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*^kyfds(
May 1st, 2012, 07:42 PM
I've never really used Ubuntu as a main operating system - i only ever seem to use it as a fun little thing to play about with on my computer.

but this week, I've set myself a challenge - to use Ubuntu for 7 days without (oven once!) going back to windows (my usual OS).
I'm not particularly skilled with linux, either.

I've got an (almost) brand new computer, a new keyboard, mouse, and screen.

I'll report back every evening.

this should be interesting...\\:D/

lisati
May 1st, 2012, 08:28 PM
Thread moved to The Community Cafe.

Rasa1111
May 1st, 2012, 08:33 PM
I did the same as you, almost 3 years ago now..
and Been using Ubuntu and only Ubuntu ever since! lol

I told myself I'd run just the live CD for a week, see how it goes...
and like 3-4 days later I was installing it on all my machines and wiping windows clean away. lol :D

Never looked back! Never looking back! :P

Good luck :)

Erik1984
May 1st, 2012, 08:36 PM
Good luck :) Try not to think too much in a Windows way ;)

forrestcupp
May 1st, 2012, 08:36 PM
Good luck. As long as your hardware is supported and you don't expect it to run all of your Windows games and software, then you should be very happy with it.

IWantFroyo
May 1st, 2012, 08:39 PM
Good luck! :D

raphifix
May 1st, 2012, 08:40 PM
My tip: don't be discouraged!

Chances are, if you're having a particular problem, you're not alone. Just don't be afraid of fixing/installing things through the Terminal.

Good luck! Even I have to go back to Windows for SPSS. :)

sammiev
May 1st, 2012, 08:46 PM
Some times a new computer may have equipment on board not yet compatible with Linux. Hope you have no problems there and Good Luck with your week adventure. :)

synaptix
May 1st, 2012, 08:55 PM
Have fun!

Lightstar
May 1st, 2012, 11:16 PM
Yay!

You can do it! :D

Bandit
May 2nd, 2012, 01:46 AM
Just remember to remain calm, adjusting to a new enviroment can be stressful. But there is plenty of goof folk here to help you along your way.

I mainly only run Linux. Particulary Ubuntu for the past hmm 8 years now? Wow time flys, I had to think about that one for a second. :KS

wolfen69
May 2nd, 2012, 03:08 AM
I've got an (almost) brand new computer, a new keyboard, mouse, and screen.


If you're computer is too new, you might have problems. That's why I always stay at least 6 months behind the latest. Good luck and keep an open mind.

If you have the time, watch Revolution OS (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7707585592627775409). It is a bit dated, but a lot of what they talk about may give you some insight about linux in general.

M_Mynaardt
May 4th, 2012, 03:59 AM
I've never really used Ubuntu as a main operating system - i only ever seem to use it as a fun little thing to play about with on my computer.

but this week, I've set myself a challenge - to use Ubuntu for 7 days without (oven once!) going back to windows (my usual OS).
I'm not particularly skilled with linux, either.

I've got an (almost) brand new computer, a new keyboard, mouse, and screen.

I'll report back every evening.

this should be interesting...\\:D/

You should be just fine. When I first tried Ubuntu, as a dual boot system, it took me all of a week to decide to just get rid of Windows entirely.

FatFrog
May 4th, 2012, 04:31 AM
I started using Ubuntu last fall. My HDD had a meltdown and while I was waiting for Windows 7 recovery media from Toshiba, I decided to give Ubuntu a shot...
I still use Windows 7 on my laptop for my job, but my desktop and whole home environment, and lab are all Ubuntu.
I wrote a blog post about my experience. If you care to read it, Google 'Fat Frog Tech Blog' it should come up.
My account has insufficient beans to link, otherwise...

wolfen69
May 4th, 2012, 07:08 AM
Has the OP been back? No. Probably gone. Let's all move on.....

mips
May 4th, 2012, 09:00 AM
This poster on Unity functions/operation will come in handy for new users http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=11872878&postcount=75

Majorix
May 4th, 2012, 09:08 AM
Has the OP been back? No. Probably gone. Let's all move on.....

He claimed of posting every night too.. Oh well, let's move on like you said.

danyc05
May 4th, 2012, 04:32 PM
All I can say once you use Ubuntu you always want to go back. Im not sure what it is but regardless if you go back to windows, you'll still get the urge to come back lol Ive been using windows now because i use alot of software that isnt available on linux for college.. but im planning on dual booting soon

forrestcupp
May 4th, 2012, 06:54 PM
Has the OP been back? No. Probably gone. Let's all move on.....


He claimed of posting every night too.. Oh well, let's move on like you said.

That was my initial thought, but a look at his profile shows that he's been around since last November and he's still hanging around regularly. So it's not like he's just someone who showed up out of nowhere and vaporized.

madjr
May 4th, 2012, 07:26 PM
Has the OP been back? No. Probably gone. Let's all move on.....

he probably formated his whole computer by mistake and has problems getting online with ubuntu !!!

/kidding :lolflag:

*^kyfds(
May 4th, 2012, 08:03 PM
sorry guys!

i've had a few problems with my CPU (mainly involving the slot for the CPU breaking and bending a load the CPU's pins - thank god for pliers!).

i never expected this kind of response, by the way. This is why i love ubuntu forums!

anyway, i've got this computer fixed an i'm read to start this.

i spent the evening getting rid of the fragments of an old win XP installation that's still on this PC and reinstalling ubuntu.

i'll write this new post and post it in a second.

consider this the start of the week.

