play Windows games and run Windows games in WINE on Ubuntu, although this does require a small amount of technical knowledge. There are very simple tutorials online on how to get games like World of Warcraft, Steam, etc. to run in Ubuntu.

Ubuntu vs Vista on Information Week
http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199201179

Wired Review of the latest version of Ubuntu (7.10 aka "Gutsy Gibbon")
http://www.wired.com/software/softwarereviews/news/2007/10/ubuntu_gutsy

 

10 bucks say you come back to windows within a month.

 

Why not have both? I run XP virtually from inside Ubuntu. While Linux is good, there's not really a reason not to have both.

 

I have been using Ubuntu for a couple months and I am not going back. I will probably run XP or Vista in VMWare Server just because I am still dependent on some windows programs, and since Vista comes with my laptop I might as well use it.

 

Yes it is good to actually have Windows for compatibility with other systems - in my opinion.

I run XP, Ubuntu and Slackware on mine (well I did on my old one - having trouble on my new one). I'm going to wait until I get Vista because I really, really don't like it but I'm sure I would get used to it if I needed to.

 

While Ubuntu is nice, XP Pro is what I prefer. Vista is just a waste of resources right now.

 

yeah, once SP1 is released for Vista it should improve a lot. But I still love Ubuntu for the security, and with Ubuntu your computer will last longer since it won't get any viruses and doesn't need high end equipment to run well.

 

I've run ubuntu exclusively for about a year at home. Got the sticker on my car and everything. Works very well. I decided to try Vista out for a while on my new laptop and I have to admit I've been quite pleased. From an install standpoint, it's faster than Ubuntu. It also boots faster, sleep/suspend works reliably and the font rendering is infinitely better, especially under OpenOffice and Firefox. I do miss the repository and the flexibility of linux, though.

I'm sure I'll eventually load Ubuntu as the primary OS on this machine, but given all the bad crap I'd heard about Vista I expected it to be a total suckfest. It's not.

 

I switched over to ubuntu exclusively almost two years ago. Everything is faster, no crashes, no popup windows telling me norton and microsoft want more of my money. It does everything I want it to do and so much more. Every time I go back to a windows computer (a much faster one too) it feels bloated. as long as you don't decide to go with the dell wireless card all of the hardware works flawlessly. If you enter with an open mind and want to try something new, you will find it to be a massive improvement.

 

I'm sticking with the Vista Ultimate that came with my laptop. I've tried various Linux Dist's over the years (Red Hat, Lindows, Ubuntu, etc) and found them interesting to play with but not nearly as polished as Windows. Vista has it's issues, there's no question about that (the biggest being driver and software compatibilities), but so did XP before SP1. It will get better. Windows is just more compatible with the programs I like and need to use. If all I did was internet, e-mail and a letter here and there, I might think about Linux again but that's not likely...

 

Roma, you say that you have tried various versions of Linux over the years and didn't like it. That is like someone saying they tried Windows 2000 and so they never went back to Windows again. Ubuntu has made so many changes over that past couple years that it is nothing like it was a year ago. Every 6 months for the past 2 years there has been HUGE updates, making it now a very viable option instead of Windows. But I guess since you tried it out 2 years ago it sucks right? Actually you made me think of another reason windows sucks. 4 years for a new version? Ubuntu has a new one every 6 months, on the dot. And they aren't little updates either. After the next update in April many IT professionals belive Ubuntu will be a completely viable alternative to Windows or Mac.

 

I see that you have this wonderful picture of Ubuntu in your mind... well,.... all I can say is just install and see.

Don’t get me wrong, I have Linux on mine, and I admire how far they have managed to come over the years. But still, it is no match for Windows. And no matter what the Linux community says, an average user cannot use Linux as the primary OS (unless all you do is web browsing, a bit of word processing and music/movies).

BTW even though I voted 4, I use OpenSese (which looks nicer and better than Ubuntu)

 

I know this is a very basic question but a big use for me is Image editing of RAW files from Canon DSLRs. Is this possible with any software in Ubuntu?

 

This is a good thing HOW ??? Windows 2000 is still usable and even a novice user can install it and use it. But can you say the same thing about a 7 year old Linux distro??
BTW did you stop to think why Ubuntu needs a complete OS upgrade in every 6 months ? because they still have major bugs or shortcomings that needs a complete overhaul to fix.

 

I think I'm going to stick with Vista on my laptop. With 4 Gigs, a high end graphics card, and quality processor I'm not concerned about performance issues.

