What would cause one to leave Windows for Ubuntu?

[Murrquan]

I've got a Windows XP CD right here, *holds it up*, and I'm going to reinstall it.

At the same time, though, I'm switching to Ubuntu. Here's why.

My ICPower notebook was the first PC I'd ever bought with my own money. It was off-brand, but it was shiny and modern, and I loved everything about it. Over the next couple years I would use it as a desktop replacement.

It came with Windows XP, the latest OS, with a holographic CD and a guide to getting started. I'd grown up on home-made or modded PCs with flaky versions of Windows, but with XP everything "just worked." I even switched back to IE from Firefox, which I'd used on my last computer, after finding out IE 7 had tabbed browsing. That, and there was a hardware button above the keyboard that launched it.

Every day I started it up, and was greeted by its friendly piano melody. It downloaded updates while I was working, and installed them when I shut down. Its wireless support was flaky, and kept having to reset. And every now and then it'd tell me I had to restart, and would bother me until I did so. But on the whole, I liked it. I didn't mind letting Microsoft take care of my computer. I just wanted to go on the 'net, and play a few games. And I never had trouble with spyware, because I never went where I could catch it.

I probably would have continued that way forever, and might've even installed Vista (*shudder*) on my next PC. But instead, I started examining my life, and seeing whether a lot of the things I took for granted were really worth having around. During this time I changed my diet, and found a completely new direction for my life. I also questioned Microsoft Windows, something I might never have done.

Years ago I'd used to read User Friendly. I'd thought it was funny how Microsoft products never worked right in their comic, how Microsoft was even the Empire in a Star Wars spoof they did, and I picked up on their "Linux is cool" vibes. At one point I got my brother to buy Corel Linux off the shelf, and have it installed on his PC. This was a disaster, that somehow corrupted his system. We never figured out what had caused it, or how to completely get rid of it. That turned me off Linux for a while.

That was way back in 2000. Now I found myself re-reading the UF archives. The sarcasm wasn't as funny this time, and neither was the innuendo. But I started wondering about some of the things they said about Microsoft.

So I looked MS up on Wikipedia. I looked up their "Criticism of Microsoft" article, and all the websites I could find. What I read shocked me. These people were not the comical stooges of User Friendly. They were willing to steal from and destroy their competitors. At one point I read a quote by Rob Glaser, where he summed up his impression of Bill Gates' approach:

"Success is defined as flattening the competition, not creating excellence."

And I was shouting at my computer. "No! That is not right! You have to make better products to win honorably, not lock out your competitors!"

That did it. I had to stop using Windows. I wanted to buy a Mac, but they were too expensive, so I needed something to use in the interim. A friend of mine was using Fedora 7, so I asked him for help and got it installed. I actually wanted to dual-boot at first, for my games, but I had trouble getting that to work and decided to go Linux all the way.

It's been a joy to work with so far. Frozen Bubble is win. Add/Remove Programs is magic. My wireless was really bad at first, but I guess someone updated the drivers 'cause now it runs rock-solid. I love the Gnome interface better than I ever did Windows XP. And Beryl looks shiny beyond words.

Unfortunately, it won't run on my system. Neither will my old games, for that matter, even though Bioware released official Linux binaries for Neverwinter Nights and Cedega supports Civ IV. Apparently, Linux doesn't support my notebook's integrated graphics, which means no 3D acceleration.

I'd like to build a new PC, but I can't afford to right now. And I wouldn't touch Vista with a ten-foot pole, but I actually liked Windows XP, and I've already paid for a license. So after several months of nothing but Linux, it's back to XP, for what VMWare likes to call "mission-critical legacy apps." :)

But I'm not going back there 100%. I've gotten too attached to Linux. And with Ubuntu around, it's not just an OS. It's a movement. A movement designed to fix Bug #1, not by destroying Microsoft but by creating excellence. And this is excellence. This software, these forums ... this is the future of computing. And I want to be a part of it.

If all goes well and it recognizes my hardware, my PC will soon have two operating systems installed: Windows XP, and Ubuntu 7.04. The former will be around for those legacy apps, and to show my friends that you don't have to give up Windows in order to try a superior product. The latter will be there for everything else.

[AlenlorDRot]

I bought a new computer with Vista installed. The framerates in some of my favorite games were less than I expected with the hardware so I went from Vista to XP.

In the meantime I tried out Ubuntu on my old system. I liked it a lot. I decided to make Linux my primary system. I fixed the new computer to dual boot Ubuntu/XP so I would still have a Windows gaming machine.

I really like it, and find myself spending less and less time in Windows. I only boot to it when I'm ready to play a game.

[AlexenderReez]

hm...i guess most of is because virus,worm,spyware....but for some people....beryl or compiz might be the reasons :)

[aitorcalero]

In my case was the fact that I always loved the idea of using open source software made by thousand of users in a collaborative way, but i was not until the release of ubuntu when I made the switch. I think, that software made this way it will be much better than any other.
I also do not want to use illegal soft in my home or work computer.
I was also really frustrated with windows, with continous reinstalling, upgrading hardware, viruses, trojans, and so on...
I only miss good games for Linux, well not good games (there are some out there) in fact I would like to have all my windows games running in Linux. But to solve this problem I have purchased a PS2 :)

[misfitpierce]

windows.

Best summed into 1 word and vex said it :popcorn:

[armandh]

1. Windows activation
2. Windows DRM
3. Windows security

with several older computers in the basement spare parts pile all working but without a legal OS I would occasional try a linux distro. Knoppix got me interested again. an OS to try and no command line needed. Ubuntu's ease of installation and use made it the keeper on machines capable of running it well. [I left the 486 and P-II running 98se] I even put it on the household's second fastest with XPsp-2 / IE7 in a dual boot. ubuntu's role in our house hold is expanding. the wife's new laptop came with vista and all it's compatibility problems. if it gets past the point of repair, as XP often does, it's next.

[Jimmyfj]

To me it was the constant change of "policy" toward users on the Windows platform. The WGA Notification did not make my choice in switching a lot more difficult.

I have never been hacked, victim to a virus or any other type of malware. I was happy with my XP for a long time, but totally displeased with the fact that you have to call up some MS person to "re-activate" a new install. I used my XP for testing new software and the reg.db. often did go down on me for some reason.

Then I tried out Ubuntu, first time in 2005, and I liked what i saw. But I was still pleased with my XP - Then along came Vista, tried it and did NOT like what I saw. I then, in January 2007 decided to try out Ubuntu again and this time I've made the switch for good. Ubuntu is just TO great to work with, way more stable than Windows has ever been, or ever will be.

After I switched I read the Peter Gutmann document and boy, had I ever had doubts about Vista they were confirmed by what he wrote.

[Sumatie]

Linux of any stripe , not even Ubuntu , is ready for the main stream, and perhaps never will be. But for us techies it is suitable bragging rights to say "I set up an FTP server in Linux" , or "I run Linux at home" or some such , because it *IS* a difficult thing to do , even with the puportedly easy Ubuntu editions.



I have avoided linux for years until now...mostly due to the notion it is only for the PC tech type. Finally took the plunge as my old PC(that couldn't even hope to run Vista), which has been donated to the kids, ran woefullly under XP due to updates. I have 4 PC's networked in my home so I need security. Multiple installs later and I was fed up so I tried a number of different linux distro's.

I have now settled on Ubuntu and have to say I found it easy enough learn. Command line is easy to use and works every time (if not tells you exactly whats wrong) and has all the apps you could want other than gaming (infact I am a little disapointed in 3D ability, but I have only been a user for three weeks so still learning). The best thing by far is the tech support by way of forums...it is all there...and if not simply post a question and a solution will be found, much more helpful and knowledgeable than the M$ forums.

I can not complain about the price either, gives Vista a run for it's money, and is comparable to XP, all for free.

Rather than spend $$$ on hardware to make Windows run better, install Linux and have a fast, reliable and safe machine for no further cost at all.

[tinytim]

I've just made the switch and there's a few reasons.

I was running Vista as my main OS starting with the later alpha releases and really like it actually. The biggest problem was with slow file transfers to networked machines (I hear there's a patch that should fix that). Otherwise I had no real problems or complaints. It's the future that made me switch. More DRM type stuff, MS most likely moving to subscription based model with the next version of Windows and the fact that M$ patented adware. It's where Microsoft seems to be heading that made me switch.