*^kyfds(
May 4th, 2012, 08:15 PM
so, it's the -*ehem* - "first day"of the challenge, and it's been an interesting one
I'm really liking the multitasking interface of Ubuntu, although my computer isn't really up to it -


If you're computer is too new, you might have problems

I was being slightly sarcastic :popcorn:.

The dell i'm using has 512 Mb of ram, and an onboard graphics chip, all stock hardware from 2003. (did i mention i got this from a school that was throwing them out?)

anyway, 12.04 seems to be really stable on this PC, unlike XP which used to frequently crash, (which was something to do with part of the driver package installed on the machine, which i could not update because support had ended).

I was really surprised by the fact that Ubuntu needed no drivers to get it working (again, unlike windows) at it's maximum resolution - loving it!

the updates which had to be installed, did so quite quickly , although the update software did fill up all of my ram (time to download more? ;) ) , stopping me from doing anything from doing anything while it was updating, which i did'nt really mind.


i'm liking the unity interface, although, as a windows user i probably would have been more comfortable with the Gnome interface, but i suppose it's quite easy to get used to.

everything's stable so far, tomorrow I'll put it to the test, with image editing, and some HARDCORE word processing.




see you tommorow!

mips
May 4th, 2012, 08:20 PM
The dell i'm using has 512 Mb of ram

If you can I would suggest you upgrade to 1GB or even better 2GB, cheap second hand or free RAM is not that rare. Would make your whole experience much nicer.

*^kyfds(
May 4th, 2012, 08:25 PM
If you can I would suggest you upgrade to 1GB or even better 2GB, cheap second hand or free RAM is not that rare. Would make your whole experience much nicer.

i'm being given a PC from an awesome guy (he works at a church!) in a week with 8gb of ram, but i'm just using this machine for now, so that might be a bit pointless.

besides, it makes it an interesting test :)

forrestcupp
May 4th, 2012, 10:25 PM
i'm being given a PC from an awesome guy (he works at a church!) in a week with 8gb of ram, but i'm just using this machine for now, so that might be a bit pointless.

besides, it makes it an interesting test :)

On the one with 512MB RAM, you might be a lot better off trying out Xubuntu or Lubuntu. They're a lot lighter weight, and also the interface is probably a little closer to being like Windows.

*^kyfds(
May 5th, 2012, 03:35 PM
On the one with 512MB RAM, you might be a lot better off trying out Xubuntu or Lubuntu. They're a lot lighter weight, and also the interface is probably a little closer to being like Windows.

As i mentioned before, in about a week i'm switching to a computer with 8gb of ram, so for now i just want to get used to the feel of ubuntu, as well as the interface.

it's not lagging at all by the way, even when i try to use gimp for large images.

forrestcupp
May 5th, 2012, 06:55 PM
As i mentioned before, in about a week i'm switching to a computer with 8gb of ram, so for now i just want to get used to the feel of ubuntu, as well as the interface.

it's not lagging at all by the way, even when i try to use gimp for large images.

I only suggested that because I thought you were planning on keeping it as a 2nd computer, and you said that the update software was filling up all your RAM keeping you from doing anything else while it updates.

*^kyfds(
May 5th, 2012, 10:11 PM
fair enough.

I'll probably just dual boot the new computer, and scrap this one (or keep it as a last resort backup!)

*^kyfds(
May 6th, 2012, 12:00 AM
so it's day two, and things have been getting interesting.

I've changed the backround to something better.

http://i49.tinypic.com/23ldsnm.png

although i am still wondering how to get the top bar to stay transparent (like on the login screen), but it's not a huge issue.

I've been using gimp for the last few hours to make some large logos for a place I'm working at, and it's lagging far less than i expected (only when i drag the entire image across the screen), which was, again, one of the issues i had with windows.

Ubuntu ftw!

Hoovering the insides and replacing the CPU's thermal paste seems to have cured some of this computer's mild cooling issues.


sorry about the briefness of this post, it's late here and i want to get some sleep.

good night!

Bandit
May 6th, 2012, 12:04 AM
so it's day two, and things have been getting interesting..............
........................

Install MyUnity from Software Center, it has a few customizing options to get you warmed up. :)

BTW if you like jets. I took these videos a few years back.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150235507447324
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150235504902324

*^kyfds(
May 6th, 2012, 02:40 PM
Woah!

i would have loved the oppertunity to get that close!

stunning videos.

sammiev
May 6th, 2012, 02:50 PM
Thehumorouscheese, it sure sounds like you are in joying yourself with this little test. GL :)

wolfen69
May 6th, 2012, 05:17 PM
If you can I would suggest you upgrade to 1GB or even better 2GB, cheap second hand or free RAM is not that rare. Would make your whole experience much nicer.
I agree. 512 for a modern OS is too little.

Prescilla
May 6th, 2012, 05:37 PM
You've made the right choice.
Been using Windows ever since I learned computing but then I've encountered Linus Torvalds name when I was doing my research on OS, and I've fallen inlove with Linux.
I've been a Linux-distro user for almost 3 years now. My main OS is Ubuntu Precise Pangolin, at the same time I have Minix and Windows 7 as virtual machines.
I seldom use windows, only when I need to do something for my job, since we use Windows at work.

synaptix
May 6th, 2012, 07:11 PM
Just over 50% of the way into your 7 days, hows it going? :D