I installed Ubuntu with a hate for Windows. You?

[Baelfael]

What did you feel when you installed Ubuntu onto your system?

I was fed up with Windows being so unstable. I just was angry, and didn't care what was on my hard drive. I just wiped everything and installed Ubuntu, and then I lived with it. I probably will never go back to using Windows as my main OS again.

[Mateo]

load time.

[meng]

For me, a combination of factors:
I didn't care for Windows itself
I didn't care for spyware (esp. WGA) or other malware
I wanted a secure computer
I like tinkering with my computer
running Linux gives me bragging rights
I like the concept of free-as-in-speech software
I also like free-as-in-beer software

My theory is that a lot of folks who try Linux "because it isn't Windows" will go away disappointed. For them, disliking Microsoft/Windows isn't enough to make the transition successfully. Sounds like you aren't one of those people though.

[IYY]

To be honest, I don't even hate Windows anymore; I have forgotten about it. When I install Ubuntu, I feel frustrated at the occasional bug (there are fewer and fewer, though), but overall, just very content and satisfied. Actually, the facial expression of the following character best described the feeling:

http://www.im.iwi.unibe.ch/resource/image/tux.png

By the way, it's no coincidence. When Linus originally proposed Tux as the mascot, here's what he had to say:

http://www.sjbaker.org/tux/

From the very start, Tux was supposed to appear "contented" (the word that Linus used), and this is the way many Linux users feel about their OS.

[GFree]

I envy your willpower, the fact that the snap decision to move to Linux and STAY with Linux was possible. Most people who make decisions based on hate find that they weren't being rational at the time and often regret what they did. You were lucky. :)

As for me, I tried a Linux-only setup due to my distain for Vista. I lasted about 3 days before I was suffering withdrawal symptoms. A lifetime spent on Windows is like a lifetime spent smoking. Cold turkey doesn't always work! That and the fact I was (and still am, unfortunately) addicted to certain games.

I ended up returning to a dual-boot. If I have any hope of converting I have to dial back my gaming addiction. Damn Microsoft, I hate em!

[FuturePilot]

For me, a combination of factors:
I didn't care for Windows itself
I didn't care for spyware (esp. WGA) or other malware
I wanted a secure computer
I like tinkering with my computer
running Linux gives me bragging rights
I like the concept of free-as-in-speech software
I also like free-as-in-beer software.
That's about the same for me too.

[Kingsley]

I still respect windows but i have a strong preference for kubuntu. For the past 2 months, I haven't booted into my windows partition and only use it to store my media downloads.

P.S. XChat just crashed on me while I was typing this lol.

[PatrickMay16]

When I installed ubuntu for the first time, I was excited. It was new to me to have it installed; before that I only had used the live CD. I was also worried, because of the chance of messing up and installing over windows.
But it all went well, and installed onto the new hard disk I bought for it just fine.

[NewOldTimer]

Mine was/is not a hate for windows, more of a disapointment, tired of constantly defraging,running spy checks and virus scanning etc etc, seemed like a lot of work on my behalf concidering how much $$$ I kept throwing at it. I was looking over cnet one day and ran across this http://reviews.cnet.com/Try_a_free_operating_system/4660-10165_7-6639061.html and the rest as they say "was history". Sure I'm having my up's & down's but anything beats the alternative, that and the fact that I know I will become better and learn more than I ever could using window's.

[JAPrufrock]

Hate is good. Other more descriptive terms are ire, loathing, disgust, and utter contempt.

[3rdalbum]

I installed Ubuntu with a feeling of excitement, mixed with some dislike of OS X.

[SuperMike]

Here's why, for me.

* Originally started on a mainframe back in the 70s, then TRS-80, then Apple II+, then a Vax in college. I was always sitting at a desk with someone else's PC. I owned an Atari for a few years, but couldn't do much with it except make zippy little icons move across the screen in Basic. I tried learning Assembler and did some fancier things, but that was a headache.

* Used to own a Mac as my first computer back in the day back in the 80s. Migrated through about 4 Macs. Was a big Hypercard fanatic. But then I wanted to move into computer networks because that's where all the money was, and Netware was the big cash cow at the time with Fed Gov contracts. I lived in DC at the time and got a Novell CNE. Of course, that naturally migrated me to the PC because that's what my customers used.

* When Windows 95 came out, I was torn between that and my Mac, but preferred my Mac. Apple was hurting at the time and even wrote a "please help us" kind of letter to all its users. It was a sad day for Apple. About that same year, Microsoft was giving away Windows NT server for 10 users or less and so many companies were dumping their Novell servers and switching to that. That killed my career right there until Microsoft found me on CompuServe (the only way to get Internet at the time). They were hiring up out-of-work CNEs and so I jumped at the chance to save myself from financial ruin. Microsoft was going to retrain me into their way of doing business.

* Worked at Microsoft in Charlotte, NC. Got to see how they operate on the inside. They were very pretentious and fraternal, and office politics got in the way of mostly everything.

* Eventually after leaving MS, I came back to them through a sub-company. I worked at Avanade in Manhattan, NYC. They were quite a bit more mature, but of course they only used M$ products and I was like one of their so-called evangelists for awhile. However, we then had to work around M$ Consulting fraternity jerks all the time and they would throw us a bone occasionally and everyone would fight over it like pack dogs. I got backstabbed way too many times and quit. Actually, my boss and I had it out and I threatened to quit and he threatened to fire and then in the end he gave me the layoff ticket and I filed unemployment on their butts.

* I was a web developer, so I started to realize that M$ products were like rabbits. You put one in and then you have to put a bunch of other little bunnies in there to get a gig off the ground, and it got expensive and customers hated that. So then I started to realize that being an M$ developer sucked. The innovation was leaving them and switching to Linux in the server room. In order to stay competitive in this environment, you had to outdo the other consultant out there, so you had to keep your skills sharp. That meant living in alpha or beta land, and paying enormous fees for the very latest Universal MSDN pack every year, purchasing books, attending training and conferences, and so on. It was getting very expensive.

* So then I started to realize that Windows was getting harder and harder for no apparent reason, and Linux (looking at RedHat at the time) was getting easier and easier. Go figure. And like you read on Joel on Software, Joel is right -- Microsoft keeps re-inventing their APIs with different terms and a slight speed hit, and they're just churning through developers with a game to keep them coming back to relearn stuff they already learned but under a different name.

* Then I got besieged with Windows viruses when I got on satellite Internet for a few years. When I checked the date of my first attack, I discovered to my horror that it was within the first 30 minutes of being signed up on satellite Internet!

* A highschool kid down the road came over to my house to talk and he handed me a CD of Redhat 8. I let it sit and didn't deal with it much.

* Then, at my office, we got hit with the Blaster virus. I was a LAN Mgr and was pulling my hair out for 3 days. This was followed by a few Blaster-variants. I finally said ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!! So that night, I went home and installed RH 8. I was blown away. It wasn't perfect, but it was a huge start. It was, however, far more secure than Windows could ever hope to be.

* Within a week I started doing Java development on it. I did that for a year until I got sick of Java and deleted it. I had moved from RH8 to RH9. I also dumped MySQL for PostgreSQL, and dumped Java for PHP.

* My employer, a global financial company, then made an announcement that all programming was going to switch to Linux servers using Suse Enterprise Linux 9. (They said that Novell had a better indemnification contract that RedHat.)

* I tried Fedora, but got annoyed with how RH couldn't make a stable OS. I had a strange PHP bug where all file writes would happen twice, and I said that it was time for me to dump RH and move on to something else.

* A cool Brazilian that I work with in my chat window at the office said, here, try this, and gave me a link for some screenshots of Ubuntu. He said he was running it. So I installed it and WAS BLOWN AWAY!!! I loved the stability of it. I loved the apt install model. I was sold.

* And the rest is history. If things keep like they have, I will probably always remain an Ubuntu man forever and ever. I boot up from it at my office and at home, use it over VPN, and got my wife and children converted to it. I try to tell others about it when I can. At the office, I manage Linux day in and day out. I've been offered programming gigs, and did write several huge pieces of software there, but I declined because the world only wants cheap programmers these days and seem to want to pay more for operations guys. So I became the Linux, database, and scripting guru at the office.

* So yeah, I hate Windows with a passion, and M$ as well. The latest bad news about the innards of Vista make me very happy that I made that decision. Vista is going to make a lot of companies and people switch to Macs. And, when Ubuntu starts to get BestBuy store name recognition like Suse has, and can convince people that Macs are like watered-down *nix with training wheels, and convince people that if they want more freedom and applications, they should switch from Macs to Ubuntu -- that's all going to be a great day in history. In fact, sci fi author Cory Doctorow did that very thing along those same lines.

[Thrashers7989]

Well, I've stated in numerous threads how I came out of Vista. Vista is like an evil cult that lured me in with its promises of a more secure and faster system.

Within a few days, I already found spyware on my computer (after all, spyware designed for Windows sees no exception for Vista), and the "cancel" or "allow" thing was really getting on my nerves. Plus, load time was slower than XP. What happened to faster?

I'll admit that XP some way, somehow made much significant speed improvement after upgrading from Win2000. I give kudos to Microsoft for that. However, I was naive to assume that Vista would have improvement over XP. It was slower. System startup was more than twice as slow. My final straw was a painful installation of MS Office only to wait 8 minutes for Word to even load. So I decided to give Linux another chance.

By another chance, I mean that I have tried a couple install-on-Windows distros like PhatLinux and Topologilinux. Those were frustrating and gave me a bad mindset about Linux all together. So I figured I would try a real distribution. I consulted Ubuntu, and wanting to keep Windows for just-in-case reasons, I decided I would study hard and be confident in the whole partitioning-and-dual-booting business. Ubuntu made it easy, I still have Windows for academic and work use (if I even need it for that), and I boot Ubuntu by default.

Needless to say, Ubuntu cured the disease that is Microsoft.

[tubasoldier]

I was frustrated with Mandriva. I left windows long before Vista was even a tarnished word.

[spamzilla]

I simply dislike M$ especially since they lack the ability to be original. Aero glass looks suspiciously like Beryl, the MSN alumini logo is basically the ubuntu logo, the file icons look like OS X file icons. I could go on and on here.

Also, XP is ok...if you like viruses, spyware and hackers knocking at your door 24/7. It's shocking how insecure windows is, and if I kinew it was that bad (as stated here many a time), I would have switched to a Linux distro years ago.

So in short, yeah I do hate Windows too!

[DeadEyes]

I installed Ubuntu cause I wanted to try something new. I had always wanted to check out Linux but could never find one that worked. winmodems being the main problem. I don't hate Windows in fact I've had more problems with Ubuntu than I've ever had with XP. But when both systems are running smoothly I prefer Ubuntu. I will always keep XP on my PC though just in case, I guess I just don't trust Ubuntu not to cause me problems.