[Orbital75]

One word why I switched the " Registry "
When will MS dump that huge massive ball of gunk.
MS has most of it's issues because of it but stays with it
for compatibility. Vista was originally suppose to dump it
but for some reason coded around it. No other OS uses
a Registry, Too many problems associated with it.

MS is an old company trying to hold on to what it has left
I feel this is why they use the business practices they do.
Just look at the recent patent suit they through at the
open source community. Saids a little something to you
doesn't it?

Well, to the point.....

I switched because I used mostly open source software on windows
anyways. Example..... OpenOffice, Firefox, ThunderBird, Audacity, Gimp,
SongBird........ I figured why not just change OS's as well. So I tried an
Ubuntu LiveCD and everything worked perfect the 1st time.....
Ubuntu is pretty straight forward and if you should ever have an issue
there is a great commuity that are willing to help you solve your problem.
Pretty much every question I've ever asked has been solved with the help
of others off the Ubuntu Forum......

[roschell]

Reasons can be many and once you use Linux you find even more. I started on my first computer 386SX20 in the nineties and running DOS, later many versions of Windows, and hardware change, but I often had to go to command line which was safer and worked better then then the Windows environment. Many crashes, freezes etc. followed even when I got my first laptop Toshiba M2.

Windows was just unable to manage tasks I needed to be done. After little bit of research I found open source Linux and bought mag with Xandros in it. It is simple, easy to use and Windows-like environment. However, due to some with my graphic card and other hardware not everything was fully working. I am not a linux programmer, so this was pain. Keeping Windows XP on my laptop was unavoidable. To be honest I tried several distros such as SuSE, PSLinuxOS, Mandrake, CentOS, Fedora, even Solaris, FreeBSD, Debian, Mepis, PC-BSD, to name most of them. The last distribution I had on my laptop was the awaited SLED, it is large distro very customizable, I liked it a lot, but still some probs with hardware and major crash resulting in vast lost of data, made me to try immediately live CD with Ubuntu, and it detected 99% of hardware. I had the winner.

I could not resist, for my work I really need distro I can rely on, dont need much fancies of KDE, and so Ubuntu and Gnome are my choice.

From the beginning it can be hard to get everything working as many plug-ins are not included in the system, but time paid off and now it runs nice and smooth. One thing makes me still to dual boot with Windows XP, which I shaved to basic version, and it is my printer Lexmark with number of cartridges, I can not get working on Ubuntu. When these are gone, I will pack printer and Windows together, wrap them in a roll of paper and put them gently in a yellow bin marked dangerous goods.

Hope it helps, and you choose the right distro for your needs.

[Le Dé]

I flushed windows because Ubuntu is a lot faster and works great with my computer. Windows did not used all the power of my comp, and send me messages like : You can remove this peripheral in full safety (but it was my Hard Drive) :( . All small things like that... And for games it's not anymore a problem with programs like Wine and Cedega. And I used to do graphics, and with programs like The Gimp, you can do a great job. The firsts 3 days of "Ubuntuing" was a little bit difficult, like mastering the Terminal and use Samba to take my backup on my brother's comp, but now with Ubuntu, i'm very satisfied.

[herrdoktor330]

Here are my reasons:

The Anti-MS stuff:

1) I don't believe an operating system should be any more than the price of regular software. $60 would be reasonable for Vista Ultimate Edition. I wouldn't pay a cent more. Linux meets my budget and lets me do everything I've done with Windows (with the exception of high end gaming) for cheaper and more reliable.

2) I use dated hardware that, while meeting my use, is unacceptable for future Windows use. I think this is bumpkis that viable hardware platforms (nForce 2 in my case) are being sent to forced obsolescence. I want a current operating system that's willing to work with what I have.

3) I don't believe that OS stability can be achieved by throwing more system resources at the problem. I don't believe that eyecandy equals a more satisfying PC experience (even though I think Beryl is pretty cool). I believe that requiring more than 1GHZ processing to run the OS is unacceptable and minimum 2GB of RAM for semi-functional performance is absurd.

4) I don't believe in DRM. And the linux world seems to agree with me.

The Linux Highpoints:

1) Low system requirements

2) versitile software that's free of charge

3) constant updates and improvements

4) flexible installation options: "how do you want your linux to work today".

5) secure enviroment that is (mostly) save from hacking.

[herrdoktor330]

Here are my reasons:

The Anti-MS stuff:

1) I don't believe an operating system should be any more than the price of regular software. $60 would be reasonable for Vista Ultimate Edition. I wouldn't pay a cent more. Linux meets my budget and lets me do everything I've done with Windows (with the exception of high end gaming) for cheaper and more reliable.

2) I use dated hardware that, while meeting my use, is unacceptable for future Windows use. I think this is bumpkis that viable hardware platforms (nForce 2 in my case) are being sent to forced obsolescence. I want a current operating system that's willing to work with what I have.

3) I don't believe that OS stability can be achieved by throwing more system resources at the problem. I don't believe that eyecandy equals a more satisfying PC experience (even though I think Beryl is pretty cool). I believe that requiring more than 1GHZ processing to run the OS is unacceptable and minimum 2GB of RAM for semi-functional performance is absurd.

4) I don't believe in DRM. And the linux world seems to agree with me.

The Linux Highpoints:

1) Low system requirements

2) versitile software that's free of charge

3) constant updates and improvements

4) flexible installation options: "how do you want your linux to work today".

5) secure enviroment that is (mostly) save from hacking.

[raldz]

one word:

VISTA

[ZuruxKakyn]

the price we have to pay microsoft is online for a BLANK WINDOWS!! there are no even basic software like winrar, we have to invest tons of money to operate an easily vulnerable windows legally. using ubuntu, i can legally operate stuffs, crash less, virus less and it's free!!

[riger99]

10 Advantages of Ubuntu over Vista (http://ubuntulinuxhelp.com/10-advantages-of-ubuntu-over-vista/)
and
Ubuntu, Why Should You Switch? (http://ubuntulinuxhelp.com/ubuntu-why-should-you-switch/)

[afzalnaj]

My Reasons...altho im typing from xp rite now

Of couse : Cost (altho..im in pakistan...ask any pakistani for how much they get their windows!! only $0.49 u read it right! Vista DVD available for $1.64)...but nobody gets it that cheap legally

Too much control : U can see for yourself...windows literally controls what you do...how many times have u seen access denied while shutting down something thats completely useless?? vista disables hardware automatically (what is up with that???)

Security : Half of the time u dont know whats going on in your system if u havent got an uptodate AV and FW!!!

Speed: even XP sucks the chips out of the system!!! minimum 128 to get it to run at a speed matching internet explorer on a 14.4 kbps connection!!! i wont even go with the details about vista
linux (ubuntu for that matter) run like safari on 512 kbps!!!

Software execution : opens firefox in a fraction of a second (ask anyone!!!)...windows takes something like 20 seconds!!!

and finally...u can actually learn some technical stuff along the way setting up softwares, connections and get to know how your computer really works!...what've i learned from windows??? Only the spelling i guess :p..and u can customize it after uve learned enough!

O...u can computerubuntu with vista directly!! and it will beat the hell out of vista...i can bet my money that the current version will beat the next windows version!!!

[Quinn5219]

Having used Vista on my home pc and notebook since early betas, I am all of a sudden curious as to the advantages of putting Ubuntu on my laptop. I am thinking of a dual boot as there are some pc games that I play when I travel, and feel they won't run/work in Ubuntu.

Curious as to what the "type" of person is who moves from windows to say, ubuntu, and why?
I know a lot of windows apps would not work (and I would have to find different / new apps to replace what I use in windows)....but just wondering from those who have used windows in the past, what made you switch over.

For me, it is a hobby. With all the complications I have had to go through just to try and make my screen resolution more readable by changing the size, It has to be a hobby as I have spent six months and still trying to change this one little problem.
But, I have been playing with Linux for many years and as long as it is as complicated as it seems to remain, it will never replace windows.
With windows, I download a program, install it, then use it.

With Ubuntu, I download a program after I make sure I have gone to third base first, then I must make sure I went to the forum which shows me how to hold my head when trying to kick a field goal, then I jump in the water for the 100 meter relay, then swim out into the middle of a swamp and just wait there.

Little bit complicated, Windows has nothing to worry about , the average computer user would love to replace windows, but as long as it is as complicated as it it, Linux will remain a hobby, a notion, a dream that things could be better, if only.............

