The Objective: For a total
Linux Noob to experience the Operating Sys. as a hard-core Windows user, to
be open minded and experience the software, with the objective of deploying it
in a business environment.
The Machine: My venerable HP / Compaq 6910p
The Specifications: Duo
Core 2.4 GHz, 32 bit, RAM reserved for Linux: 2.9 GB
Install spec: Dual Boot, as per Ubuntu
11.10
Display: 1440
X 900 pix’s
Installation
After downloading the ISO file from Ubuntu mirror servers, I decided
to burn it to disc, using Power ISO, a long-time favourite for this type of
work. The initial objective was to use
the disc to carry out the installation from disc as per the Ubuntu site
suggestion. BUT, all that windows user experience and laziness kicked in and in
short: Power ISO was used to mount the image in virtual drive and the install
was run from there.
The dual boot / boot manager process worried me, as I have not done
one of these since XP stopped being what all the cool kids played with. My
trepidation was unwarranted and my concerns amounted to precisely nothing. It occurred
to me that the initial installation was probably better than a lot of Windows installs
I have done in the past.
On to the main installation which followed on from the dual boot
setup, seamlessly, funnily enough I was expecting to see the enter license
information here portion of the installation, and then I remembered that Ubuntu
is free software, like Android OS, its cousin once or twice removed, but never
forcefully. So far the Linux experiment had cost me nothing at all. I
brightened up considerably, bracing myself the all the horrors of open source software
and the need to learn to write code to make it work.
None of that happened. It installed, no problem, detected the hardware,
no problem, connected to the WIFI network in the office, no problem. Updated it-self,
no problem. Offered various User interface options, some of my online/ real
life friends had suggested Gnome 3 User Interface; I used the vanilla version
of the Gnome 3, works beautiful. On to the serious stuff.
First
Impressions of Applications
I thought I would
need a mail client, so I downloaded Thunderbird from Mozilla, it worked had no
built in calendar. Turns out Ubuntu carries an Office bundle which includes
Evolution Mail and Calendar, caused me to uninstall Thunderbird, with mental
apologies to Mozilla, as I like their applications, but Evolution just works
better. The other Libre Office applications all seem to do the job, all seem to
be compatible with Microsoft docs. Interestingly, I was able to import .PST
files into Evolution Mail and Calendar, so 8.4 Mb of address book was imported
via the network from a shared folder, no problems. Oh did I forget to say that
the network connection was painless? Consisted of inputting the network
password after enabling the MAC address on the router?
The next major
test was how well and how effectively 3G connectivity could be established.
Bearing in mind the somewhat diabolical nature of W7 with 3G devices [
Firmware, Network interfaces, general connectivity, yada yada, generally
experienced with network USB type dongles] The latest Huawei E36 HSDPA+ modem
from MTN was inserted into the USB port, and it appeared that nothing was happening. As
I went to start muttering and fiddling with the network settings, the dialog
window said: You are now connected to the GSM network. So much for struggling with installations from
MTN, to get control of the modem..
A minute or two
later, the experience gained in setting up the modem in windows, was utilised
to get into the network device settings and I had HSDPA+ functioning and was
surfing away and downloading mail to the machine. And sending responses via the
Evolution mail client, which had been no harder to set up than any version of
Outlook. All the expected option were in the Evolution mail client, it seemed
like a direct clone of Outlook, spam filters, junk mail filters all in evidence.
No problems there.
Next, the browsers,
present in the install was Firefox, worked without issues, imported my
Bookmarks from the windows version, as a html file, no problem, same with Opera
for Linux, no problem. Ubuntu has also come with Epiphany web browser, which I
opened and it seemed to work as well as any of the other two browsers, no
problems there.
Then I had a
brainstorm, why not try Chrome to see if I can break something? Off to the
Ubuntu cyber store and Chromium duly installed. Its fast! It’s faster than FF
or Opera on the same sites. Definitely faster, so where to from here, more
tests or just use it for a while?
In the spirit of
using it for a while I also tried variety of twitter clients, this area needs
work! The best of the lot was Turpial, which worked most of the time. It was susceptible
to becoming occasionally unresponsive.
Skype works, no
issues to report, a variety of messengers, work well, supporting Gtalk, Mxit,
MSN chat and all of the other suspects, all work on my accounts.
Movie players
/streamers that came with Ubuntu all played my clips, audio and video.
Observations
The whole package
works well, it’s easy to install, its user friendly if you don’t expect a Windows
clone, take the time to figure out what goes where, it will make the experience
more pleasant. The Linux OS appears to me to have a lot to offer, in some ways
it was far easier than Windows, in others, I just had to learn new menus
options, like anything that’s different it can cause frustration if you’re impatient
with it.
The really big
question for last: Would I go out into the wild armed only with a Linux machine
to do business?
Long Answer: I
have many years of experience on Windows machines, enabling me to resolve many
issues on the fly, from that aspect I would not be comfortable yet, BUT with a
few more WEEKS of Linux exposure, I have no doubt that I would be comfortable
to switch Operating Systems and not become frustrated because of functionality
issues.
The other issue
of course is cost, Cost of W7 professional compared to cost of Ubuntu 11.10 is
a strong motivator to people who rather limit their spend on software licences,
but don’t forget to bear in mind that not ALL applications are directly translatable
from W7 to Linux, TweetDeck is only available for Win and Mac and it was the
one app I really missed.
Many people opt for
Hootsuite, browser-based cross-platform,
no issues there.
Lastly, if you’re the kind of person who abhors change and
resists it at every turn [still using that old Nokia 6310i ?] rather don’t get
involved in try Linux, avoid the stress. If however you are not averse to mildly
different things and would like to pay nothing for your next OS, then by all
means, go for it, and I hope my experience will be valuable to you.
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