[FyreBrand]

No hate here. I just found Windows boring and buggy. I started on Fedora and eventually found my way to Ubuntu. I love Linux. It's fun and I can actually do things with it.

I have a Wini partition for playing Guild Wars and testing web pages. That's about it.

[Somenoob]

No hate here just realised that it was better for me, so i deleted XP shortly after.

[CheeseEatingBulldog]

Well, yes and no, but in hindsight it was a bad memory module that was causing all the crashes, but once I had wiped the lot AND later figured out it was bad memory, I just thought, sod it, time for a change.

Love linux now and will never go back.

/haver install ubuntu on a few of my friends machines, they love it too.
//hates ms

[GFree]

Yes! I hate Windows and I hate the BS I had to recently endure! Ohhhh!

/check recent thread

[TheSqueak]

I moved from Windows ME to Red Hat about 5 years ago now, because ME was a complete pile of {deleted}.

I stuck with RedHat for a little while until I got sick of dependency hell and moved to Mandrake. That lasted a little longer until I gave Gentoo a shot about 3 years ago.

Gentoo lasted about a year and a half until I got bored of waiting for everything to compile and I found Kubuntu. I've been using this for about 18 months now and I don't see myself changing at any point in the near future.

[DoctorMO]

I don't have a hate for windows, as much as I laugh at some of the technical lame problems the platform has; the technical is not why I will never use windows.

The problem is a moral one, I can no longer condone the use of a software produced by a company that not only continues to practice bad business but does so even after being convicted in several jurisdictions. I couldn't even steal their works it's just not worth stooping to their level.

[jtapper]

I have been using Ubuntu for ages. My current Ubuntu update (Edgy) was inspired by Microsoft. To be honest, I tried to buy Vista. They have been marketing the possibility to buy from web - download and install, but it only works in US.. no go for us Europeans.

I don't hate Windows or Microsoft. I just don't like their way of making money. So why this sudden move to Linux again? I opened my eyes and noticed that I don't need to pay money for semi-finished operating systems and software. Just about everything works with Linux: Ubuntu, Mepis, Slack.. you name it. Unfortunately I am forced to keep Windows partition living, as some professional programs I need are not ported to Linux.

Yes, that's right. Linux is not perfect, nor is Ubuntu. Open source parts are close to perfect but when proprietary drivers or other closed software step in scenario is ready for troubles. Some ppl may have read words ATI and Skype between the lines :) And what is the flag ship of closed source OS? Uh huh, right again. Windows it is. Not because it is the best but it is the most popular. The Open Source and the OS community spirit is _The Thing_ that drove me to Ubuntu once again.

I have been using linux as primary / secondary OS since -94. Started with slackware :)
I guess it was christmas 2004, when I tried Ubuntu for the first time. Back then I installed Ubuntu for curiosity. Here we are, February 2007 and Edgy which I installed for good with pleasure.

So.. long answer for a simple question.
I installed Ubuntu first for curiosity (few different versions in between) and for good.

[Motoxrdude]

Eh, i was never the kinda guy to be content. I like to try out new things(which explains why i have done a fresh install of ubuntu 3 times this week). A few people from another forum recommended linux to me so i gave it a shot. After about a month of learning the linux basics i was hooked.

[the_darkside_986]

Ubuntu seems significantly closer to perfect than Windows, but software and hardware vendors are far from perfect. The only thing that exists in the eyes of those companies is money, the customer's money, but never the customers themselves. So I must sit and wish for the dream of "open hardware" to come true but that term doesn't make sense. I wish the open-source movement could be applied to all the nasty money-leeching businesses.

On topic: I didn't exactly install Ubuntu with hate--I reinstalled Ubuntu with apathy, not caring what happened to my NTFS partition. The way I see it: the NTFS partition deserves to die for being closed-source and undocumented. I was just doing my part to destroy proprietary formats. It is no one's fault but M$ that the Ubuntu NTFS partition resizer failed to work. I bet it could resize my ext3, but I wouldn't try it.

[karellen]

I was curious, I like to try new things, I like change and multiple points of view

[runningwithscissors]

I've never installed Ubuntu and I do not hate Windows. Dislike it, yes, but not hate.
As for any following questions about why am I posting here if I don't use Ubuntu:
I signed up because I felt like making some replies to topics in the programming forum and I use Gentoo.

[derjames]

... I lasted about 3 days before I was suffering withdrawal symptoms. A lifetime spent on Windows is like a lifetime spent smoking.

Yes this is true...

[KatieCook]

I know this thread is a couple of days old (and on this forum is reallly old :) ) But I do not have a hate for windows but a major distrust of the company. I tried Linux years ago with Red Hat 9 and could not get it to work right (more the user then the software I am pretty sure) but went back to widows and when xp came out I really didnt want to change from 98 se.. but had to for work, it was ok, but seemed like even more virus and then came spyware and blah blah.. I found myself wondering.. If ms made something mroe stable this wouldnt happen and then maybe they are making money off the unstablity of windows.. I am not exactly how true that is but I sure do not like the keystroking record being sent with every windows update, and I can only imagaine what else they are data basing.. I am not saying that I do anything "bad" or that I need to "hide" anything, but I do banking and other things and although being as "safe" as I can get with windows it does not seem to matter as every keystroke is being reported anyway.. Now it could have been happening with windows all along I am not sure, but from what I understand it is by far getting worse not better..

I have tried many distros of Linux and just find myself always coming back to ubuntu and the funniest thing about loving it so much I dont even know how to truly pronounce it. :lolflag:

We have more then one computer in our house I am in love with not spending well over 200.00 a year on "protection" of virus and other thorned things invading us. I still have one computer that I have not changed over and I am still looking for the very few programs that stop me from changing.

I only use that computer when I have to use those programs and it is turned off most of the time. :)

[Quillz]

I installed Ubuntu because I like trying out new things.

[Bloch]

. . . because I bought a bargain second-hand computer with a slow buggy installation of windows '98.
I installed bootleg XP which ran perfectly, but then I saw that there was this OS out there which was free and legal

[some_random_noob]

What did you feel when you installed Ubuntu onto your system?

I was fed up with Windows being so unstable. I just was angry, and didn't care what was on my hard drive. I just wiped everything and installed Ubuntu, and then I lived with it. I probably will never go back to using Windows as my main OS again.
Exactly the same for me - I was wasting my life maintaining Windows, way too many problems.

[PartisanEntity]

I didn't care much for Windows (I am not one of those who hates anything related to MS just 'because'). :)
I didn't want to spend money on an OS when it appeared there were perfectly viable alternatives much cheaper or for free.
I have always wanted to try Linux, it always appealed to me how communities of people were competing with massive corporations and developing products that were just as good or better.
I definitely do not like nor wish to support MS business practices (monopolies, cartels, pressuring other companies to use and sell Windows etc...)
I also find the idea of software code patents that are aimed at making money very limiting for humanity, it's a handicap, thanks to many of these patents we constantly have to reinvent the wheel instead of being able to develop.

Overall I have been very happy, since about 4 months now I have been a pure Ubuntu user. I do not have a Windows installation anymore.

I am also amazed because it only took about 1-2 months until I felt comfortable enough to make the total switch and ditch Windows. But I never stop learning, and that's a good thing.

Cheers :)

[AndyCooll]

Hate never entered into the equation for me, it was more one of guilt. I was running pirated software right down to a pirated OS and I wanted to get out of the trap. While searching for free alternatives I came across Linux and haven't looked back since.

I don't dislike Microsoft, however I do prefer Linux and open-source. Sometimes it's frustrating that everything is so skewed towards M$ products, however I'm confident that the continuing progress of Linux will soon see a better balance.

:cool:

[Polygon]

i installed ubuntu because i was tired of windows screwing itself over

id install my games and my programs, and eventually some problem got so bad that i was forced to reformat windows (one example: every time i clicked "my computer" , a window would pop up but it would not show me anything. any program that tried to access any other drive froze as well.

now i have ubuntu installed, and use it for everything but games. (half life 2, americas army, etc)

[polaren]

I just wanted to learn something new, I only use my computer for watching movies so Windows isn't really needed. I tryed out a few distro's before I ended up with Ubuntu.

Now I don't have to steal software, i get it for free :)

[OrangeCrate]

Like many, I don't like their business practices at times, but I don't hate Windows. Some things are easier to do on windows than Linux, so I keep them both, but my everyday face to the net is, and will continue to be Linux.

[suziequzie]

What did you feel when you installed Ubuntu onto your system?

I was fed up with Windows being so unstable. I just was angry, and didn't care what was on my hard drive. I just wiped everything and installed Ubuntu, and then I lived with it. I probably will never go back to using Windows as my main OS again.

My primary reason was curiosity. I was bored with Windows 98, and wanted to feel like I had a new computer. I enjoy playing around with a system and tweaking it and learning it, and a new OS seemed the ideal choice. Positive reviews of Ubuntu (and the fact that they shipped free CDs, which rocks!) swayed my decision. I have no regrets.

I had to log into Windows the other day (Dual Boot) to do something, and I thought I'd check my daily bookmarks while taking a break from my work... boy oh boy, I forgot how often Netscape freezes up the whole system. I do not miss that.

[ezsit]

I don't hate Windows, but I was frustrated with viruses, spyware, trojans, etc. I also like to tinker and had been playing with Linux since about 1998. Mandriva 2005LE was the first Linux that worked 100% out of the box for me. That was the distribution that got me off Windows for good. Since Ubuntu 5.04 I have been on Ubuntu. I still run Breezy since it is the most stable on my aging hardware. I tried 6.06 and get frustrated with the changes in Gnome between 6.06 and 5.10. I await 7.04 and hope that it works better than the last two versions.

[Redlance]

no i dont hate windows. I think its bloated and needs trimming down and more control put into the users and have the users control what thier computer can and cannot do. Wait thats linux in a nutshell. Its sleek and nimble as i can think of making it. I am in control. I am learning what my computer is. I am empowered.:popcorn:

[Sarteck]

I felt anger. I let the hatred flow through me. I was one with the Dark Side. Then I struck down Bill Gates with all my hatred, and ruled the Galaxy.

Nah, seriously, I came to Ubuntu twice, and each time from OpenSuse (10.1 and then 10.2). So I guess any hate was felt toward the gecko. XD

I just like Ubuntu. Mainly, I think, becuase the word sounds cool. "Ubuntu." say it with me. "UBUNTU!" It kind of rolls off the tongue pleasantly... WHo wouldn't want to install it! Don't get me wrong, "Vista" sounds nice, a lot better than say "Fedora Core", but "Ubuntu" is just too cool. ^_^

...

...what?