[halitech]

I started reading this thread about 90 minutes ago while I was making lunch for my kids and at the same time (after finding the link again) started an install on an old Compaq Armada M700 laptop using the windows based net installer as the CD Rom is toast and no floppy drive. I sit here 90 minutes later, having downloaded the installer, ran it, had it download, install and configure what seems like all my hardware (not sure on suspend and resume yet) and done all the updates. The laptop is basically only going to be used for a little travelling and the only thing left to do is find out if my el cheapo USB wireless adapter will work which from what I've read should (it uses the altheros chipset). things like the power of having this kind of setup being done over an internet connection is what keeps me using Linux and Ubuntu in particular.

Yes, it may take some learning (beening using Ubuntu since Feb 2005) and most days I still feel like a newbie but it is because it offers so much to learn that keeps me sitting down and enjoying my time, not working at keeping it running.

[OrcusFelinus]

Really simple answer: I no longer trust Microsoft.

Somewhat longer answer: Restrictive (and deceptive) EULA's, viruses, trojans, rootkits, spyware, security holes you could drive a van through, *INTERNET EXPLORER*, DRM, et al. And lets not forget the "If we can't beat them, we'll sue them" aspect: Linux copyright infringement claims.

Best answer: Why not? Ubuntu works well, and it cost me nothing other than a blank CD. I've broken my dependencies on MS, maintained my productivity, saved a few bucks and learned a few things along the way.

[ahchong]

why i switch to Ubuntu? easy man.
coz my laptop CANT installed Windows??!!! that what happen, then i found LInux, and yet, for time being work. in my profession to earn 12k per month nedd to be Linux user. this coz im a Medical student.. hehehehe...

[jrlii]

FUD.

That is why I've switched to Linux.

Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt.

Anyone who uses fear to sell a product, be it software (Microsoft) hardware (IBM in it's halcyon days) Government (G. W. Bush) or anything else is evil, and to be avoided as much as possible.

It took a while after Chairman Bill started beating the FUD drum to find a viable alternative, but since I installed Ubuntu 6.06 at home last fall, I've booted Windows exactly ONCE.

Not being a gamer has doubtless has made it easier, but for home use there is just no application which compels me to use Windows any more.

At work, XP still rules, and while Oracle development tools may work under WINE no one has taken the time to see if they will work.

[MTZeon]

Freedom: Free, Reliability, Evolving, Enlightning, Durable, Omnipotent and Mine :)

[RealG187]

Linux of any stripe , not even Ubuntu , is ready for the main stream, and perhaps never will be. But for us techies it is suitable bragging rights to say "I set up an FTP server in Linux" , or "I run Linux at home" or some such , because it *IS* a difficult thing to do , even with the puportedly easy Ubuntu editions.

Ubuntu is the easiest (so they say, I have only tired Ubuntu and DSL and its easier than that), and still can be hard, its a good thing there are forums like this.

Also, when Vista came out, I was still noobish in terms of Linux and askes which version of Linux is closest to Vista, none can some close, I say that any Linux is better than XP though, I heard of Linux XP, that seems to be like Windows in terms of certain things it can do...

I am waiting for the day Linux replaces windows, but yeah companies like Lexmark and Creative Labs (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=3174096#post3174096) arent seeing things what way...


Hey, these ppl think ubuntu can replace XP and Vista:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Ubuntu-Linux-Best-OS-on-the-planet-replace-XP-Vista_W0QQitemZ130140513696QQihZ003QQcategoryZ4188 8QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/Ubuntu-Linux-Best-OS-on-the-planet-replace-XP-Vista_W0QQitemZ130140513861QQihZ003QQcategoryZ4188 8QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/Ubuntu-Linux-Best-OS-on-the-planet-replace-XP-Vista_W0QQitemZ130140520049QQihZ003QQcategoryZ4188 8QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/Ubuntu-Linux-Best-OS-on-the-planet-replace-XP-Vista_W0QQitemZ130140520269QQihZ003QQcategoryZ4188 8QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/Ubuntu-Linux-Best-OS-on-the-planet-replace-XP-Vista_W0QQitemZ130140520441QQihZ003QQcategoryZ4188 8QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/Ubuntu-Linux-Best-OS-on-the-planet-replace-XP-Vista_W0QQitemZ130140520530QQihZ003QQcategoryZ4188 8QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/Ubuntu-Linux-Best-OS-on-the-planet-replace-XP-Vista_W0QQitemZ130140520650QQihZ003QQcategoryZ4188 8QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/Ubuntu-Linux-Best-OS-on-the-planet-replace-XP-Vista_W0QQitemZ130140520850QQihZ003QQcategoryZ4188 8QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[punong_bisyonaryo]

With Ubuntu, I download a program after I make sure I have gone to third base first, then I must make sure I went to the forum which shows me how to hold my head when trying to kick a field goal, then I jump in the water for the 100 meter relay, then swim out into the middle of a swamp and just wait there.

When I first got a taste of Linux as a trainee in my company, the trainers (who knew how to use Linux just barely), installation consisted of giving us a copy of a tarball, extracting it, compiling, and building, etc., which I imagine is the triathlon you go through. I try to stay away from these as much as I can these days.

The thing is, there's this handy utility called Synaptic (or Add/Remove Programs, whichever you prefer).

You select a program, then use it. That easy! Compare that with

With windows, I download a program, install it, then use it.

Don't forget, before any downloading happens in Windows, you also have to select the program you'd want to download.

(Technically, it still downloads and installs the program, but Synaptic does it for you, so the selecting part is the only thing you have to do)

[yorkie]

I think its time to end this thread enough has been said on the subject.
your time could be better spent helping other users with there problems
cheers

[RealG187]

3. DRM protection being built-in to the OS. Heard of the Zune? Yep, that's M$' music player. Recently, owners of Zune suddenly can't play some of their LEGALLY PURCHASED music. Why? I think it has something to do with the copy protection rules changing, rendering people's entire collections unusable.


Vista doesnt have DRM does it? I can play my MP3s whether they be copied from a CD or downloaded off websites or P2P...

When you say Zune you dont mean This (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=523328) do you>



6. Hardware requirements -- I'll let you figure this out yourself. In the meantime, consider that Mepis running Beryl on idle consumes <100Mb, while Vista on Aero consumes about half-a-gig of ram. Minimum install requirements for Vista is 15Gb compared to about 2Gb.

Actaully I can still run Windows 98 or XP (but slow) on These Machines (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=409843) and Text Editors (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=518551) take a while to load, and Wine is slower than Windows....


I still love Ubuntu but Windows vista and 98 aint that bad, I hate XP and somewhat 98 and all my hatrid of Vista disappeared once I got it...

[jake16424]

Having used Vista on my home pc and notebook since early betas, I am all of a sudden curious as to the advantages of putting Ubuntu on my laptop. I am thinking of a dual boot as there are some pc games that I play when I travel, and feel they won't run/work in Ubuntu.

Curious as to what the "type" of person is who moves from windows to say, ubuntu, and why?
I know a lot of windows apps would not work (and I would have to find different / new apps to replace what I use in windows)....but just wondering from those who have used windows in the past, what made you switch over.

so that you could struggle to get macromedia flash to work, >=( and realtek audio drivers,,

[bruckwine]

Well after years of reading about open source and the pluses, and experiencing the benefits of Unix thru OS X I decided to try Ubuntu and I can say it's better than both XP and OS X so far wrt stability (w/o compiz that is), resources and customizability..now for me to learn all these darned commands :D

[vexorian]

I have not ever used windows vista, but I know one thing, windows 98 has to be the worst thing that has happened to my computer, it crashed all the time. windows XP was a hell of an improvement, right now I would not advice my worst enemy to use windows 98.

[vexorian]

Linux of any stripe , not even Ubuntu , is ready for the main stream, and perhaps never will be. But for us techies it is suitable bragging rights to say "I set up an FTP server in Linux" , or "I run Linux at home" or some such , because it *IS* a difficult thing to do , even with the puportedly easy Ubuntu editions.

When I read "Ready for the desktop" I compare windows 95 with ubuntu feisty. And have to say If windwos 95 was ready for the desktop (And I am sure it was since a bunchload of people used it) then feisty is (ready for the desktop) raised to the fifth power.

[RealG187]

Installation:
- The CD initially boots into some text mode installation, very hard to deal with, then in the middle of the process it is required to format partitions from text mode and then it copies itself to continue the process. This install process is average in regards of simplicity.

Weel yeah live CDs are cool you can use the OS while its installing (didnt know that until I see a video), but my computer dont work well...