Plus, I feel like I will be left behind if I wait till SP1 to start using Vista. Eventually, everyone will start using Vista. Microsoft will fix the issues that people are complaining about and if I'm only JUST starting to use Vista at that time I won't feel like I'm keeping up with my job's requirements. I've always been an early adopter of technology and will continue to do so.

 

I have installed Ubuntu and been using it, and I love it. Works great for me. I am not trying to say that Ubuntu is for everyone, but you don't have to be a computer programmer to use it. And Ubuntu doesn't need a complete update every 6 months, it does it to be ahead of the game. In a couple years, Ubuntu will be a very popular OS. I am saying that right now, for me, it works great. I am not saying everyone should ditch windows and use it, all I am saying is people should give it a shot, it is not the same Linux everyone thinks of 3 years ago. I used to think Linux was for computer geeks until I tried Ubuntu, and I was very very impressed.

For me, it does everything I want and more. For some it may not work. Thats fine. All I want is for people to at least give it a chance, and if you don't like it, then fine. But don't say it has all these bugs and shortcomings when you have no idea what your talking about. For an average college student, that uses internet, music, word processor and some games, Ubuntu is a great cheap option for them. Name me some things Ubuntu can't do that Windows can...the list is quite small and diminishing with every release. I can name you plenty Ubuntu does that Windows doesn't: more security, uses less resources so it runs faster for low end systems, all programs are free and as good or pretty close to as good as the paid windows programs, and in my opinion Ubuntu looks better, but thats just me.

 

I could use both and have no problem what so ever. Thiking about dual booting my M90 with XP Pro and Ubuntu or Debian W/ Automatix. But every time I step back in to Linux world, I couldn't help notice complete geek side of me want to spend countless hours continue tweeking and fixing things on Linux make me scare to step in to that word again. I'll think about this after I receive my M1530 and play for awhile.

 

for about a week I was running a triple boot with XP, Vista and ubuntu.

Worked pretty well, but I couldn't get the sound driver working in XP...curious problem. Spent hours on the phone will dell support. Nothing.

So, Eventually the person decides to talk to a senior tech rep, says can't have driver installed on vista and XP. Stupid problem. So, after many BSOD's, slowdowns and otherwise unpleasant things in Vista, It's officially OFF my HDD.

I'll keep the disks for later. Maybe after SP1 comes out. But until then, I'll stick with my familiar windows XP, and lovely ubuntu (i may switch it to OpenSuse or Fedora core 8)

 

it took microsoft 25 years to get to windows 2000, you can't possibly compare win2k with a 7 year old linux distro when linux had only existed for a decade at that point amongst a few software developers who were screwing around for the fun of it.

Who ever said ubuntu needs updating so often. It's nice to see a few additions every now and again, but ubuntu edgy (6.06) is still widely used, particularly the server version, as it was a stable and functional system. It was far from buggy and does not need a total overhaul. I would even go as far as to say service packs are bigger upgrades than new versions of ubuntu, particularly vista sp1.

 

Umm... I guess you didn't read my entire post or you just missed it. One of the dists I tried was Ubuntu. That was about 5 months ago. If you like it and it works for you thats great. It just doesn't work for me...

 

If you can't find a distro that you like, you can always try and build your own, starting with LFS. This is what I'm doing at the moment - obviously if you just want an OS to use straight away don't get into it but I'm quite enjoying it at the moment!

 

I've also installed on my laptop and I can see that it does have some performance issues. Everything was installed perfectly and functioning good but it was just too slow for me to use. The graphics and all the eye candy looks great better than vista but it's not for me or many other people neither. there are still A LOT OF DEVICES that aren't supported on Linux yet. There are some programs that others use that isn't linux capable and they can't run windows inside of linux because they're not computer savvy. I think Computer enthusiasts should be able to use linux and other distros, but for beginners and old people should stick with windows or mac because of the simplified GUI and features.
in the end i'll stick with vista. i've been using it for 11 months now and it never crapped out on me. and because i'm a gamer!

 

Sticking with Vista. It's really not a problem. I have SP1 RC installed.

 

yeah XDViper I agree with you, to get the most out of Ubuntu you really need to have a little more udnerstanding of computers than the average person. But the way it is being updated in a year or so it should be much easier. I just love being able to tweak everything! And yes some devices aren't supported on linux, but MOST major ones are, sometimes it just takes a little more computer knowledge. Maybe if SP1 is good I might try Vista again...but I doubt it

 

Yup we have a winner here... I've got VirtualBox with Ubuntu and XP running off of it on my Vista box.