Yes, I really did install an OS just because I liked the way it sounded. I'm serious. Heh.

[davidvasta]

I started out in the early 90's with Windows, and then one fine day I had a shipment of IBM PS/2 show up for the company I was working for and they came installed with Windows 3.1 and IBM OS/2 3.0. So being the little pain in the **** I was I took one for myself and choose the OS/2 and it ran great. Everything was going good. I had all the applications that we used in Windows running on OS/2, and with my managers permission started to put them out with OS/2 running on them. At the time is was a pretty fair game. You either ran MacOS on your Mac or you ran a PC with Windows or in my case OS/2. We that came to a sudden halt with IBM showed up with an app we needed and for some reason it only ran good in Windows. You talking about shooting yourself in the foot. IBM is not always been as smart as they seemed.

Long story short. I spent the first 7-8 years of my IT life on Windows and have been trying to leave it ever since about Windows95. Now at home I am a fan of the Mac. At work I am forced to use Windows. I am working on a plan to move it all to Ubuntu, but it's not easy.

So for me Windows is a huge pain the ****, and I fight dialy with people who don't see it the right way. I take them on all the time: Link to a topic on my blog (http://davidandkelly.com/iSeriesAddict/2007/02/16/xp-myths-it-again/)

So my pain and loathing for Windows is one I have to deal with everyday. I do use XP for a few games, that I hope and pray will move to Linux soon and in some of the cases have been on Linux before.

I feel all of you guyses pain! Rock on and may Ubuntu live long and prosper.

-David

[MikeDX]

I started my computer life on a Commodore plus 4 back in the early 80s from then on, I had the usual array of zx spectrum, c64, atari ST, Amiga.. I was an amiga user right up until 1999 when I got my first pc which ran Windows 98. Before this my pc experiences had been with unix and xenix terminals so my programming background never started on a windows platform.

Over the years I had enjoyed Windows 98 and Windows 2000 and even recently Windows XP, but lately the increase of malware has made me look elsewhere. For my online banking I had been using VMware player and the browser appliance which I really had fun with - a complete os that reset every time you turned it on.

About 2 weeks ago I decided to download Ubuntu 6.10 and played with it under vmware. It did everything I wanted it to do (msn, web browsing, email, easy add/remove programs) So I took the plunge and formatted both my laptop and main computer completely. Shortly after, I discovered beryl and this just made me even more sure that I had made the right decision. I knew a couple of years back that XP would be my last windows OS, I just didnt realise that I would be switching so soon.

A lot of my friends have switched from windows os recently. Two have moved to macs, and 4 now have moved to linux. Even my wife-to-be is very happy on ubuntu.

It's going to be a very interesting year. If wine matures a little and we see a bit more native hardware support for things like TV capture cards, it's going to change everything

[ELD]

I started on an Amiga 600, so i have always been interested in different types of looks and workings since then. Went to an Amiga 1200, etc etc.

Went back to windows last year as i could not get the net to work at all on my laptop in ubuntu!

[matthewstory]

I was thinking . . . "why doesn't my standard wireless card work in SuSe, and why did I have to write a custom driver for it?" . . . Also I was thinking . . . my roomate just said he installed this thing called Ubuntu Hoary Hedgehog and he said it was awesome, and also, that sounds like a hilarious group of developers that are having a hell of a lot of fun . . . i want to try that out.

[PartisanEntity]

I was thinking . . . "why doesn't my standard wireless card work in SuSe, and why did I have to write a custom driver for it?" . . . Also I was thinking . . . my roomate just said he installed this thing called Ubuntu Hoary Hedgehog and he said it was awesome, and also, that sounds like a hilarious group of developers that are having a hell of a lot of fun . . . i want to try that out.

You reminded me of a funny issue: My wifi card which came with my laptop, did not work properly with Windows. I tried different drivers, tried the software that came with the card, tried the windows software, nothing helped, the card would loose connection for no reason, it could not find my home wifi network and once it had an error the computer could not be shutdown normally.

It was a real pain in the behind.

However in ubuntu it works like a charm, never had network trouble :)

[Gargamella]

linux describes better my personality and it is developed by users like us (mainly) which share their work honestly and for free

[graabein]

I was an Internet virgin and I feared the viruses, the spyware and the Microsoft black ops... I wanted to be in control of my computer (master of my own domain) and not have to bother with the cracking of copy protected software. GNU/Linux was in the vain of my thinking with its good for humanity philosophy so it was an easy call to make. Viva human kind and to hell with the share owners.

:popcorn:

[Rhapsody]

I decided that I didn't want to be installing Longhorn (yes, that long ago), but felt uncomfortable being on an operating system that now had no upgrade path. Given my love of free software, Linux was an obvious choice. Now I've killed off Windows entirely, and have an indefinite upgrade path.

[aktiwers]

I was really pissed!

[Jellicletrb]

I don't hate Windows...I was afraid of it. I do everything online now, my banking, paying my bills, shopping, keeping in touch with the family. One day I set my firewall to not let anything access the internet without my approval; and there were so many things in XP wanting to phone home that I had NO idea what they were...I felt it was time to switch to something more secure.

[matthewstory]

to add to my earlier statement . . . i was just reminiscing with my old roomate about this, and he reminded me also about how much i hated RPMs, and how delighted i was to try my hand at an apt-based system.

For those of you who havn't had to use RPMs, count yourselves lucky, for the rest of you, you know exactly the kind of perdition I'm talking about.

[dorcssa]

Well, the story of Microsoft and me. I never had too many problems with windows when I was younger. When I finally bought my own computer on dec 2004, I got an almost free windows with the help of the university. Well, it was in march, until then I used pirated win. I just started to use internet at my home, what a change, I don't have to go to school for it! :D Obviously the world opened for me. And my win for viruses and spyware too, but I had no big problem with that. I knew about linux, but was afraid of it, and I thought about it like using something like dos (yes, I'm not too young, I used dos :D ).Until oct 2006, I only had one major issue because of a virus, and my videocard didn't want to work without sp2, so I ended up with pirated software again. Well I didn't mind, I used pirated win since I was a child. I had my ups and downs, but had no big problems after that one.

But a friend talked about linux a lot and I've found out that it's not hard, despite I thought it was. After a week lurking in linux(actually ubuntu), I realized I hadn't booted windows, and I was suprised how comfortabel I was with my new system(well, the first two days I was histerical and hated linux, but I'm a girl :mrgreen:) I only had enough courage to wipe out win after two months. I think I started dislike (not hate) windows along the journey in linux. Realized that an OS can be more flexible, have less errors(at least when I'm not curious :D ), and don't bugging me all the time about secure, non secure programs(I had keiro firewall, after a time, it's chasing you mad I think with all those questions). I always mock at windows nowdays, and say to my friends that it's baaad, but I think I don't really hate it. :)

[Peti29]

I don't hate Windows. I have used it for a long time now and I'm perfectly OK with my XP. 95 and Me became more and more unstable with time but that doesn't apply for XP.
My reason for trying to switch to Ubuntu is that I don't want to (and won't) go Vista. I presume that gradually more and more new applications (or the new versions of popular apps) will require Vista to run so I won't be able to stay with XP forever.
Therefore I installed Ubuntu but I'm still stuck with dualboot. My main problem with Ubuntu is that it is extremely laborious: the other day I went home tired and I wanted to quickly scan some paper. I use my scanner rarely so I haven't installed that on Ubuntu yet. If it were like W$ I just had to snap in a CD or fetch a driver from the net. But I thought to myself there was no f* way I'd want go through the hell of installing my noname scanner at night just to get one piece of paper scanned. So I simply booted into XP...

[Homunculi]

i was agervated with all the viruses i have been getting .. and it has been years since i have messed with linux (when the voodoo 3 cards were released ) i was to involved with family at that time to continue with linux at that time .. and well i am back and loving this so much ... even my 10 years old wants ubuntu on his computer he is bragging at school that he uses linux instead of windows :)


i do not hate windows at all i have made my fair share of money of the people who use it and cannot understand what they do wrong. good money making tool tho
i will say that i am loosing a few games but i am finding how to's to get them working...

all i feel now is a big releif of my pocket book to keep up with windows i know i have invested about 3000 into windows with all the versions over the years and now some do not have any support exept 3rd party help... so i will be pitching 95 95b 95c 95d 98 98se me nt nt4 nt4 server 2000 and xp into a folder that will be used to help the windows users and make a few dollars :popcorn:

thanks to linus and all who keep this rolling me and my family are loosing the windows on our systems and looking forward to many years og great releases in the linux community:guitar:

rock on !

[Pikestaff]

For me there were basically two main reasons:

1.) I was really starting to feel strongly about open source and those kinds of things. (Strongly in favor of!) Not only was I really embracing the philosophy, but the open source products I had used up to that point (Firefox, Open Office, etc.) had really impressed me.

2.) I was tired of having to pay $300 for an operating system and then call people on the phone explaining that I was "only using this software on one computer, I promise" every time I had to reformat. :roll:

[katabatic]

I have no problems with Windows whatsoever. When Windows is configured properly, without useless junk installed, it works GREAT. I have run it for years on the same install without any slow downs or problems. When configured poorly, it is terrible. Same things can be said about Ubuntu. So far I have not gotten Ubuntu configured as good as Windows, and have a much easier time configuring it poorly.

It seems neither Windows nor Ubuntu is idiot-proof. They are both too easy to mess up. From what I read, I get the impression that Macs are the most idiot-proof. Is that correct?

As for malware, I have feeling that if Ubuntu or Macs were as popular as Windows, there would be quite a few on each. Maybe less than Windows but I doubt immune. I very rarely get any kind of Malware on Windows, so it heavily depends on how well its configured and on the user.

That said, I do like Ubuntu, and I installed Kubuntu mainly for something fun and different.

[sy5adm1n]

I'm Solaris and Redhat certified and work as a sysad. At work I've always kept my distance from M$ and chose to use Solaris, tweaking it to work for me. The place i'm employed although being supposedly on the edge of technology uses ******* on the desktop, without a secure protocol. They still haven't had luck moving everyone to XP. I've played with almost every Linux version out there at home, my poor Dell laptop (PIII) has had to put up with all the playing around, but always had to have ******* around for company business and for the wife's computer. Recently I moved projects and the office I moved to sat me in front of a ******* box, Win2k at that. I build and manage Linux and Solaris server farms, moving almost all towards Redhat now. I was so frustrated with stupid puTTy, xterm, TED and Hummingbird I couldn't see straight. About that same time the infamous pop-up began at home with XP saying I had a pirated copy of XP on all 4 computers. No help at the no-help lin at M$. One of my favorite builds on my Dell laptop had been Ubunutu, took it camping, overseas and to some classes, never had an issue with wireless and everything just worked. ***. I reformatted and installed Ubunut on my desktop. That was it, everything worked, my scanner that I never could get to work with XP worked, my Netdisk worked, everything was there. I was done with *******. Re-did my son's desktop and my file server. Then at work the frustration built with that Win2k box. I got a spare pc, got the iso through another project, installed it, got it setup the way I needed it and I'm as contented as Tux. The stoopid Win2k is for email and calendar, thats it. I run cinerama with about 12-15 xterms open, ssh, scp, sftp, rsync, firefox, and every app I need. Ubuntu took all the stress from work and at home.