Dual Boot:
- The installer totally ignored my other partitions, I had to implement Grub manually in order to recover my other operating systems

Typical Micro$oft monopoly

http://www.pixelbeat.org/ms_mirth/microsoft075.jpg

- When the animation ended and I got outside the tutorial, I could notice that the resolution was very small! this monitor+graphic card combo allows a max of 1280x1024, but windows wouldn't allow me to choose more than 400x300!

At first I could only get 640 X 480, now I got normal 1024 X 768, but 400 X 300 is worse AND my video cards suck (can support for old video card be imp MB the I get an X Server message, on the card I am using now it works but Live CD dont work, it crashes, so I can use Live CD but with glitches or not use Live CD at all use alternate and run fine...


This is one of the points in which windows is terribly lacking, let's see:
- Notepad: VERY limited, you can't even enable auto indentation, and it only supports MSDOS text file format...
- WordPad: Not too much options, I couldn't find basic things like spell check, openoffice writer or even abiword are like 45 times more complete than this.
- MSPaint : Has anyone tried doing serious art work on this? No point of comparisson to the Gimp.
- Calc : It is kind of good although I miss expression evaluation, it is a little faster than an actual simulation of a real calculator.
- Games : VERY few games, although minesweeper is good.
- Internet explorer 6: I don't think it actually had theme support? And no tabs? wtf?


Well for notepad I like a simple editor Linux ones run slow on my system (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=518551), however to run notepad in WIne takes even longer than using straight Linux ones...

Worpad, yeah a rip off of word...

Paint, funny the 3.1 manual said it was for grayscale or color, simple or elaborate pictsures, paint cant to elaborate, when I save to JPG the appears wierd, I have to save to BMP and convert with an other app...

I cant figure out GIMP I think I could try Krita...

Calc Its okay, Speed Crunch seems coller though.

Games, well only card games back when I had 3.1 and then MS ent pack that would do, but I play more advanced games, Same Gnome is cool but I dont use my PC for gaming (it sucks) I use it to get games and put the on PSP/NDS...

I tried windows media player but it can't play my DVDs
You kind of cant in Linux either, you need to install it via the repos...

[jenson]

I felt great to have found this thread. The reason I switched (not 100%, I still dual boot with Windoze XP and Ubuntu) is mainly out of curiosity. I have long wished to try out Linux. I get a copy of Fedora before, unfortunately the setup complete successfully but I can't see the screen, it's just black and blank screen. I've tried to search and ask around but to no avail of any solution. Then I gave up and stick back to Windoze XP Pro which I hated it day after day.

My system become slower, and hardware getting overworked on those resource intensive processes, applications, and etc. The reason I still keep XP Pro as one of my OS choice is mainly for the games and programming work. I'm a programmer working on .NET and unfortunately my company rejected my suggestions to do Linux and Java programming. They are die hard GOLD PARTNER of M$, which I hated the most, but no choice, I still have to feed myself and my family, so I have decided to do a search again for Linux that supports my widescreen laptop.

I found Ubuntu, which never come across my mind before, and I read so much discussions and suggestions to use Ubuntu and how good it is until I can't stop myself from trying it and I started downloading and burning the ISO and installed right away after the burning completed and happy with it until now.

Something funny to mention is although I keep the Windoze XP Pro, I found that I never boot into it ever since I get my Ubuntu setup and configured to suit my daily needs, except for programming. It's amazing how much I'm attracted to Ubuntu and now I'm planning to learn and do programming with Java on ubuntu and learn to be a more experience Ubuntu/Linux user and try to contribute back.

If not for my job I would have deleted Windoze as I find .NET totally sucks to the core. But I still have to develop software on Windoze and Visual Studio 2005! Which make me suffered once in a while. But using Ubuntu is a breeze for me at home until I totally forgot that I was a long-time windoze user!

I didn't know that I would not be a windoze user one day like now when i started using computer since primary 4! I thought the world would evolve around Windoze (So NAIVE!!!) until I found out about open source and Linux and started to explore more on it and start loving it until I finally have my very own Linux, which is Ubuntu and never regretted getting it installed and constantly squeezing space from XP for my Ubuntu :):lolflag::guitar:

[Sobriquet]

The reason I installed Ubuntu was because everyone kept on about how good it was, so I thought i'd give it a shot. Now I have the Internet running on it I think I will use this as my main OS (im dualbooting so my Dad can use Vista). Still a few little issues like picking up my Ext HDD cause it has all my music on but nothing too major.

It runs alot smoother than any other OS ive used, im assuming it doesnt need as much power.

[Graduate]

I didn't like Vista and I don't have an XP disc. My whole hd is dedicated to ubuntu until I have to put music into my clix. Then I'll get an XP disc and dual boot.

[RealG187]

I felt great to have found this thread. The reason I switched (not 100%, I still dual boot with Windoze XP and Ubuntu) is mainly out of curiosity. I have long wished to try out Linux. I get a copy of Fedora before, unfortunately the setup complete successfully but I can't see the screen, it's just black and blank screen. I've tried to search and ask around but to no avail of any solution. Then I gave up and stick back to Windoze XP Pro which I hated it day after day.

My system become slower, and hardware getting overworked on those resource intensive processes, applications, and etc. The reason I still keep XP Pro as one of my OS choice is mainly for the games and programming work. I'm a programmer working on .NET and unfortunately my company rejected my suggestions to do Linux and Java programming. They are die hard GOLD PARTNER of M$, which I hated the most, but no choice, I still have to feed myself and my family, so I have decided to do a search again for Linux that supports my widescreen laptop.

I found Ubuntu, which never come across my mind before, and I read so much discussions and suggestions to use Ubuntu and how good it is until I can't stop myself from trying it and I started downloading and burning the ISO and installed right away after the burning completed and happy with it until now.

Something funny to mention is although I keep the Windoze XP Pro, I found that I never boot into it ever since I get my Ubuntu setup and configured to suit my daily needs, except for programming. It's amazing how much I'm attracted to Ubuntu and now I'm planning to learn and do programming with Java on ubuntu and learn to be a more experience Ubuntu/Linux user and try to contribute back.

If not for my job I would have deleted Windoze as I find .NET totally sucks to the core. But I still have to develop software on Windoze and Visual Studio 2005! Which make me suffered once in a while. But using Ubuntu is a breeze for me at home until I totally forgot that I was a long-time windoze user!

I didn't know that I would not be a windoze user one day like now when i started using computer since primary 4! I thought the world would evolve around Windoze (So NAIVE!!!) until I found out about open source and Linux and started to explore more on it and start loving it until I finally have my very own Linux, which is Ubuntu and never regretted getting it installed and constantly squeezing space from XP for my Ubuntu :):lolflag::guitar:



Yeah, I was curous too, at first Linux was just a word I threw around when mad at Mac OS and M$, like I didnt know anything about, where to get/how much this was and I didnt have a "Linux Box" and didnt know where to get one and if it would be of any use.

Found out Linux is free and can run on any Mac or PC (pop in CD install, there any PC is a "Linux Box" and you can get Liniux off the web

http://www.roumazeilles.net/images/linux_reinstall.jpg (http://forums.delphiforums.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=bestforumever&msg=203.1)
Here is Linux's "advertising campaign" aint it great, it spread by users of it by pointing out how much WIndoze sucks!

And yeah, my PC was so slow I had to reinstall XP monthly...

[jenson]

Well, I think I manage to convert another Windoze user to use Ubuntu (though he is more interested in getting Edubuntu), and he's planning to get a new laptop and would like to dual boot Edubuntu with Vista, well, time will tell when will he get rid of his Vista. I started to hate Windoze so much until I try to shunned away from things that I have to do on Windows, and nah, I don't want to run WINE or anything else to run Windoze on my Ubuntu, it's an INSULT to "dirty" my HOLY ubuntu with the EVIL WINDOZE!

Unfortunately gaming wise and .NET programming still require me to go back to XP and do my work. I hate Windoze but using .NET is my work. I am considering a shift from .NET programming to Java programming, of course I wish to be proficient enough in .NET and convince my customer to Java. That would be a cool thing to do.

Well, I really urge that all the major software and games vendors to actually build their supports for Linux platforms. If they don't do that, they are telling the Linux community that they are supporting Windoze =X

Cheers! And long live Ubuntu!

