Well, after a number of days of faffing around with Ubuntu I remain unconvinced. While it definitely boots faster, there is nothing it does that someone with my level of linux skills can exploit. And at times even simple things like installing updates or software will require me to go to google, have a read of a half-dozen poorly written and unclear sites, return to the application I’m working on, fail at least once, and then back to the sites.
Furthermore, it doesn’t adequately support a some of my hardware. Most annoyingly, the brand-new hardware I bought just before I shifted over. Some business-as-usual internet activity, like watching video, is jerky and will drop out. The ability to control sound is limited, and things often skew between audible and a whisper.
Now all these things are stuff that I could fix if I had both the time and inclination to learn how. But I’m a busy man. As it is I’ve barely blogged for days because I’m spending all my time faffing and reading stuff. And don’t get me started on trying to run any Windows software. Because I’ve been unable to get anything at all to run I can’t offer a comparison in performance between the two platforms.
So all that installing unbuntu has done is pushed me towards using this box less usefully, basically as an internet reader, and making me think I might just go ahead and buy that Mac I’ve had my eye on.
22 June, 2008 at 10:27 am
personally i think that’s the problem with everything linux. It’s not user friendly, yes it’s awesome and all works if you have the time or if you are super geeky.
but for me who want something I can turn on and it works, yup it’s all too daunting.
which is a real shame, becuase who doesn’t love open source.
I made the switch t a mac, and i did the same for my mum, it’s been lovely and easy and the learning curve was minimal.
22 June, 2008 at 11:03 am
I love my mac. Though my partner has had to get an application called ‘Boot Camp’ installed on his mac so that he can start it up in PC-emulation mode so that it can run a particular piece of software for him.
22 June, 2008 at 11:31 am
Deborah, you don’t even need to start it up in PC emulation mode. Parallels and VMWare Fusion will let you run Windows (and Windows applications) at the same time as your Mac OS.
22 June, 2008 at 11:46 am
Macs look sexy, but damn they’re pricey. It would take a lot to convince me to move over to one, but then I’m PC-biased.
22 June, 2008 at 11:56 am
Garrick, you’re paying for reliability and the high quality software that comes with it. Not to mention that lovely design.
Just as an example, if you want to create PDFs on your PC, you have buy a full copy of Acrobat, right? On a Mac, PDF creation is integrated into the operating system – you don’t have to pay for more software (unless you want to some of the fancier bits of PDF editing). You just choose ‘Save as PDF’ when you go to the print item on the menu of any application.
22 June, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Hate to be the voice of dissent here, but you can print to PDF for free in Linux.
If you want Linux to work, buy it preinstalled. The Eee PC with Xandros preinstalled is a wonder in “just works,” because Asus does all the tweaking for you.
If Macs work better for you, great. But don’t bash Linux just because you decided to install it yourself.
22 June, 2008 at 12:43 pm
It’s my husband who needs to do the PC emulation thingie, not me, thank goodness.
I think the best reason for swapping to a Mac is that Macs are prettier.
22 June, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Hmmm… So much for Ubuntu as something my Mum could use.
22 June, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Macs are indeed prettier, and if you have the money for them, they’re a good buy.
If, however, you want to give Ubuntu a chance, make sure you buy it preinstalled or do some research on Linux-compatible hardware, and it should be fine for your mum, as long as she emails, surfs the web, listens to music, organizes photos, and word processes.
22 June, 2008 at 4:33 pm
Buy the Mac.
22 June, 2008 at 4:37 pm
and that’s the thing. is ok for mum, but it’s not accessible to a user who has no experience of linux.
i like the idea of using the platform, but my experience is putting me off.
and experience is what makes a product succeed.
(plus, these days macs are not so much more expensive than comparably powered pcs)
22 June, 2008 at 7:05 pm
Eh, it’s not for everyone. I agree with Ubuntucat – when a vendor sets up it up and supports it, you will have a better experience. I would say Ubuntu is ready for primetime in a business setting where there is in-house support and planning for a standard install on standard hardware, but it’s a total luck-of-the-draw thing whether it will be smooth on your random kit that you have lying around. (Most people’s luck is usually pretty good these days, mind).
Personally I wouldn’t bother running Windows apps unless they’re mission-critical. I would be looking at native alternatives and importing my data.
If you want a hand tweaking your setup, let me know. This has been a Microsoft-free household for years. Kathy loves her Mac mini though…
22 June, 2008 at 7:28 pm
I love my Mac mini. I especially love the mini-skirt, a block of perspex about 2cm thick, and the same footprint size as the actual Mac mini. Its sole function is to glow blue when the computer is on. It’s just so pretty.
22 June, 2008 at 8:02 pm
i have a tablet i use with this powermac when i’m using the graphics software, it does the same thing.
although sometimes it kind of “breathes”, which can be unnerving.
22 June, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Nice points all – use whatever works for you.
I have to say if anyone attempted (if it were possible) to install a Mac O/S themselves on a “PC” they’d probably walk away muttering, “What a load of …”
One other thing – having everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) in the cloud has meant that The Riversdales don’t install s/w … we just don’t use anything except Firefox … (and a Flickr Uploadr). Makes life of the installed (or any) O/S a breeze as it just has to connect and get outta the damned way!
(video watching and sound – no worries for me mate, but that’s no help to you
Buy a Mac … you know you want to!
22 June, 2008 at 11:07 pm
i want to hear from someone who isn’t a geek, about how easy ubuntu is to use.
the only people i now who love it are those with skills to tweak things and manage work arounds.
With my mac i plug it in and it works, I’ve only had one problem, and thanks to mr judd it was fixed.
23 June, 2008 at 3:16 am
“simple things like installing updates or software will require me to go to google”
Most people find pretty easy to click on Add/Remove applications and just select the software that they want to install from a big list of applications, however some people which is not used on such ease of use on Windows will just drop into google.