[tacm]

What did you feel when you installed Ubuntu onto your system?

I was fed up with Windows being so unstable. I just was angry, and didn't care what was on my hard drive. I just wiped everything and installed Ubuntu, and then I lived with it. I probably will never go back to using Windows as my main OS again.I did the same exact thing two months ago and Ill never go back. I may go to apple os x when I buy a new computer,but Im done with those scum bums at micrsoft

[joethenoob]

I don't hate Windows. It pays my bills and leaves plenty left over. I installed Ubuntu so my girlfriend would stop using my laptop. Mission accomplished.

[DrainBead]

For the overwhelming majority of people windows is probably the superior choice even today but considering how fast Linux is moving nowadays that might change sooner than the adoption of it.

For me Linux is superior in a way that Windows cannot compete with unless i get the source code.

[RedSquirrel]

to add to my earlier statement . . . i was just reminiscing with my old roomate about this, and he reminded me also about how much i hated RPMs, and how delighted i was to try my hand at an apt-based system.

For those of you who havn't had to use RPMs, count yourselves lucky, for the rest of you, you know exactly the kind of perdition I'm talking about.

I never really got into using them in my old distro. I just compiled everything from source. How's that for avoiding RPMs! :) Oh, but I have become very comfortable with installing packages in Ubuntu. It's almost too easy.

[RedSquirrel]

I never really hated *******. Before I installed Ubuntu, I was dual booting that and an old version of another linux distro on this box. I was in the middle of updating a bunch of linux stuff, which involved compiling dependencies and compilers and libraries (a lot of tedious work, IMO). At one point, I decided that I would get off that road and give a new distro a try. I choose Ubuntu because I liked what I saw on these forums and the fact the OS fit on one CD.

[seijuro]

I think for me the most accurate word would be tired. I was just so tired of f'ing with windows all the time, tired of my wife bothering me to fix stuff all the time, tired of spending too much of what little hard earned money I have on problematic software, tired of pirating when I couldn't afford to buy the problematic software, and the list goes on.

[Skippy_X]

I installed ubuntu w/ a hate for .rpm. I installed Mandrake out of a desperation to get away from Win 98SE. I've never installed Windows on anything.

[jordanmthomas]

I never hated Windows, but I grew...bored I guess the word would be?

I got my laptop in May of 2005 and had a good time getting everything in Windows just right. It was all good. Then, I came across Stumbleupon and I told it my interests. Whilst stumbling, the Linux distribution chooser came up and I took the test. It suggested Knoppix to me and I gave it a go since it couldn't hurt me. I'm not going to lie: at first what won me over were the KDE games. Eventually I installed Hoary on my laptop and I really liked it because it was something different; something new. Windows seemed boring to me because I had basically learned everything short of administration of large networks (which I don't have).

Of course, once I got everything working just right in Ubuntu I got bored again. Thus began the distro-hopping era. I can't even count how many I installed, got working, and then dumped for a new one. Somehow I have ended up on Arch Linux and although I don't have any problems with it it does not bore me, so I think I've found my home.

Now kind of dislike Windows because when I use it it seems to be lacking feature x or feature y and I have to do things some stupid (to me) way. When I used it I never really realized the limitations it has because I didn't know what could be done.

[DrainBead]

Regarding RPM-hell.

It's in the package manager, you'd get the same result if you ran dpkg instead of a package manager, in all of todays major distros this "just works". So rpm-hell is a thing of quite a distant past, mostly carried on by myth from user to user.

Technically speaking, as far as package formats go, .rpms ar superior to .debs but in reality, with a decent package manager like yum, apt, yast or perhaps the best of them all SMART, in reality what format the packages are in is irrelevant.

[jordanmthomas]

I haven't found any rpm system that is quick. I have tried apt with rpm and apt with deb seems faster. RPM takes forever to resolve dependencies no matter tha package manager I use. I will agree though that the dependencies are eventually resolved and there's not too many dependency problems anymore.

(of course, pacman is faster than both of them :) )

[matthew]

I don't hate windows, I have found something far superior for my needs.

I was given my first computer was in 1981: a Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computer (version 1) with 4K ram and a cassette tape recorder for storage. It booted into a very early version of MS-BASIC. I remember upgrading to 32K ram and a disk drive (a 5 1/4 inch disk held 180K of programs... would I ever need more than one??) and thinking I might never need another upgrade...now I wish my Pentium M 745 with 1Gib of ram was faster with a HD bigger than 100 Gib.

I used Unix in college in the late 80's on a vax while studying the LISP computer language and other useless things like that. (That's my personal opinion, not intended to start a flame war...) I haven't used LISP since then so all I remember is that I have to count my ()'s. I also began using PC's running DOS as well as early Macs in the university's computer labs. I have studied the computer languages BASIC, C and Python as well as bash scripting, HTML and a little PHP, but please believe me when I say I'm really just a hackish amateur when it comes to programming.

In the 1980's I used to be a part of several BBS communities. That was a fun time. I got my first internet account in 1992. It was a text-based dialup account. Basically I made a tty connection to the provider's server and could check my email with Pine, browse the usenet newsgroups, and use archie for searching. The "web" was in its infancy and I could browse the very small number of pages that existed using lynx. I haven't been offline since...

From the time I graduated from the university (1992) until April 2005 I used various MS products...starting on a hand-me-down computer with DOS 4.0, then 5.0 and 5.22, Windows 3.0, 3.1, 98se, Me, and XP.

I got tired of being told what I could & couldn't do with my computer as well as spending my free time running virus scans, defragging my HD, and guarding against spy/adware. I found a Linux mag with an Ubuntu version 5.04 cd in it (Hoary Hedgehog). I installed Ubuntu in a dual boot setup next to Windows XP and I was hooked.

I started in April 2005 asking tons of questions on the Ubuntu web forums at ubuntuforums.org. The people here were incredibly nice and helpful, so much so that I thought I should help some others in return. I was registered user number 17635. After several months they asked me if I would help out as a moderator. I thanked them for the honor and politely declined citing time as a main factor. A month or so later I was asked again and told that I could come and go as I pleased, no specific time requirements would be made of me. I accepted. I was one of about 20 staff for around 50000 users. Not long ago I was asked to be one of the 5 site administrators.

I've been using nothing but Ubuntu since somewhere around October 2005. It is all that runs on my computer at home, the one at work, my wife's computer and my old computer I set up with Edubuntu for my kids...unless you count a virtual XP that I'm running in vmware to test my webpages with IE7 and the Windows version of Firefox.

Well, I guess that's it. The bottom line is I have always liked using computers and I love trying to make them do things they weren't necessarily designed to do and I chafe at being told what I may and may not do with my hardware. I love the software, but even more I love the philosophy of humanity to others that Ubuntu is based on. I have found my OS home.

[mr_cazorp]

I installed it out of curiosity. But last night I installed it out of need. My gnome just stopped working. In fact, all gnome applications stopped working. KDE worked but I couldn't find a damn thing on the internet about my problem. (Well I did find several unanswered posts in various forums from poor saps with the same issue.)

I don't hate or love any OS. I use Mac OSX, Windows, and now Ubuntu.

But since installing Edgy, I find that my laptop fan is always on. I see that certain things don't work (my mouse cursors are strangely inconsistent, for example) and I know that I have a week or two of editing stupid config files, loading libraries, and generally devoting my life to this so-called wonderful operating system to get it to the point where commercial OSes are, out of the box. In fact, the first time I booted this piece of garbage after installing Edgy, I had to go into a terminal session and delete .bashrc, which was failing. Great!

Sorry for sounding cynical, but I have never had a computer crash on me - that is, crash all the way, and this thing has, twice. Once last night, and once a week after I first installed Dapper, when the auto update broke Xorg. That was fun too.

Ubuntu is interesting as a hobby but as I sit here listening to my poor laptop fan grinding away, thinking about all the config I'll have to do to this thing, just to get rid of the BROWN! let alone anything productive, I'm pretty sure my next laptop will be a nice friendly X60 with Vista or XP Pro. I've had enough Ubuntu.

[Qwerty452]

I never used to hate Windows, but I do now. After the two variants of the Blaster worm and having to reinstall Windows XP 1-2 times a year when it breaks, defragging, license agreements, scanning my computer with three separate spyware/malware/crap removal tools on top of two virus checkers, having hardware suddenly not detect, and then most recently, Windows XP would not even boot, turning my computer into a glorified paperweight, I had enough.

Running Ubuntu for the first time was a sigh of relief and something to be excited about. I like Ubuntu. It's stable. It works. If I don't like the way one program behaves I can chose another that does the same task a different way, even right down to the desktop enviromnent, or even none at all. The software is mostly free. No viruses. No need to scan for them, or for spyware/malware (I hope), no defragging needed so far, and none of the things that made Windows so annoying.

I said no to upgrading to Vista and moved to Ubuntu instead!

And I can make it almost act like Vista anyway, without the Vista!

[X-626]

I have hated Windows for quite some time now. It just was becoming so annoying to work with. Not to mention it seemed to screw up everyone's accounts on it. Now, the stupid thing won't even dial-up. It seems to me like it's about to quit altogether. I honestly hope it does, so I can convince my family to get rid of it (that could be happening soon, I hope).

I was also getting fed up with spyware and adware (which I'm not even sure how they got there in the first place. I'm really glad that I switched to Ubuntu (which is one of the best distros I've ever used).

[timjayko]

I first tried ubuntu on a virtual machine app with my macbook.. then I decided to dual boot windows and ubuntu on my desktop.. after about a week I came to the decision that I no longer needed windows and erased everything to leave all the disk space for Ubuntu.. I have no regrets.. :popcorn:

[johntelthorst]

I switched to Macs from Windows around 2004, I really liked my Powerbook and was an Apple Zealot for a time. But, my Powebook broke down so I sent it into a repair company. In the meantime I was sans-mac so I had to use a Windows PC, I really don't like Windows because of the bloat and spyware, I never felt in control of my OS.

I decided to install Ubuntu, I'd tired other Linux distros (never Ubuntu) in the past when I was particularly disgusted with Windows, but I never stuck with them because there were things I wanted to do, and I couldn't or didn't know how to do in Linux, but did know how to do in Windows.