[caricc]

If the wireless would work out of box for ubuntu I would have no problem switching over completely to 100% linux. But, to date that hasn't happened. Until it does and when kernel updates don't mess up the wireless connection without having to reconfigure, recompile etc.
Close, no cigar.....yet.

[zealot2]

the reason I dumped windows for Linux was that, there were to many virsus and all ten of my store bought anti-virus wernt working and crashing so I got fed up and switched to Linux

[WebSiteGuru]

If the wireless would work out of box for ubuntu I would have no problem switching over completely to 100% linux. But, to date that hasn't happened. Until it does and when kernel updates don't mess up the wireless connection without having to reconfigure, recompile etc.
Close, no cigar.....yet.

Mine work out of the box fine. The only thing I had to do is WEB configured it. :D :lolflag:

[WebSiteGuru]

My reason was The Dang Virus, Spywares, etc... Got hit twice in 1 1/2 month. :( So, I said good bye to Windows, and say Hello Linux.

[donkolion]

Having used Vista on my home pc and notebook since early betas, I am all of a sudden curious as to the advantages of putting Ubuntu on my laptop. I am thinking of a dual boot as there are some pc games that I play when I travel, and feel they won't run/work in Ubuntu.

Curious as to what the "type" of person is who moves from windows to say, ubuntu, and why?
I know a lot of windows apps would not work (and I would have to find different / new apps to replace what I use in windows)....but just wondering from those who have used windows in the past, what made you switch over.

The greed that is common with MS, the installation of the advantage tool, the targetting of MSOS's, viruses etc.

[deserthowler]

Damn it!! It's my computer! I don't like the way Microsoft tells me I have to run it.

Earl

[Arthur Archnix]

Wow. Great thread. Good read.

Me, I just got tired of people telling me what I could do with the software (e.g. Vista ) I purchased. Sorry, if I buy it it's mine. But you don't really buy Windows; You rent it for a one-time fee.

Plus, after a while I found I was using more and more free and open-source software (e.g., firefox, frostwire, avast, comodo). Haven't looked back since switching.

Though, a twisted part of me actually misses running virus and spyware scans once a month. Old habits.

[Richardinho]

One word; Security.
I got seriously burned using Windows. People say that Linux involves a lot of work-it can, but so does Windows (and a bit of money) if you want your system secure. Even then, you can download all the spywear detectors and install all the anti-virus programs you like-you still can't be sure-believe me!

Touch wood linux is as secure as people claim.

Saying that, having migrated over here, there are a lot of things I like about it more than Windows. I like all the free stuff! and the ease with which you can install it. I like the GUI, both it's user friendlyness and it's overall look. I like the way the system is reasonably transparent, and so it's possible to understand how it works, rather than being confronted with a black box, like Windows.

[arrasonline]

First, I am a life-long Microsoft user. I've had my problems with MS-DOS, Windows 3.1, Windows 95, 98, ME, XP, XP Pro, and yes, even Vista. BUT, through all my difficulties, I've been able to make every part of my computer work.

This said, I installed Ubuntu the other day on an old desktop sitting around collecting dust and I LOVED IT! Everything in Feisty worked well "out of the box."

BUT, what I really want to use Ubuntu on is my work laptop that I bought for myself this year, a cheap, but quite effective, Gateway MT-3422. I took off Vista immediately and installed Ubuntu. Everything worked except for two things: my sound (SigmaTel 9200 chip) and my wireless (RealTek 8185).

I am not savvy enough to work the linux kernels and apparently I am not savvy enough to get drivers working. My research found others with similar predicaments...some have been working at it for over a year.

So, what will it take for me to leave Windows XP Professional? I need all my laptop parts working "out of the box" with Ubuntu.

I REALLY want to make the big switch, but I lack the ability (with my English brain) to compile code and learn some of what other linux users know already.

Here's hoping that Gutsy will fix my problems. Thanks for listening.

arrasonline

[kwacka]

Creative Zen 30 GB. It's an old one too.

Try sudo apt-get install gnomad2 (need universe repository enabled)

"Gnomad2 is a GTK+ music manager and swiss army knife for the Creative Labs NOMAD and Zen range plus the Dell DJ devices using the Portable Digital Entertainment (PDE) protocol."

How about mplayer for .asf files?

[kwacka]

The only people I ever managed to convince to switch to Linux (or Mac) did so to get away from the Windows virus and crapware problems.

Most people however, are perfectly happy managing their viruses and crapware on Windows and are very adept at it. They simply don't believe that it is better on the far side of the hill.

The great tragedy is that most people don't know what crap Windows is - they've never been exposed to anything else;

They tell me that it does everything they want; it never crashes, etc. and when I describe a 'crash' I'm told "all computers do that".

I ask how often they use the reset button, and tell them it was two years before I found out I hadn't wired mine up.

I have to disagree with your comment that most people manage their virii etc adeptly - the folk I know tend to do nothing about it until it makes it totally obvious (even to them) that there's something wrong and then scream for help.

[kwacka]

Everything worked except for two things: my sound (SigmaTel 9200 chip) and my wireless (RealTek 8185).


1. install (e.g.) gnome alsa mixer, open it and make sure the 'external amplifier" box is un-ticked.

2. RT8185 use ndiswrapper (latest version from their site) and the Windows driver from RealTek's site. Easier if you also use the ndiswrapper gui.

Check out www.linux-laptop.net

[hyper_ch]

I haven't read through all of it, just about the first 20 pages ;)

Anyway, one thing that hasn't been mentioned before is privacy or security with regards to privacy.

As some of you know the NSA did also develop a few things in XP and Vista. However one does not know what exactley they put in there. That should worry you.

Furthermore, the US has been known to use its intelligence agencies to to spy on foreign corportations and pass down information to their US corportations.

As small and medium sized companies very likely don't have an own IT department that will secure the network I am still amazed, that they all trust in the M$/NSA product.

I value my privacy and that was one more reason to ditch M$ - except for a dual boot partition for a few games.

[ranser]

I had win xp serv pack 1 for almoust 2 years. Then I wanted to install sv2 and I couldn't of course because it was a hack. Then I read something on the net about how to fool WPA and hack registry, I did, and then installed, and then on restart got the message about something error 8000....windows cannot accurately identifty copy or something and then i thought: f^ck it! and installed ubuntu because of it being "ready to use". I am using ubuntu for 5 days now and it seems ok. I am quite happy with it. And I already have learned some new things in this 5 days.. So I guess it's ok to use free software and wouldn't see any reasons to go back to wind in the future :)

[seattle vic]

My old win 2K system got some adware and I had to reload the os about 4 times, so I figured it was time for a new computer anyway. Got a dual core pentium with vista, but instead of tossing out the old machine, I did a little research on linux (I used bsd unix in the 70's) and installed fiesty on it.

It came right up and after playing with it I did a dual install on the new machine as well, and use it now more than vista.

The interface is clean, loading programs is almost too easy and I don't have to obsess with firewall and virus/adware/spyware issues (at least not yet). And I'm having some fun relearning the shell and poking at the guts of the machine a bit. Still need vista to connect to work, but probably could overcome that as well. Vista will soon be a memory.

[MeeMaw]

Well, my Windows box crashed a couple of times, and I had to pay to have it reinstalled (before I knew what I know now, which still isn't much! Ha!)

I got tired of the THREE HOURS it took me to virus scan, spyware & adware scan and defrag at least once a month (and I still have to do that at work!!!!)

My wonderful brother, who uses Ubuntu, suggested I research Linux.... so I did. I have a hard drive with Linux that I use 99.9% of the time, and a hard drive with XP on it so I can play a Windows game or two, but I hardly ever do.

I love that almost all the programs I could ever want are on the CD and if I think I want something else, it's in the repositories, free, and already tested so it's compatible with everything else I already have. All my hardware works (even my Linksys wireless card) and I don't have to keep feeding the virus scan companies money I can use to spoil my grandchildren! AND - I can actually USE my computer now.... instead of just "maintaining" it. I'm still a noob..... and still learning.
:) Thanks, Bro, for introducing me to Linux!!!!

[lboog123]

Check this article out about why Hackers are switching
from Windows to Linux here. Hackers switching to Linux. (http://toptechcertifications.blogspot.com/2007/10/ebay-hackers-switch-from-windows-to.html)

[strabes]

Free. Freedom. No viruses. No spyware. Faster. More secure. Software repositories. Customizeable. Fewer reboots. Virtual desktops. Far superior eye candy. Simple UI (gnome). Easier to switch network interfaces. The power of the command line. Easier and faster to install. Regular updates. Out-of-the-box hardware support.