“Furthermore, it doesn’t adequately support a some of my hardware. Most annoyingly, the brand-new hardware I bought just before I shifted over.”
You do understand that is the hardware vendor responsibility to make sure it’s product will be supported on a specific OS right ?
Not to mention the someone paid for the hardware, so you are getting the hardware from a profitable vendor but still you choose to blame a community developed (mostly non paid) software project for which you paid nothing.
“Now all these things are stuff that I could fix if I had both the time and inclination to learn how. But I’m a busy man.”
All changes require time and effort, if you don’t understand or don’t care about the benefits of such change, then yes, it will just be wasted effort.
Sue,
you need to know more people, I know a lot of non-geek people which found Ubuntu Linux quite easy to use.
23 June, 2008 at 5:11 am
Well, sue, the problem is that so few vendors sell Ubuntu preinstalled (even though Dell sells Ubuntu preinstalled, it’s only on select models in a handful of countries, and then tucked away on an obscure part of their website).
The reason it’s mainly geeks who use Ubuntu is Ubuntu’s lack of preinstallation. Non-geeks buy computers witah the operating system preinstalled and preconfigured. Macs have the benefit of the hardware being assembled with the software in mind and vice versa. Ubuntu users install on all sorts of random hardware without much thought given to compatibility… until they run into something that doesn’t work.
So, as long as you have to install and configure the operating system yourself or find it preinstalled on some obscure part of Dell’s website, it’ll be mainly geeks who use it.
23 June, 2008 at 7:00 am
yeah, but i’ve installed and configured MS Windows a number of times over at least a 10-year period. i’ve changed motherboards and completely reconfigured systems.
the problem with linux is the *reliance* on the terminal window. it automatically establishes the need for a minimum degree of knowledge.
and getting that knowledge is not easy (as it’s not for windows, but you get my point)
23 June, 2008 at 11:26 am
The “googling for what to do” or more often, for software to install, is the first thing i teach new ubunty users not to do.. Following dodgy anonymous instructions on random webpages is what you do in windows, not linux
but, yeah, it’s not for everyone. If you’re happy on windows and don’t want to learn how to do things differently, then you wont’ find linux to be exactly like windows, so you’ll be unhappy.
I’m really suprised you needed to encounter the commandline for doing updates — that is setup outta the box on a fresh ubunty install. Many of the ubuntu forum help is commandline instructions because it’s un-ambigious. you just “copy this command” instead of a whole lotta “click on the green thing, then the bluething” instructions.
I do many things that windows either really sucks at, or can’t do at all. I get really unhappy when given windows machines and can’t get things to work. Like throw it across the room angry.
Each to their own.
23 June, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Actually that’s a really important point Brenda has hit on.
A long-time user like me is accustomed to using the command line to do things. More and more these days I’m surprised to discover that there is a nice GUI interface for obscure things. Unfortunately most of the people giving advice are people like me…
23 June, 2008 at 12:18 pm
I think Che is having the problem a lot of people have: they’re power users (or thereabouts) on Windows, and suddenly, they’re a noob again. It’s not fun.
I went cold turkey (with a very knowledgeable friend at close quarters), and I found I was pretty happy within a week. It took a few months for the mad skillz to really kick in though.
Part of the problem is confronting your expectations. You’re a windows user so you expect to have to scour the internet for new software and instructions for same, when there’s a dedicated control panel for that function right in front of you. Same with documentation — the lack of easily-accessible manuals in Windows has been known to make me yell things like “people pay for this?!”
Let me ask a specific question in relation to Windows software: what do you want it to do, that you can’t live without? I’ll see if I can think of a way for you to do it natively.
23 June, 2008 at 12:34 pm
that’s pretty much exactly it.
i’m committed to sticking with the platform, but being completely lost for a few days has been a freaking drag.
i’ll stick with ubuntu, and go back to learning slowly. in the meantime i’m avoiding anything flashy, and working on learning the file structure…
23 June, 2008 at 12:50 pm
The think to remember is that unix-ish systems evolved from huge mult-user servers. As a regular user, you really only need to worry about what’s in your home directory. And on a Debian-based system like Ubuntu, most of the directories outside of /home are controlled by the package management system anyway. Which means you don’t need to think about them, and they’re likely to get re-written on the next upgrade.
I’m serious about suggesting alternatives to your windows software conundrums, btw… I’ve been doing this since before OpenOffice existed, so if there’s an easier way I’ll probably know it…
23 June, 2008 at 2:59 pm
I’m back to Windows XP, after problems with accessing the internet in Ubuntu (which I’ve never had before). Since the ISP is being a pain and the Ubuntu community has been unable to answer my questions, I’m back to the other side of the partition, at least until I install the next version. Sad really, it’s been otherwise unproblematic.
Both have their problems, and I’m reluctant to condemn or endorse one over the other.
23 June, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Oh, yes, what really bugs me is that almost without exception the advice I get assumes you know how to execute commands – even in Ubuntu Forums Absolute Beginner Talk. It’s like being told: “first open the door”, rather than “first put the key (that metal thing) in the lock (that hole in the door) and turn then push”. The community needs to assume the new user knows nothing, but is willing to learn.
24 June, 2008 at 3:31 am
As someone who regularly helps out in the Ubuntu Forums, I also get annoyed by people making unwarranted assumptions.
I’m always sure that if I do direct users to the terminal that I post a link showing them where the terminal is, and I give them the exact command. Or, if it’s GUI instructions, I try to include screenshots.
That said, feel free to correct people yourself with “You’re moving a little too fast. Please assume I know nothing and give me step-by-step instructions.” If someone gives you attitude about this reasonable request, report her or him, and I or another moderator will take care of it.