This time, using Ubuntu Linux I was very satisfied, I could do most if not all of the stuff in Ubuntu that I could in Windows, but without the spyware and MS tomfoolery, and it was free. So when my Powebook was diagnosed as needing a new $500 mainboard, I decided to buy a $500 Acer notebook with 3 year warranty instead. I'm still running Ubuntu, and I don't see myself switching back to OS X and certainly not Windows.

I miss the polish of Macs/OS X sometimes, but I like the philosophy of Ubuntu.

[luke411]

I've spent the last 10 years or so playing with different distros but always ended up returning to windows. Back then linux was more of a hobby than a viable alternative. I think the last one I used was Xandros which I liked but that laptop died and life just made me too busy to keep up with any of it.

I discovered Ubuntu purely by accident when I was looking for a download for an old machine I was thinking of putting together. It had probably been 4 years or so since I had even looked at linux but when I tried the live cd I was amazed. I installed it on a cheap Gateway laptop and was dumbfounded that everything worked right out of the box, including the wireless card.

Since then, I have installed it on three machines and talked people through many more installations. I think the world is finally ready for a distro like this one and I personally believe the people at Ubuntu are turning a corner for all of us. I installed it on a co-workers desktop that he was ready to replace because numerous attempts at re-installing windows would not work for him. He was so frustrated that he wanted to buy a new pc. After I gave it back to him, he told me his wife refuses to use any other pc because they are just "too slow". She didn't even know what Linux was but she knew it was better and faster. It also immediately enabled his fax/copier/scanner which according to him, had never worked correctly.

I don't and never have hated MS. If it wasn't for Gates and his WIndows, the world would not have the number of pc's in it that it does and that's just an undeniable fact. I just grew tired of watching the OS get more and more bloated and more and more unreliable and all the time holding my breath and hoping for something like Ubuntu to give me an option.

The recent nightmare that they call Vista only confirmed to me that I made the right decision and one day, when my table top pc needs replaced (it's my wife's) I will be free of windows all together. I can't imagine returning to it or buying and keeping it on a new pc. The upside is, I can buy the most discounted pc on the floor of any store and turn it into a screaming work horse with Linux and never worry about upgrading hardware as long as it all holds out.

I get the feeling that there will be a lot of new customers for Mac's and fewer for Linux but hopefully people and vendors will realize that just because it says Microsoft on the box does not mean it's beyond mistakes. I mean, after five years in development you would think someone at MS would have hooked an Ipod up to Vista just to see what happens. And could it become any more convoluted than having 4 different versions of the same OS, depending on what your hardware is? My God, who approved that business model??????

At any rate it's a pleasure to be here and to read all of your stories. I'll see you all in the forums. Take care.

[FaceLeg]

I had been meaning to for some time. The catalyst was the fact that all my COMP papers at uni use eclipse from now on...

I have found Ubuntu to be light years ahead of XP.

But then I enjoy messing around with it.

I have ordered 10 CD's, so I can break into my friends houses and install it on their computers when they are at work.

[antharr]

I don't hate Windows the OS as much as I hate the M$ way of business. However, this is not to say I haven't become frustrated with the software. I don't think I will ever run Vista unless I load it using VMware just for %$@!'s and giggles. I run Ubuntu and Windows under Vmware because I need ******* for certain school assignments.

I think Ubuntu will slowly catch fire and start to take away from Windows market share. It is becoming so easy to make the switch and I am so glad I have already done so.

[happy-and-lost]

I wanted to come back to Linux after being too chicken to repartition my (then) shiny new laptop for a year, but didn't want installing my wireless to be painful. Thus, Ubuntu was the easiest way back into Linux after a year away.

[ramjet_1953]

My transition to Linux literally took years.
I tried several distros in the past, Suse, Mandrake and Red Hat, but there was always something that I just couldn't get to work, usually a printer, or scanner.

However, when I loaded-up Ubuntu, everything was detected and ran. I had a minor hiccup with screen resolution, as my laptop runs 1280 X 800, but after a bit of searching the forums, I had that fixed with 915resolution.

However, since I have made the change, I have not gone back to Windows. I installed Ubuntu on a new hard drive that I installed in my laptop and the old Windows drive has subsequently been wiped and Feisty installed, so that I can play with it, without doing anything nasty to my very nice and stable Edgy install.

All-in-all I'm a very happy camper and glad to be a memeber of the Open Source Community.

Regards,
Roger :cool:

[falkenberg_cph]

I installed Ubuntu from curiosity. And because i was tired of stealing. (uhm... chocolate bars that is ;) )

[MeBeMikeyC]

This feels like AA meeting, in that I'm admitting my dirty past of being a Microsft product / Windows addict....

Sadly, I had used Windows and Microsoft products for years, before I discovered open source software and Ubuntu. I quit gradually, but I'm very proud to say, I have been completely clean for over a year now!!!

My first step began when I downloaded Mozilla Firefox. I consider this my "gateway drug", in that it opened my eyes to how nice free / open source software really can be.

Next, was Open Office. At that point, it wasn't the nicest user interface, but it did everything as well, if not better, than Microsoft. And it's FREE??!! That's a price tag I can handle. :)

Then, lastly, I had a distaste for years with what I was getting out of Windows. I never paid for it, so it wasn't a, "that's all I get for my money" feeling, but running Windows never felt like the ultimate system.

I installed Ubuntu in January, 2005. I started slow with a dual-boot. Less than 2 weeks later, I wiped out my Windows partition, and am never looking back.

So, to summarize, I run Ubuntu because:

It works REALLY well.
It doesn't feel like it's holding me back intentionally. I always felt that way with Windows.
There are infinite possibilities of free, easily accessible programs available in Synaptic package manager. It never leaves me feeling bored.
Beryl's animation blows away Vista. Aero is boring.
It's free.
I really hate Steve Ballmer's views, and can proudly say I'm effectively telling him to stick it. (Linux is a CANCER??!! What an A-hole. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Ballmer))

[Raavea]

Hate is good. Other more descriptive terms are ire, loathing, disgust, and utter contempt.I agree wholeheartedly.

With me, it was the final straw when I had to install XP over my beloved '98 just to play the new MMO's I was after. The endless spychecks, defrags, paranoia, and the utter dumbed-downedness of XP really got to me after my pretty secure, straightforward '98 installation which I had used for a long, long time before giving in and installing XP. I knew '98 like the back of my hand, but XP was different somehow, even more restricted.

I'd been checking the Ubuntu site for some time, I think last time I looked at it they were touting their latest release which was Hoary, I think. Stress at not having the cash for a new copy of XP after moving from home and thus not being able to re-install every few months built up until I came back to Ubuntu to check it out, it was Breezy, go it, installed it, it was heaven. Few weeks later and Dapper (which I currently use) came out, so I waited for a while and then upgraded.

All in all, I think JAPufrock's words are the perfect collection, if you include; frustration, exhasperation, and general horror at what was happening to something that did have promise. (I miss 3.1... Earliest graphical desktop I remember. We had this thing before with green stuff on black, I used to play Rogue on it when I was tiny.)

[castoroil97]

I have always disliked windows. it is not stable, buggy, weak in security. The prices they charge are totally unreasonable and then they complain about piracy. Windows does not allow for much customization. Microsoft is totally unoriginal, they need to steal ideas from other companies (Macintosh and it's GUI) and they engage in uncompetitive practices.

Linux is a pain to install, but so can windows. I bet if somebody gives Ubuntu a billion dollars, it would rule the computer world inside a year. Windows is a bloated beast that I will avoid as much as I can. Ubuntu is the future. I will support it all I can.

[Sanchopinky]

What did you feel when you installed Ubuntu onto your system?

I was fed up with Windows being so unstable. I just was angry, and didn't care what was on my hard drive. I just wiped everything and installed Ubuntu, and then I lived with it. I probably will never go back to using Windows as my main OS again.

This is exactly what I was thinking.

2 days ago I was content playing games and surfing the web on XP, but all that changed when my AV didn't even recognize a virus and my firewall just let it wreak havoc. It got to the point where my computer became crippled.. I was so frustrated I swore for about 2.5 hrs and because I saw so many happy Ubuntu users I decided to make the leap. I am very new to Ubuntu but I love it. The bugs are tolerable because anything can be better than the hell I went through with XP. I don't think I'll ever switch back.

[use a name]

With Ubuntu, I realised the time had come to finally say 'Good bye' to windows. Happiness all over me. I did not hate windows, but it felt like a waste of perfectly good hardware. :) (Oh, and I do hate MS, but oh well, if you get most MS software for free, then what does it matter?)
I had another linux distro installed already, but that was one that kept me recompiling kernels for anything I wanted... (it was openSuse, not the easy desktop system I wanted) Anyway, I knew things could be better than Windows and easier than Suse (which, of course, still is better than windows, DUH!) and here we are... :D

[belikralj]

Man there are some guys posting here that have been in computing forever :), I'm quite young and inexperienced in windows and seeing your posts I'm happy to say that I was only exposed to it for 3-4 years of my life, way before complete rage came into place there was frustration and a workplace with a solution. I was voulunteering in a pc shop because I wanted to learn about computer hardware (yes I am a newb) and was lucky enough to run into a guy that had ordered some Ubuntu Breezy CD's. I installed Ubuntu somewhere between december 2005 and january 2006 can't really remember, as a dual boot with XP ofcourse distrustfull of the Linux. But I soon saw it for it's advantages as it ran far better than my windows ever did (on an Hawlet Pacard) and I quickly converted the whole family to it (some were harder than others). And now I see that (at least in Serbia where I currently live) many buisnesses are switching to linux (as well as a few in New Zealand where I use to live). So the world is slowly getting wiser to the game MS has been playing, and I hope it woun't be long untill all my favorite games migrate to Linux at which point I will happily say goodbye to Windows. But untill then I can only bare the frustration for the breef time it takes for it to boot and for my game to start when the relaxation begins and pauses briefly between the end of the game and being back in my Ubuntu.

I love the freedom Linux gives it's users and the fact I can tinker with things and learn practically how my whole system works, customising it the way I want it to be.

[msaied]

I used windows since the 3.1 days. then 95 , NT, 2000, XP
after the introduction of service pack 2 fo XP I was pissed of by the genuine advantage crap whenever I wanted to update or download fixes to my (legal) windows. Its just humiliating to buy a software and whenever you want to update it , you have to prove that you bought it.
but trying vista beta. was the real turning point .I had to put up with xp for the past 5 years or so , I was expecting something revolutionary after 5 years in the making. but the reality was different I was shocked by how resource intensive this vista was , It mad me feel like it was built not to run applications but to run itself . as if it is the only thing you will ever run.
bearing in mind that Linux is IMHO better than vista , I can only imagine how it will be in 5 years from now.