[Deadmode]

I played with Ubuntu out of curiosity after my friend showed me it. After a while I found that I could accomplish so much more with Linux. When I say "accomplish so much more" I mean with customization and utilization of the OS. In Windows you can customize the PC, but it often gets very pissed. In Ubuntu, there is no defragmentation need and there isn't a real need for anti-virus programs either. I use a dual partition with Ubuntu as my main OS and Windows as my other OS. I only have Windows as my other OS because Ubuntu still needs some support with hardware drivers (especially video and networking drivers) and windows still runs games better than Ubuntu. That's only because that have proper driver support, but hopefully that will change soon. Truthfully I don't feel there is much you can't do in Linux. It's a hard working, free OS, that is fixable. I can't tell you how many times I got frustrated with Windows because of something I wasn't able to fix. That is literally quite the opposite with Ubuntu. If you have a real bad problem with Ubuntu just throw in the Live CD and you could surely fix a serious issue. Or most things could be fixed straight from terminal. Windows OS takes up a large amount of disk space whereas I have given Ubuntu 10GB of HD space and only used a grand total of 5GB. Nothing beats a free open source, reliable, and fun Ubuntu. God bless you Linux users and especially you programmers for making a great free OS. =D>

[Tom Mann]

That's a nice myth, but being nice doesn't stop it from being a myth, it is not popularity what makes windows insecure, and patch-like solutions like antiviruses won't solve anything (heck I know they don't since I had 3 malware infestations on totally monitored machines) Apache is way more popular than ISS yet ISS is the one that gets attacked the most...

Since you mentioned that you used windows 98, I'll have to guess you are lying, since BSODs were heck frequent back then.



It has to be done... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGLhuF3L48U

[scorn]

I moved (90% there) from windows to Ubuntu Feisty. I say only 90% because I dual boot now and then.
Why, you may ask did I move. Well I always wanted to try out linux properly, so I just took the plunge. Also I support the OSS initative and principals and I thought that this was the best way.
So far there was not one piece of software that I needed in windows that could not be sourced for linux, so I could still do everything.

The transition was not too painful (I did have a colleague that has extensive experience).
I support our clients software and I need to test often in a windows environment, so my solution to that was to download vmserver and build a basic windows VM and test in that.
I also do c# dev as a hobby, and this was the main reason for me keeping the win partition, however I can do that now with the mono project, or in the vm above.


The way things are going, I will probably get rid of the Win partition totally and only have the linux image.

Go Linux........

[goodboyCerberus]

Can't really put it better than the other excellent replies, but I have a short testimonial: Linux helped me quit World of Warcraft!

Of course I got it working in WINE, but as luck would have it I was getting tired of the game and it helped me realize what a waste of time it really was.

[gshockxc]

Everyone is different, but I think the answer to your question lies not in whether the operating system performed as expected, but rather, the nature of the person who is answering the question and using the operating system.

I think you will find that users of Ubuntu prefer freedom to choose what they want their operating system to do, rather than being told what to do by the operating system. :shock:


I know that's why I'm switching. :)

[Starrfoxx]

here is a better question: what would make someone switch from Ubuntu to Windows?

I like playing games on XP. Currently I have a dual boot with Feisty and XP. I haven't completely switched over, and it may take me some time before I do. I'm still getting used to how Linux works and how to install things that can't be done from a repository.

Certain games that I enjoy are Sims, Sims 2, the SimCity games, Everquest, City of Heroes, Morrowind, and Oblivion. I haven't seen much success with the Sims games working, although I read one report that it worked okay in VMware. Sims 2 doesn't work at all, from what I've researched. I don't think Oblivion will work as well in Ubuntu as it does in XP. I haven't found anything out about the SimCity games (like version 4) or EQ and CoH. Cedega sounds great, but I don't like the idea of paying for something that would be free with XP. Plus I couldn't find any compatibility with Cedega and other games I mentioned, although Oblivion was on list.

I think Ubuntu is getting there. It's only a matter of time and either Wine, Cedega, or even VMware will be alternatives to running those games.

[riche]

I've had the Ubuntu CD's floating around for some time now, after putting Vista onto my machine, then 12 hours later taking it back off again, I now dual boot XP/Ubuntu, XP for my games and ASP web dev, and ubuntu for everything else, someone else wrote, how nice it is not the have to worry about spyware or viruses, how right they are....

Kudos to the ubuntu team, and when RM's (Research Machines) release their CC4 product for the school I work in, my Work pc will be rebuilt with ubuntu as well :)

[AbredPeytr]

Why I installed Ubuntu on my laptop? Because I could get a 64 bit version free. The performance enhancement over XP is amazing.

I just use my Windows partition as a storage house (music, etc.).

[jediscout]

I just like the look and feel better than Windows. I just downloaded the older 6.1 Ubuntu onto an old Dell Latitude 400 and I'm impressed with how much better it looks than the XP Professional that was already installed in it. Although I might find it harder to do what I want accomplished with it; I like the fact it is probably a bit safer to work with on the internet. I just need to get up to speed and be another happy member of the Ubuntu community.

[newlinux]

Free (OS and good software), MythTV, more secure, easier for me to customize, and so many choices. Plus windows has been unstable for me. And for the learning. I feel like I know PCs better now (was kind of forced too).

And Ubuntu for the community.

[Smith]

I'm a VERY new convert, I only actually managed a full installation last night with everything working and simply ran the live CD before then.

I'm a longterm Windows user and former DOS jockey (3.0 was the first version I used but it was old then!). CLI doesn't scare me, even now you can do SO much through cmd under Windows that it just isn't funny anymore that most people don't know it's there.

I got fed up of the "point and click" approach. I disliked the version of Mac OS I was forced to use in school for exactly that reason and recently realised that I'd become exactly the same.

I LIKE to know what's under the hood. You wouldn't buy a car without checking the engine. Why on Earth would you not do the same with an OS? When it was DOS under the hood I knew where I was. I used Windows 2000 for a long while because it WORKED. The best version ever was shelved and I was forced to put up with what, to me at least, is a vastly inferior version. So you can make it prettier - does it work better? No.

I have to support Windows users on a daily basis, my work system runs XP pro and the whole network is based on 2003 server. Do I want the same thing on my home system? Hell no! I have enough trouble with that at work! I ran XP 64 for a while then got seriously fed up with the lack of driver support so decided to try something else. I ran a live CD for browsing etc for a long while then decided at the weekend "What the hell, go for it!"

I've had Ubuntu installed for a grand total of 2 days now. Not exactly a great amount of time. I preferred it for browsing etc when I was running a live CD, now I boot to it first. I have all the basic applications I need WITHOUT adding extra packages (something you can't say of Windows) and, while I had a couple of problems during installation, everything went pretty smoothly. I even have my mouse working almost completely than it did in Windows by editing 1 file (changed 3 entries in xorg.conf and added 2). This would have required multiple driver versions and repeated reboots under Windows(been there, done that and hate the t-shirt). Change one file under Ubuntu and it's job done!

My gaming will be sorted when ET:Quake Wars releases the Linux client and for anything else I actually can be bothered with there's always either the XP 64 drive or Cedega.

Now I just have to locate an alternative to PSPad for Linux and find out if there's a Linux flavour of Numara TrackIT and I may be able to convince work to change my system there as well!

The solitary, stand out above the rest, main reason I prefer it? Workspaces. I don't need to watch everything that's going on at once but I do need to monitor it. Workspaces allow me to do that ridiculously quickly, Windows doesn't.

[mivo]

<quote>Curious as to what the "type" of person is who moves from windows to say, ubuntu, and why?</quote>

I had wanted to switch to Linux for several years, but PC gaming and my employer's Windows application prevented me from it. Dual-booting was not an option for me because that is too much hassle. I finally switched to Linux when my gaming habits changed towards consoles and when my employer's application ran flawlessly under Wine.

So, why did I want to migrate to Linux? I like the spirit of Linux, but there are other reasons as well: much better performance on the same hardware, more control over the system, better software management, no one making decisions for me what I can see or do on my computer (DRM), no one spying on me and collecting data (I have nothing to hide, but this is a matter of principle), excellent selection of well-integrated productivity software, and a great community.

If I depended on certain commercial applications or were still into PC gaming, things might look differently. But everything I need for my job and for my personal use is offered by Linux or runs under Linux. There are still games i will buy, like Unreal Tournament 2008 and X3, both of which are released for Linux. I also enjoy Dominions 3, which offers native versions for Windows, MacOS and Linux.

