I want to keep singing the praises of an operating system that I used to make fun of on our show; Linux. In partial defense of myself, Linux traditionally has been known as the geeks operating system, and a user needed to be permanently attached to a forum for help and have an affinity for the command prompt or as its known in Linux, the terminal.
That started to change about 10 years ago or so with the advent of Graphical User Interfaces (GUI’s) that started popping up, but were never quite perfected for the average user…the folks I support and the majority of computer users. Three years ago the landscape of Linux changed forever with the release of Ubuntu. Ubuntu became the media darling of Linux and of users alike for multiple reasons:
- Small computer footprint (runs fast, requires only modest computer power)
- Good security (virtually immune from the spyware and virus laden Windows environment)
- Built-in compatibility (users get Microsoft Office compatibility and much more right from the start)
- Unique and inviting installation prodedure and try-it before you install it (entire operating system fits on a single CD, and can be booted from that CD without affecting your current system)
- It’s free
I started looking at Ubuntu almost two years ago and immediately saw the potential for many of my customers and general computer users everywhere. To date, I have converted about a dozen computer users to Ubuntu and plan on converting three more this week alone. All, except one AOL user who missed the AOL software, have been thoroughly satisfied and pleasantly surprised at the lack of problems and the intuitiveness of the system. It takes me awhile to explain and sell an Ubuntu conversion, but after explaining all the benefits and then telling them that it can run on their current hardware, they decide to try pretty quickly.
If you happen to be mainly a web and email computer user with some word processing, card or board games and some digital photography mixed in, you will never miss Windows. Save yourself the money of buying a new computer and upgrade your current computer (preferably built after 2000) to Ubuntu Linux and you also will be pleasantly surprised and virtually problem free.