I used OS X for a month or so , It was way less configurable for the power user than Linux . it felt like a crippled Linux.

now I use Linux as my only OS and planing to do so for the rest of my life . I can tweaked it till it brakes and fix it again. learning something new every time. I just regret that I hadn't moved to Linux earlier.

[Quillz]

I have always disliked windows. it is not stable, buggy, weak in security. The prices they charge are totally unreasonable and then they complain about piracy. Windows does not allow for much customization. Microsoft is totally unoriginal, they need to steal ideas from other companies (Macintosh and it's GUI) and they engage in uncompetitive practices.

Linux is a pain to install, but so can windows. I bet if somebody gives Ubuntu a billion dollars, it would rule the computer world inside a year. Windows is a bloated beast that I will avoid as much as I can. Ubuntu is the future. I will support it all I can.
Have you ever patched uxtheme.dll? To say that Windows is not very customizeable is simply wrong. There are many unsigned themes to completely change the look and feel of Windows.

[netboy541]

I actually installed Kubuntu on my Compaq EVO laptop because I kept getting the bomb in WinXP, and I possessed a legal, store bought copy. I called microsoft 3 times, and finally had all I was going to take. I took the CD, box, everything, placed it in a box, and gave it to my dad.

I blew the hard drive away, installed Kubuntu, and never looked back.

I have had a very positive experience with (k)ubuntu, as Evos make the best linux boxes IMHO. Everything in them just works without any headache....

I then bought a Toshiba laptop, and as soon as I got it home, I erased everything off the machine, and installed Kubuntu. I have had nothing but praise for it, and have actually managed to convert some of my friends over.

I've been using Kubuntu since the 6.0.6 LTS release was first pressed. I ordered my cds and once I had it working, passed them out to everyone I could!

I now run Kubuntu 6.10 on all my laptops except one, and all of my desktops. My servers where just recently switched over from RH9 to Xubuntu.

Windows can die in a fire as far as I'm concerned. Once we get the hardware support hammered out and a little easier, I think we will throw more rocks at Windows! :lolflag:

[timmahhny]

For me it was a combanation of factors:
First I was tired of calling Microsoft every time I installed a new piece of hardware.
I was tired of the bluescreen of death
Tired of how slow it was
Tired of how resource intensive it was
Tired of the security updates and not knowing what is really installed on the machine.
Tired of Microsoft in general.
But I have great respect for the guy and for his vision; I just don't like where they are at right now.
I wanted something different, stable, and something that would challenge me.

I also have been trying the different flavors of Linux for ten years and found Ubuntu. Out of six computers, only two are running the Windows OS. I would get rid of those but need that operation system; but who knows what the future will bring.

[allix]

Yes, and no. I just got tired of the "windows way" of doing things. Reinstalling the OS every month, googling to find even the simplest apps that turns out to crippled and wanting $49.95 for the full-version, antivirus, spyware, firewalls, endless security-exploits and all the ridiculus licence-agreements.

So I started to look for alternatives. Ubuntu was the first I tried, and I was really impressed. This was about a month after hoary was released, almost exactly 2 years ago. I've been testing different distros over the years but I keep coming back to Ubuntu. True love. :)

[Sslaxx]

Windows 98 and Windows XP on my machine were sheer hell - XP in particular! I couldn't get either of them to run at all well. The machine had always been dual-booting, it wasn't much of a hardship to make it single booting. Best thing I ever did was to get rid of Windows.

[nerdman978]

I installed ubuntu largely due to "A VIRUS HAS BEEN DETECTED" screens that kept popping up. And another one of my personal favorites was "INVALID WINDOWS IMAGE". Also, I wanted to stick it to the man. :lol:

[castoroil97]

"Have you ever patched uxtheme.dll? To say that Windows is not very customizeable is simply wrong. There are many unsigned themes to completely change the look and feel of Windows.
"

yet another patch? I am sure that is true, but there are so many other things that is wrong with it.

Vista, I have heard is even worse.

With Linux I can learn how it works, as another in this thread said, I can tweak it till it breaks, fix it and learn something in the process.

[Ubluedog]

i wanted my laptop to boot in less than half an hour , its slow and old , but ubuntu installed and works fine. windozze and all its huge overheads ground this machine to nearly a halt.
i have been very happy after fixing the screen res and hardware mod to fix the fan etc. sure beats ******* when it comes to ease of use , gaim , multiple desktops , wow! it took me ages to convince the wife to use firefox , its going to take a bit longer to get her off windozze xp on her machine
cheers

[JAPrufrock]

This thread just goes on .. and on .. and on. It just proves there's a lot of hate for Windows out there in Ubuntuland.

[InuyashaDuelist]

I'm not actually anti-Windows. I actually like Vista's Aero interface. Very pretty, and more appealing than the Mac's interface in my opinion.

But I switched to Ubuntu simply out of curiosity back when I was eleven. Then my computer broke because I didn't know how to partition anything, because I was eleven, so I had to reinstall my current XP installation. This situation has led me to the conclusion that Windows just works (like the slogans said, zomg) and Linux would require a lot of care. So I waited until I felt I'd be able to give Linux enough attention to actually get it working well and for me.

Only time I ever look back now is to play the latest version of the Battle for Wesnoth, or to play some Soldat.

[cunawarit]

I don’t hate Windows one bit; in fact, I like Windows 2003 Server a WHOLE lot!

For me the decision to use Linux was simple, I only needed one Windows machine at home. But I had three PCs. Also, why should I put all my eggs in one basket? I had been working on Windows for a long time and I decided it was time to expand and explore different horizons… That and the fact that Windows licenses cost money, I am not paying for three when I just need one.

Did I feel excited? Yeah, of course! Learning new things is fun.

[Dale61]

I found I was spending more time repairing one thing or another when I ran Windows, so when I had this box built, I did so with a Linux O/S in mind.

I researched for a couple of months prior to the build, and with the info I gathered, I opted for Ubuntu. I ordered a CD, and waited 5 weeks for it's arrival.

Once my pc was built, it came with a (pirated) copy of XP (I was told the pc had to be tested!), so was wiped that as first priority. Ubuntu was then installed, and after a few initial teething problems (and my initial inability in the understanding of command lines, etc,), I have yet to encounter a problem in the 9 months I've been using Ubuntu.

I also went the Ubuntu route on my laptop, but that has since been returned (too long to explain why here) and most likely has had Windows re-installed.

My girlfriend now has full use of our old pc (Windows XP Home), but doesn't have any difficulties when using this pc. Mind you, the old pc is no longer used online, so her web surfing / downloading is kept strictly to this pc only.

Transferring files from one pc to the other is done via CD-RW, and have yet to get a file that will not transfer and be read on the Windows pc.

[icecruncher]

What did you feel when you installed Ubuntu onto your system?

I was fed up with Windows being so unstable. I just was angry, and didn't care what was on my hard drive. I just wiped everything and installed Ubuntu, and then I lived with it. I probably will never go back to using Windows as my main OS again.

Oh yes indeed
You skepa the truth, it was the same for me!!

[DKYang]

To tell you the truth. I saw a video on youtube and the title was like "linux is better than vista" and then the guy explained. I liked the eyecandy beryl stuff, it has it's advantages, and that was my main reason at first. Then I started to use and research what ubuntu can do, like running XP and all that other stuff. It was good information and the boot time was so much quicker. I hate listening to the XP intro noise and then wait 1 min on that intro/user screen for it to finally start up, and then another minute or two just to load anti virus and the other crap. It was getting annoying. So, I went for ubuntu, had it on dual boot on my laptop for about couple of weeks. Now, I have problems using xgl and some other stuff.

So, I'm gonna wipe out XP and use ubuntu from now on untill I HAVE to use XP as main. If it doesn't work out, then I'll just simply go back to XP or another distro.

[SOULRiDER]

To be honest, I don't even hate Windows anymore; I have forgotten about it.

I feel the exact same way, it just doesnt bother me anymore because I totally forgot about it!

[SlyVenom]

I got tired that Windows was rendering my computer nearly worthless.
So I just wiped the OS this weekend and installed Ubuntu 7.04.

[palmerthegeek]

Can't say I hate windows.. Just wanted something to free my mind.... I'm forced to work in a windows world, however to escape this world. Ubuntu offers a method to escape!

[pulver]

Let's see.. everywhere I go people try to force this windows thing onto me.. at work.. although used to get away with claiming to be computer illiterate ;), in school.. although rarely use them bq theres always problems with them, and even have to use a windows box to reserve and access the laundry room where I live ie in my spare time.. then of course its often broken resulting in a lockdown which makes me even more pissed, you CANNOT put a windows box in charge of electronic locks period!

I don't care if all these systems are badly configured or just bad don't like how it works don't want to use it. I'd like to have a choice not to. I can stand it while playing some stupid game (which I rarely do btw) but I'm fully aware it could crash any second or just implode. Some people I know ask me about their computer problems.. windows problems that is.. and sometimes I try to help them out to be nice for a change, even though dont want anything to do with their system.. but a hot shower afterwards and it feels somewhat ok again. yea.. just bought this laptop guess what comes pre-installed.. fcking windows vista.. hasta la vista I say bq it will never be booted on my box thats for sure one of those billions livecds out there will take care of that, and those damn designed for windows stickers glued with some sort of super glue with the same sticky feeling as the os.. it's going to look great on my wc chair. My point is I don't like linux evangelists either, just don't want to be told what system to use. When I install ubuntu it's bq I choose to.

[Ateo]

I installed Ubuntu because I heard it 'just works'. Surprisingly, it did just that.

I'm a former Gentoo user.

[starcraft.man]

Honestly, I was fed up with WGA and unwilling to upgrade to Vista (hate the DRM and the high system requirements for the actual WOW experience). I am also thoroughly annoyed with several other tedious things xp does, not to mention I was using Open Office and firefox almost all the time and I really couldn't answer the question why I needed XP to begin with (except for games... now trying cedega though and it works pretty good).

[carloslosgrande]

I got heartily sick of not being able to change things to do what I wanted and especially sick of getting totally meaningless error messages.:mad:

Upon changing I discovered that with XP I was using about 70% of my drive with Ubuntu about 15%!!!:)

The messages I get from Ubuntu are understandable, even when I don't know what in particular is being referred to, so I can at least make some attempt to discover how to fix it.

Finally, and probably most importantly, is linux, for me, represents freedom of choice.

After the change, the help and consideration I've received from these forums guarantees no return to controlware vendors... and active recruitment of new Ubuntu users:guitar:

[awperk]

i downloaded ubuntu because i had a desktop at home running windows xp and it crashed (go figure). it obviously wasn't the first time i've had a windows computer crash so i got fed up and put ubuntu on it. i'm addicted now and i can't stop, unless i have to use some windows-only programs :(.