All in all, moving to Linux/Ubuntu has really enhanced my computing quality and improved my productivity.

[rdsii64]

I tried Ubuntu to see what Linux was all about. After about a week I found that the only time I went to XP was to watch the WMV videos. Otherwise I was doing everything on Ubuntu.

Then I read about the WGA where you would have to either buy new license for Windows if you changed modules or spend time on the phone getting a new key. When I coupled that with the fact that I spent hours running malware/spyware/virus detection/defrag programs almost every time I went to XP and I also had to run updates almost every time I went to XP I just figured M$ can just go to hell as far as I am concerned. Since then I have signed onto XP twice. Now I spend time looking into the various distros of Linux to see how they differ and whether my first choice was the final one or not. So far Ubuntu has met all my needs and thanks to this forum all my questions have been answered promptly and completely. Why bother with XP then.:D :D
With right codecs and plugins you can watch WMV video clips with any one of the linux video players

[00arthuryu]

Compiz fusion. (period) :lolflag:

[chocaholicteabag]

I have just changed over on our desktop for Windows XP to kubuntu. last year I upgraded from Win ME to XP & since then I've had to reinstall XP 12 times in 12 months. Enough is enough.

I have a friend who is enthusatic about Linux & after trying the Live CD I decided to change when XP next when down.

The change hasn't been problem ffree but I think that is because I need to get use to a new system.

[Starrfoxx]

This problem and more could sway me to dump Windows a lot sooner...

http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/tech-news/?p=1189

[newlinux]

This problem and more could sway me to dump Windows a lot sooner...

http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/tech-news/?p=1189

*sigh*
Not too unexpected though...

[gshockxc]

This problem and more could sway me to dump Windows a lot sooner...

http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/tech-news/?p=1189

That, in and of itself, is enough to make me want to switch my machine cold turkey. I don't care how much I have to learn. Knowing what's going on with my machine is paramount.

[Orbital75]

Well, there are so many reasons I switched. One of the most important is Security.
With Ubuntu and other Linux Distros, you just don't have to worry about all the
Spyware and Viruses. If you want to look at it, picture windows as a Black hole
sucking all the Viruses and Malware away from Linux and Macs. We just don't have
that problem because we're seen as few and non profitable by Virus Writers.

A second reason I left windows was Activation and the way the company was
headed. Microsoft wants to keep calling me a pirate even though I have a legit
copy. Not only do they insist that I prove I'm not a crook but they charge me an
outrages price to purchase their product. The whole WGA did it for me, they
mistreat their customers.

A third reason would be Customization. I can make my Linux look any way I like
without having to purchase any Third Party Software. Your Linux can look any
way you choose for free....

A forth reason would be cost. Linux is free or very inexpensive with some distros
They don't charge outrages prices for a Flawed OS as Microsoft does.

A fifth reason would be Support. The Community here is amazing and will help
you through hard times if you get stuck or something does break. When you
need help from Microsoft the first thing they ask is a credit card number.

Linux = Good :KS

[mivo]

That, in and of itself, is enough to make me want to switch my machine cold turkey. I don't care how much I have to learn. Knowing what's going on with my machine is paramount.

Last year one of the "critical updates" for XP "phoned home". It was not a "critical update" at all, just declared as such so that people would download it. MS admitted to it later.

I agree, it is suspicious activities such as these that turned me away from Windows.I switched in cold turkey fashion, and have not regretted it. :)

[jgrabham]

98SE was outdated (in 2006, Im a bit slow lol) and I cant afford to spend £80 on an OS (Im 15 (13 then))

[anemptygun]

Check this article out about why Hackers are switching
from Windows to Linux here. Hackers switching to Linux. (http://toptechcertifications.blogspot.com/2007/10/ebay-hackers-switch-from-windows-to.html)

lol. most hackers already use linux.

[anemptygun]

I moved to linux because...

1. Windows vista sucks.
2. I like the idea of open source.
3. Free is the best price.
4. Security.
5. Customization.
6. Speed.

[hyper_ch]

We just don't have
that problem because we're not seen as few and non profitable by Virus Writers.

That's actually only partially true ;) and it's often used as marketing tool by M$ by implying when numbers of linux users grow there will evidentially also viruses and malware grow proportionally... however that statement neglects quite a few things ;)

[lfever]

Stability, security and not having to shell out $$$ for an OS after MS decides to no longer support your current OS.

As far as games, buy a game machine ( Play Station, XBox, etc), just think of the games you could buy with the $$$ you aren't giving to MS for a OS and applications of which I have been able to find 99.9% of the applications I need and more are becoming available all the time.

Of course this is my opinion and you you know what they say about opinions. :lolflag:

Linux Rocks
lfever :guitar:

[Joeb454]

I have to agree with the person above. Buy a console if you play games, it's cheaper, and you don't have to upgrade the hardware half as often.

Though Linux has a fair bit of learning when coming from Windows, I think it's worth it in the long run.

[Irihapeti]

Ubuntu does everything that I want. It has price on its side. :-) It uses half the memory that Vista does when it's just resting. I think Ubuntu's more stable, too. No, I know it is!

And when I've logged in, I can get on with my work straight away. Vista needed several minutes to carry out certain tasks. It was a waste of time trying to open programs during that time. I didn't know and couldn't easily find out what those tasks were, either - something else I wasn't very keen on.

I suppose, too, I'm a bit of a tinkerer by nature. Ubuntu lends itself very well to that sort of thing.

I was at a meeting the other night, where someone expressed surprise and admiration (I'm fairly sure it was!) that I was running linux. I have to say that feels good.

At the end of the day, though, each to his/her own.

Irihapeti

[Kymus]

Curious as to what the "type" of person is who moves from windows to say, ubuntu, and why?
I know a lot of windows apps would not work (and I would have to find different / new apps to replace what I use in windows)....but just wondering from those who have used windows in the past, what made you switch over.

I've used Windoze products for the past 20 years. I am utterly sick of Windoze; it's such a piece of trash and I've never been a Microsoft fan to begin with considering their strong corporate greed and how crappy their products turn out even though they've got the money to fund - you know - a real OS. I'm only going to be using WIndowsXP for some gamming, and even that I'll see if I can find a way around.

[Kymus]

Stability, security and not having to shell out $$$ for an OS after MS decides to no longer support your current OS.

As far as games, buy a game machine ( Play Station, XBox, etc), just think of the games you could buy with the $$$ you aren't giving to MS for a OS and applications of which I have been able to find 99.9% of the applications I need and more are becoming available all the time.

I always made it a point to never pay for Microsoft products :D

I refuse to give them a single penny (which is why I'll never own an Xbox either)

[fr££]

Reason for moving to Ubuntu from windows:

You have a spare couple of hours and half a brain.


Actually, my friend is in this boat, I already converted him to firefox and after a few false starts finally got him using windows without needing a reinstall every month. (Not surfing as "Administrator" was a major breakthrough for him!)

Its been about 18 months since he got the fox and he's finally agreed to let me set-up kubuntu for him in a few days, dual-booting initailly. His biggest worries were not being able to use it and not being able to find linux versions of the windows programs he uses. Bear in mind all he really uses is vlc, firefox, mTorrent and nero!

I basically let him play with my distro for an hour, He's now pretty excited:

"That sure beats the whole updates/SP2/genuine advantage carry-on...."
"Wow! Kpatience is great!"
"I can't believe how easy it is to use. Can you set it up to do double-clicking instead?"
"Are you sure this is free?"
"But where *are* all these packages coming from?" (about adept gui)

These are all statements direct (in meaning, if not verbatim) from him.


Games playing is about the only good reason I can think of to keep a windows install, and even then the curious should give dual-booting a go and save yourself a tonne of internet related hassle. Yes, there are technical elements to using linux that may cause some distress initially, but only while you break the bad habits that Micro$oft have etched into you. =)

EDIT - more esoterically, when you ditch Win and run linux, you bring the world a tiny little step closer to utopia. I'm not going into detail, those who know it, *know* it.

[bbqsandwich]

Seems this thread has been going on awhile, but as a brand new Windows-to-Ubuntu convert, I'll throw in my two cents. Some of this has already been stated before but I'll reiterate.

1. Price

It's free.

2. Hardware

I have a laptop that dual boots Vista & Ubuntu (it came with Vista). It's a 1.6 Ghz Acer Aspire with 1 GB RAM.

