Per your request, I shall review my experiences so far after exchanging old WinXP for a Linux system.
First off, for those interested, I’ve been absent at least partially due to another, far less serious blog (mostly used for communication with the peers who pressured me to get it, along with various hilarious internet pictures–feel free to head on over if you’d like).
So! My little Lenovo had WinXP installed on it from the beginning, complete with all the ThinkPad software that seemed to only serve the purpose of filling up my hard drive. Eventually, more and more built up to the point that the automatic backup wasn’t able to run due to lack of space, in addition to other just plain strange issues. It was then that I began to look at my options, particularly the glorious Linux OS.
In part, this is an experiment. I’ve known for a long while that Linux often isn’t compatible with various software–particularly games. But hey, my laptop barely has the power to even run most games, so that’s not much of an issue. And besides, as I’ve since learned, there are usually workarounds. If nothing else, it would serve as a valuable horizon-broadening experience. Besides, I still have Win7 on my desktop if there’s something I absolutely can’t use on the new OS. So I decided to look into it. I asked friends, searched around the internet, and made the decision.
At first I installed Ubuntu 10.10, and absolutely loved it. The only problem I ran into was that I couldn’t use Netflix. I tried a few near-workarounds–the Firefox user agent switcher, Moonlight (the open source version of Silverlight), etc., but thus far to no avail. The internet has tried its best at this, and still nothing. Besides this roadbump, the system itself is far smaller, faster, and easier to use than what I’d had before.
I’ve since gotten the upgrade to 11.4, which just came out of beta testing a couple weeks ago (if I haven’t just completely lost track of time). Frankly, I’m strongly considering going back–at least for a while. My biggest problem is that the UI is awful–the people in my dorm who have used it agree. I’m sure I can still work it similarly enough (at least from the terminal), but the actual layout with the icons and sidebar and such–not happy. I may be able to play around somewhere and change it up to the way that I want it, but I haven’t yet created the time for myself to figure all that out.
I’m sure it’s possible, though–the boyfriend was convinced by my experiment to set up a dual boot on his own computer, then proceeded to make it look like a Mac (purely to spite users of actual Macs–it’s sure to be quite entertaining).
The Good: I love all the open source software that is just sort of there (sudo apt-get install, bitches!). I did manage to find a Linux version of a little game series that I’ve been meaning to finish, which was fun. Ubuntu boots up in at least 1/2 the time that Windows did (if not faster), and with far fewer annoying updates (particularly ones requiring a restart) and various windows popping up trying to make me do stuff. I have yet to try any programming or anything, but perhaps I’ll find time over the summer to attempt something and refresh my computer science mindset a bit.
TL;DR: No Netflix; love 10.10, but the 11.4 UI sucks; besides those two issues, Linux is freakin’ amazing. Boots up in a fraction of the time that Windows does, takes up less space, is easier to work (particularly from the terminal), and is generally just plain better, faster, stronger.
UPDATE: Ah-ha! I found how to change the UI–it was far simpler than expected. Right here. It’s a little choppy at the moment, but plenty close enough for now.