[starcraft.man]

The messages I get from Ubuntu are understandable, even when I don't know what in particular is being referred to, so I can at least make some attempt to discover how to fix it.


Don't Forget theres also these great forums to go along with helping fix any of those error messages, and help you mod and fix anything. :D

[Neo0351]

I switched cause i couldn't stand that windows was using all my resources with only one program open. Even with Firefox, thats all i could run. If I ran anything else, my laptop would overheat. Even then, I had to watch how hot it was getting. By feeling above my processor of course. And if I wanted to use IE or MSN Messenger, I had to sit outside in the cold, good thing it was winter. Now it wouldn't work so well. If I wanted to stream video, I had to close everything else, including all the background processes, turn off my firewall, virus scan, etc. And even then I would be using 100% of my cpu. Since I have upgraded, my computer is running fast again, not overheating, and I can serf the web, chat, and whatever else I want to do all at the same time without any problems. And I love the fact that I don't have to buy a new PC every two years to keep up with Windows. And I really love that I can buy a used PC out of the classifieds for a few hundred dollars and be able to do everything I need to do with it and more. I wish I would have know about it before I recycled 3 old PC's that worked just fine, but couldn't run Windows anymore.

[mills]

with windows i realized i just wasn't enjoying it any more, all the crashes, load time, bi-monthly reinstalls (at best) getting mocked in a forum because i didn't know what a svch.host (or whatever it is) was, and then the thought of forking out for another four years of hell with vista didn't appeal to me,

i was gonna get a mac but thought I'd just give Linux a try for a laugh,(couldn't see how a free os could be any good) guess i'll be laughing for a while because i plan on sticking around

[wulfhound]

What did you feel when you installed Ubuntu onto your system?

I was fed up with Windows being so unstable. I just was angry, and didn't care what was on my hard drive. I just wiped everything and installed Ubuntu, and then I lived with it. I probably will never go back to using Windows as my main OS again.

Same thing here.

Except I was always looking up cool programs and then it said "Linux" or only works with "Linux". I figured it was about time to find out what "linux" was, this unreachable, unintelligible word with no meaning to me other than "the OS of genius's" LOL!!!!

Well, it still is ;)

Anyway, I had no more functionality on my XP and was having to reinstall it several times a year. Screw that.

Ubuntu, even if I have to reinstall you, (for example, right after I tried to use Feisty Fawn....ick) I can safely do it without everything having to be carted off the computer. Love you Ubuntu!

L:D

Sandaili

[steeleyuk]

For me it was a new challenge. Plus I want to get into Network Administration and I presume knowing at least 'some' Linux would be useful.

[lyceum]

I came to Linux/FOSS just wanting to learn. By the time I installed it on my hard drive I was sick of Windows. I thought Windows was the standard (as I am sure a lot of people do) but after seeing how good open source is, that is is free in most meanings of the word I switched. Now I am upset with Microsoft for one reason: it could be better, but they want control over quality.

[Enverex]

I don't hate Windows, infact I liked Windows 98, ME, 2000 and XP (before WGA and activation). What I dislike is Microsoft themselves, a highly unethical company that I no-longer will support in any way, shape or form.

[Kingsley]

I actually admire the look and feel of Windows Vista. I just have a much higher preference for Ubuntu because I can customize it to my wants and get stuff done easier. Microsoft isn't on my hate list. Actually, I should be on theirs considering I've been pirating Windows software for ages :D.

[BigSilly]

I moved onto Linux after being the victim of Microsoft's WGA hate campaign about 18 months ago. I had what I thought was a fully legit version of XP on my PC that was bought new. Turns out it wasn't, and boy did Microsoft let me know. But I'm very very glad it happened as it did. Once bitten twice shy, and once I'd managed to remove the WGA tool my relationship with Windows was irreparable. I learned a lot about the business practices of Microsoft, how they "maintain" their monopoly, and how vulnerable the OS is.

Once I'd been locked out of my own PC, I was utterly disgusted. Using a Windows Licence and product key was never an issue before, but it certainly was now and I wanted my freedom from it. Plus of course, you never get a disc do you? So re-installing simply isn't an option.

A work mate had been banging on for ages about how great his Linux is, but I never really cared too much for faffing with the PC. After WGA, I decided I wanted to try it out. He gave me Mandriva and a partitioning tool for XP, and away I went. I couldn't get it to do much, and I found it quite complicated, but I was inspired enough to keep trying and move on to other distros.

So here I am with Ubuntu, and this is where I'll stay now for my main system. When I do eventually destroy the XP partition I intend to dual-boot Linux distros only and keep learning, basically! I'd like to be a more capable Linux user.

[zugu]

I installed Ubuntu with a deep hatred for Windows XP, and after a year I installed Windows XP with a deep hatred for Ubuntu.

[dtsdude]

Well, was disgusted with vista, so i went out seeking a alternative to xp.

Found ubuntu, was impressed, then i found OSX was even more impressed.

Since i swiched to mac, i have become a better person, and a superior human being.

Every one not using mac just cant compare, they are inferior and on a lower level.

[init1]

I wouldn't call it hate, because I had far less problems with Windows. It never crashed, it never got viruses, it ran at a reasonable speed, and was reliable. I was curious, though, and when I tried linux, I found that I liked it more. Even though I had more problems with alsa, compatibility, and wireless. But, I never use Windows anymore.

[jgrabham]

Curiosity, (and windows knacking up)

[brian j]

I am, and still will be very angry with "Microbull", Especially with their very dishonest business practices. Particularly now with their "WoW" I've got "MS Spy ware" running my machine telling me that I don't really have a valid distro, and by the way, we'll tell you what you can and wont let you do with your pc.

My first look into Linux was in 1998 with Mandrake ( I think ?). :D

[lyceum]

I actually admire the look and feel of Windows Vista. I just have a much higher preference for Ubuntu because I can customize it to my wants and get stuff done easier. Microsoft isn't on my hate list. Actually, I should be on theirs considering I've been pirating Windows software for ages :D.

My big question is this:
Which is worse in the Microsoft mindset: Stealing Windows or Using FOSS?

[capecove]

I was tired of Microsoft pushing people around really. I am ready for computing to be FUN again. Living in fear due to some MS propoganda takes all the excitement right out of it.

[Al Fairclough]

One of my numerous reasons for ditching XP, is M$'s farming out jobs to India and taking the jobs away from N.America. Another reason is all of the mysterious processes that run in the background of XP. If I want my OS to access the HD, I'll tell it to.

Mostly though, I just like Ubuntu better.

[Compucore]

Myself I was just tired of having the same thing as everyone else in windows OS wise. Here with Ubuntu in general. You can customize it to the way you want it to be. And do with what you need it to do just for yourself. Meaning it is the way that the indivisual wants it to be no matter how extreme it is. Some will continue to keep tqeaking it to the extreme others like it just as is. It's basically the preference of the individual not what MS wants you think it should be. With the different distros from Ubuntu alone gives you that variety. Depending on the type your system that you are using at home or at work.

I just got tired of the viruses, adaware, malware, and the things that come about that is wrong with windows.POlus what ubuntu has a distro on CD or on DVD like from SUN microsystems. I'll take any day of the week over what MS as for its vista machine. I mean take a look in comparison forexample. On one DVD for MS you get just the OS itself. On a Ubuntu Live CD/DVD you get not only the OS but it has already a office suite, Internet ready, programming languages.Some you need to download the IDE for but thats a minor thing though and for free. Where as windows you gotta pay for this, that, and the other thing for it.

Compucore

[sahilbhrany]

freeware is what attracted me to ubuntu, i didnt want to spend my tuition money on some anti virus / anti spyware software that didnt even work that good anyway.
If its free whats there to loose?

well maybe a little bit of time, sometimes, but Ubuntu is getting easier and faster to install and use than Windows with every new version thats coming out. And personally i dont like OS X, but thats just my opionion, I have never really experimented with it much to make a judgement on it.

Also, forums like this have also made my transition from XP to Ubuntu soo much easier, now I only go back to windows to print because my printer is not supported in linux yet.

[arashiko28]

Actually i did it tired of having a hole in my pocket and it would just get even bigger with the vista costs, i have 3 computers!!!! and the basic home version is not enough! I tried ubuntu on my external drive, went through the head ache of being switching drives. I have now some 70 days without even touching the windows disk. as soon as i completely learn to use linux and have all the programs or equivalents to what i normally use, windows will be gone.

My sister in law told me: "You're a hipocrit, all your life using windows and now despite of it" , to what i answered "That is because I did not knew any better" and her computer froze at that same time and she had to restart, i was :lolflag:

[Naralas]

Linux is stable, and flexible enough that it does not bore me after a month. I can always change SOMETHING up. It does most of my daily tasks and most of the daily tasks for most of the world. Could use a better burning suite for gnome. Maybe compiz better integrated with DE's.

Windows i use for games. They work better where they are MEANT to work.

Which is why they should be developed for Linux and sold through the software channel with a BURNABLE ISO so that we can keep copies.

[steven8]

My big question is this:
Which is worse in the Microsoft mindset: Stealing Windows or Using FOSS?

Using FOSS.

[Kleist]

I don't hate windows. I just got bored of it. You have to be really stupid to get a virus or broke the OS. I never had mayor issues using windows.

My first linux distro was suse. And later on I tried debian and fedora. But there was always something I couldn't do in linux, and I had to go back to windows.

The first distro I really liked was ubuntu, and now I've been using it for almost three years. I stick with it. I still can't do some things in linux, like playing in the chessbase server, but since I almost retired from chess I notice that I come back less and less to windows.

I will say that I can do 95% of my stuff in ubuntu and I don't miss windows, and I don't plan to upgrade to vista soon or get a new computer with this OS.

:)

[MetalOverlord]

For me, pretty much the same reasons as everyone else. Stability, security, and not having to deal with all those ridiculous annual renewals. Paying top dollar for software is one thing, having to keep paying for it over and over is just insane.

[Cappy]

I really hate Vista because it eats 512MB of ram on laptop I got today with nothing running and programs take about 10 seconds to open and still even then lag. Windows XP is great though, always loved it. I think Vista was made to make people buy more expensive computers which runs slower than a XP + spyware anyway.

[stinger30au]

i have been working on ubuntu on a celeron 400 with 256meg of ram & 12 gig hdd & dvd burner. i have managed to get all s/w i need up and running i need.

im tired of the microsoft bloatware cycle and the virii,trojans,spyware etc that goes with windows.plus the fact how slow it runs. i tried ubuntu on one of machines that is a P4 3Ghz and i was floored at how fast it ran.

the last thing i needed to do was copy dvds, and i can now do it with wine and this freebie

http://www.dvdfab.com/free.htm

works just fine.