For Vista, that's OK, sort of, but I turn off the visual effects to improve performance and battery life (with all effects on, I get about an hour and 20 minutes), and I don't run more than about three big programs at the same time.

For Ubuntu, that hardware is plenty -- I get all the fancy features I want plus two hours of battery life, and I can spread numerous applications running simultaneously across multiple desktops..

3. Community support

I set up the dual boot yesterday. My laptop has an Atheros wireless card, which is apparently is something that does not work "out of the box" often on Ubuntu (google "ubuntu atheros wireless" and you'll see other people with issues). But thanks to this forum, I was able to get set up pretty quickly.

4. It's more fun

It reminds me of the old days of computing, when computers were a hobby and fun to tinker with instead of these generic sanitized work machines made for churning out spreadsheets. I enjoy learning new things about Linux.

I'm not a total convert yet; I'll still keep Vista for some job-related apps and because I get my music through Napster. But it'll definitely be a case of using Ubuntu first, and switching to VIsta when need be, rather than the other way around.

[khurrum1990]

Hi, yeah I will say why I left Windows for Linux quite some time ago. Windows was always unstable and I always had to do regular computer checks and stuff to keep it running smoothly and I was sick of it. I became interested in Linux because of the following reasons.
1.Its an improved version of Unix.
2.Its a lot more faster than Windows.
3.It never crashes.
4.It doesn't get viruses and stuff.
5.It can run all the time without slowing down.
6.Its a lot more secure by default since its Unix as compared to Microsoft Windows.
7.You can modify any part of it for example the GUI.
8.It has excellent desktop effects.
9.Its free, but thats not really an important reason for me, I would gladly pay for something as good as Linux.
I have also used OS X for a long time and believe me even OS X isn't as stable and good as Linux. Linux has the advantage of being a lot more powerful and being modified exactly to ur needs. Games, I only play games on consoles anyway. Consoles usually get all the good games before they are released for the pc. Some games don't come for the pc at all.

[fr££]

For Vista, that's OK, sort of, but I turn off the visual effects to improve performance and battery life (with all effects on, I get about an hour and 20 minutes), and I don't run more than about three big programs at the same time.

For Ubuntu, that hardware is plenty -- I get all the fancy features I want plus two hours of battery life, and I can spread numerous applications running simultaneously across multiple desktops..



Do people in general experience better laptop battery-life when comparing Windows to Ubuntu (or any linux)? I reckon I could could get at least one person I can think of to try linux based on your times given.

What about iMac hardware running Linux vs OS/X etc?

[tony.morse]

I've used Windows for a long long time, and well I was kinda happy with it, I prided myself on keeping a cleanish install that didn't get bogged down with crap like everyone elses machine, but that has become increasingly difficult now that windows bloats with it's own security updates and so on. The there are so many little things that really should have been sorted out by now. Like why show me the desktop that I can't use while it loads something up, there are just so many little things that **** you off when you're trying to get something done in a hurry. Anyway having seen a friends ubuntu I thought I'd give it a go and see if I liked it or not. The first thing was a big suprise, not only was my machine faster with ubuntu than it had been with XP, it was seriously fatser than a machine 3 years younger at work. The all the fiddly bugs aren't there. Then there is the synaptics manager, I mean this is so much better than windows mysterious registry... and so on. I'm not a computer geek, nor am I politically against MS, the simple fact is I have a duel boot and I choose Ubuntu every time. It's faster, easier, better etc. etc. etc.

[slackpipe]

I've been running Ubuntu in a multi-boot setup since the day Feisty was released, and since the release of Gutsy, I've removed Vista and XP entirely. I haven't really used them since I install Feisty, so I decided it was time to get rid of them. I'm now booting just Gutsy.

I switched for many of the reasons listed before this. It's free, more stable, less worries about spyware/adware/viruses, customizable, more user friendly, loath Microsoft, etc. etc. etc.

But something I just realized last night, that I should have realized a long time ago, is the way it handles applications that stop responding. If you hit the close button, and it doesn't shutdown, it pops up and asks to wait or force quit. Hitting "Force Quit" actually shuts the application down immediately and leaves you with a stable system. Where as in windows, it will take 15 minutes of clicking "End Task" and then "Don't Send", before it finally closes and then it may or may not take the rest of the operating system with it. Its the little things like this (doing what i want, when i want) that really make me love Ubuntu (and linux in general.)

[mivo]

Do people in general experience better laptop battery-life when comparing Windows to Ubuntu (or any linux)? I reckon I could could get at least one person I can think of to try linux based on your times given.

Well, the answer to this question depends on who you ask, what hardware they run and how they set-up their machines. There was a recent article (http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=880&num=1) at Phoronix, but it was not very meaningful (see the "Comments and Discussion").

[Taino]

What would cause one to leave Windows for Ubuntu?

First (for me anyways) i started looking at things in a different light.

Why does the Windows OS cost so much? $200.00 dollars or so? when many other commercial OS's cost $49.00 or so, and opensource ones cost $5.00 to $10.00 or less, even just free.

What am i really getting for my $200.00 ? Well in reality im paying to be a Beta tester because "You" buy the Windows OS which is rushed out "incomplete and buggy" to meet the scheduled release date and make the MS investors happy and then i get to deal with the fact that many of my programs wont work on it anymore and much of my hardware wont work either, then i get to not only realize "i paid alot" for the OS but i get to work for MS for free as i file bug reports and wait for patches to be released when they feel like it.

When was the last time you spoke to a Windows OS developer? or heard one interested in your thoughts or opinions? When was the last time you saw a Ubuntu developer around interested in your thoughts ideas and opinions? The opensource guys are "always around" and interested in what "you" have to say. and what your input is.

Why do i have to agree to so many "End User License Agreements" to install and use the Windows OS when it is so buggy, crappy, and incompatible in many ways with everything i have unless i upgrade everything? How many "License Agreements" did i have to agree to to install and use Ubuntu?? none...

Microsoft is purely a money monopoly, they are a Billion dollar company but they dont want their OS shipped out on CD's anymore and encourage PC vendors to "Not" ship their PC's out with any CD's that could be used to reinstall the WIndows OS on other machines, Meanwhile you can install Ubuntu on as many machines as you want and they currently give their CD's away..

I like freedom, i like opensource, these days i view the purchase of the Windows OS like paying an extortion fee to a guard that keeps you locked up and watches and controls your every move.

The second you connect a new Windows OS machine to the web it starts communicating all types of information about you back to MS, like your hardware specs, what version of windows you have, is it registered, your name and address, your PC's location on the planet, the windows OS is like a virus and once you connect to the web you become part of the windows matrix (yes like the Matrix movies) your nice new windows machine sits there collecting info on your internet and computer use and sending it back to the mothership in Redmond WA.

And the best part of it all (for them) is that you paid them $200.00 to do it to you.

:lolflag:

[fr££]

Well, the answer to this question depends on who you ask, what hardware they run and how they set-up their machines. There was a recent article (http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=880&num=1) at Phoronix, but it was not very meaningful (see the "Comments and Discussion").

Thanks for the reading material. =)

I guess after that article I can only probably suggest to friends that "linux may or may not eat more juice than windows"!

Something I have to say in the defence of linux is that you have the ability to tweak and interpret what the OS is doing without the need for first taking a masters in reverse engineering... a big problem with windows is the way it desires to abstract everything from the users vision; this should be seen as an issue even among those who don't care to look, IMO.

[pwn2king]

I have used Windows since the memory was a mind stopping 8 megs. Vista finally made me snap. I was running up to five anti virus, anti spam anti bug programs b/c no matter what they advertise; none are comprehensive in their protection.
Then w/a new out-of-the-box laptop, Vista is so smart it's dumb, it would absolutely refuse to read a flash drive. Refuse to connect to the internet, despite good instructions. Refuse to recognize a remote receiver for a Power Point presentation, it saw it as a keyboard, and demanded a keyboard driver.
In desperation a friend loaned me an ubuntu cd which I ran off the cd, in 3 seconds it recognized the flash, the remote, and even read the PP show.
I don’t know what Vista is doing w/all the 56+ processes, but it must be twiddling its thumbs, b/c it certainly is not doing what it says it does.
Ubuntu is not easy, I don’t write code, I did not pay attention in FORTRAN class, and I remember the computers were the size of rooms, but ubuntu is the way to go.
You can tweak it til you drop, you can depend on it for the basics. Thanks to all who know what they are doing to bring this to the general public.