So, see you later microsoft, thanks for fish!:guitar:

[traxtar3]

Tried linux back in the RH8 days and liked it, but was too into gaming at the time to fully switch.

I was formatting my hard drive about once a month just to keep up with the spyware as well as how much I messed with everything. and i was tired of "paying" for software.

My hard drive took a dump when I upgraded my motherboard so i went from a 60 GB to a pair of 300 GB and thought... hey why not try linux again.

Tried mandrivia...hated it.....
Tried Fedora.....hated it.....

ahhh Ubuntu, now this is something i like.

From the get-go i loved it. Running Ubuntu Studio with all the Kubuntu stuff is awesome. I love that i can use all the KDE apps in a Gnome environment with little or no hang ups. The more i use it the more I love it. I even got my wife to use it... virtually on her MacBook, but it is a start.

Keep up the good work Ubuntu Team! Can't wait to see what is in store for us next (itunes hopefully!)

http://traxtar3.deviantart.com - All with GIMP!

[greg.hagen]

I bought an Apple iBook when I started college. All the comp sci classes were unix based and I wanted to get the jump on other students. Unfortunately, my iBook and car were stolen after 6 months. I had almost no money so I bought a Thinkpad x24 off of Craigslist for $300 and loaded a distro that I'd never heard of before that supposedly had awesome hardware support. I've been using Ubuntu ever since.

It's stable, secure, easy to tinker and the experience has already landed me a new job with 3x the pay. :)

[g2g591]

mine was dislike of the loadtime, gui, heck, i just plain dislike it. I had it for 10 years or so, then stumbled upon ubuntu and loved it. I even screwed up my windows partation when i shrunk it to fit ubuntu, and used recovery disks to get it back. Now i manly use ubuntu, but occasionaly use my vista partation for the occasional app that doesn't have a linux equivalent.

[Ultra Magnus]

My University had a Linux network - actually it was very clever, you could choose to us windows 2000, sunOS (very old version) or fedora, and after using fedora I got quite interested in Linux - Had major trouble installing fedora 3 a while back but tried again recently and now whenever I boot my computer I feel content - like I have just consumed a large quantity of raw fish... ummm.

I I don't really get all the windows hatred (steve jobs is far more evil than bill gates) and still run windows sometimes, if there is the odd annoying app I want to use that doesn't run on linux but I increasingly find that Linux does almost everything I want and just feels more fun to use - Plus i'm assured that using Linux makes me more 1337 so another bonus for using linux!

[kamaboko]

For me it had nothing to do with stability, load time, security, etc., b/c my Windows machines are fast, secure, and always stable. (I know how to set them up properly). Linux is something of a curiosity to me, and it keeps me up on what's on the other side of the pond so to speak.

[blithen]

What did you feel when you installed Ubuntu onto your system?

I was fed up with Windows being so unstable. I just was angry, and didn't care what was on my hard drive. I just wiped everything and installed Ubuntu, and then I lived with it. I probably will never go back to using Windows as my main OS again.

Same here! Windows=hate

[tashmooclam]

I installed ubuntu with not just a hate for windows, but a desperation, my laptop was either going to work or I was going to throw it away.
However, Ubuntu for being touted so often, and for being offered at Dell gives the false impression of something that is ready for desktop use. It's not, maybe Mint is, I don't know.
Having used Apple and then having to go down to XP Pro, I knew what the operating system should be like.
Ubuntu feels like half a system when you install it, I suppose literally it is. I really do NOT care what the reasons for this are.
Either way, my windows xp pro experiment are over. It was a very unstable, insecure, worthless.
What did amaze me was seeing copies of Windows XP Pro for sale for $90 in some store. Worthless at 1/2 that price.

[rkrug]

I never hated windows. I just wanted a faster and better looking computer with no chance of getting a virus or spyware.

[Freddy]

I started to use GNU/Linux just for the fun of it, I used to dual boot back then. My full time commitment to GNU/Linux happened 3 years ago when I was charged for copyright crimes in my country, their investigation took some time and by the time I was convicted I was a full time GNU/Linux user :).

I guess you can call it hatred, cause Microsoft was and is a big sponsor of the Anti Pirate Agency that paid of a dude to rat on me and a couple of others, but than again I was wrong to violate copyrights so the only one I can blame is myself.

/Freddan

[g2g591]

which country?? us?

[forrestcupp]

I hated Windows because of their DRM crap, but I got over it. I had a legitimate interest in Linux even back in the days where people still used MS-DOS.

[stinger30au]

my first take of a unix operating system was when i was about 9 or 10 years old. It was called "OS9" written by Microware (www.microware.com)for the Tandy Colour Computer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tandy_Color_Computer). I could not get my head around it.
Over the years i have been keeping an eye on Linux development and waiting for a chance to step across from Windows. I have worked as IT Support for microsoft products for years, not cos i liked it, but cos i made a living out of it and it payed the bills.I have learnt a lot from microsoft products, like, how to get your first virus, how frustrating it is to get the blue screen of death by just checking your email, how many security holes you can poke a stick at, and now with Vista how you can take a snapping quick machine and turn it in to a 8088 and have all sorts of conflicts along the way.Im tired of the garbage associated with MS products and the bloatware/adware/spyware/trojans and the rest of the garbage.Oh yeah and dont forget i learnt how to take a hardrive and load it with s/w and watch it go slower then a snail crossing a salt flat cos you need to defrag your hard drive constantly.


uuuummmm... no thanks. over it all.
I love Ubuntu as you dont have to be a fighter pilot/university professor to drive the thing unlike other versions of linux.

I just want something that works.

Rock on Ubuntu!:guitar:

[cmat]

I installed Ubuntu not because I hated Windows. The fact that I can't afford to upgrade all my PCs for Vista made me a little edgy falling of the bleeding edge. Then I found out about Ubuntu from some guy that shared a bench with me in the computer engineering building when I was in university. It's tools were better for my needs and I decided to stick with it. Even though I had a good copy of Windows XP. Hating Windows is just silly. If you don't like it, don't use it.

[Freddy]

which country?? us?
If that was meant for me. No I am not from the us.

[Kayne]

I'm no Microsoft or Windows hater, I just wanted to check out the other side of the fence and now I'm using Ubuntu 90% of the time.

[ashvala]

I loved my first Linux Experience so I put linux on my Comp.

I currently have Debian eTCH. I removed Ubuntu.

[Jellicletrb]

What did you feel when you installed Ubuntu onto your system?

I was fed up with Windows being so unstable. I just was angry, and didn't care what was on my hard drive. I just wiped everything and installed Ubuntu, and then I lived with it. I probably will never go back to using Windows as my main OS again.

Naaa, I didn't hate Windows. I was just afraid of it. I had just graduated from dial-up to broadband, and installed the Zone Alarm firewall. The next thing I knew, there were literally a dozen little programs demanding internet access, that I had no idea what they were, who they wanted to talk to, or what they wanted to talk about. That worried me just a bit, so I dug around in a desk drawer and found the Hoary CD that I'd found on a lunch table at work. I ended up here :lolflag:

[ry4n]

I thought Gnu/Linux sounded neat so i saved all my files on windows and said goodbye.:)

[Sayers]

Well I was in my science class and I remember talking on teamspeak the day before about Linux. So I was bored of the class since the teacher was to lazy to teach. So I googled linux on my phone. Then I found debian. Debian was the first Linux I tried... About a year ago. Linux has jumped through hoops since then. Anyway I had ACPI problems then and the fan didn't work. Long story short, here I am on Kubuntu with a new motherboard , RAM, and processor.

[era86]

I got into Linux through a Unix class I took and a programming class I took nearly 2 years ago. Found that it made programming easier among other things.

[Depressed Man]

I installed Ubuntu after trying Wubi on my Vista laptop. Loved it but I had some problems when using Wubi so I made a jump. And now I dual boot both but spend the majority of my computing time in Linux.

[borris.morris]

I used to be all for WIndows. I was about as for Windows as you could get. Then I tried Ubuntu out of curiosity (I wanted more out of an O/S) and I dual boot now. Just for playing a couple of games, though. And even though my comp is up to date and I rarely surf the I-Net in Windows, it is invested with viri and spyware that won't leave! Tried spybot, McAffe, Norton (I now loathe it), and many others.

[atbnet]

I installed Linux to try something new. I still have a Windows computer and I would like to have a Macbook too. All OSes have their benefits and negatives, I just want to have experience in them all to change things up a bit.

[Jhongy]

No -- I didn't mind that much, although I was fed up with Windows in a number of aspects.

I had been trying dual-booting various distros every other year or so for years, and Linux never really 'turned me on'. But Dapper did -- so I decided to get another, larger HDD, and set up a permanent dual boot with a planned out partitions.

It was a SATA disk, and for my mobo, that required a floppy disk to be inserted at Windows boot-time. The full story is here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=221756 To cut a long story short, re-installing Windows took the best part of a weekend. Reinstalling Ubuntu took about an hour -- and was fun. This made me determined to give up Windows eventually, and so it was always at the back fo my mind to transition fully.

I kept the dual boot around for a while, but spent much of the time in Windows, out of habit ore than anything. A few months later, I did as promised and killed off Windows -- and never looked back.

Since the install saga, I have ordered two lots of CDs form ShipIt, and give them all away each time. I've converted a couple of my colleagues already. I will continue to do so.

In short -- I don't hate Microsoft. I just think that there are better OSes out there --- and that their time will come. (In fact, their time would already have come, were it not for a history of monopolistic practices).

[hockeyfighter09]

spyware and viruses.....'nuff said.

[jgrabham]

No I installed it with frustration with windows. Hatred came later. :]

[Bofur]

I've been a long time Windows user myself until I got the chance to install Vista. The thing has more holes then there are craters on the moon. I have a good graphics card too, (Nvidia Go 7900 GS) and it still ran sluggish. I thought to myself, they call this piece of junk a new os? Anyways, I knew it was time for a change, went straight to Ubuntu not only to learn new things but for a challenge, and I have yet to go back to Winblows and I doubt I ever will.

[metallicamaster3]

I installed Ubuntu with a hate for Windows. You?

I Installed Ubuntu with a love for Linux.

[xpod]

I`m extremely grateful for those initial few months i had using Windows if truth be told.......
It did show me the way to Ubuntu/Linux after all:popcorn:

[slipperhead]

i first heard of ubuntu on the aol message boards and downloaded the live cd out of curiousity. i have to say i was amazed at this alternative to windows and fell in love with it!
i was given an old toshiba 320 cdt and put dapper on it (runs well, if a bit slow) after trying xp on it :lolflag:
next was my dell cpt which is a dream with ubuntu. then my windows desktop died and nobody misses it :p

[ekimus]

I was fed up with Windows being so unstable. I just was angry, and didn't care what was on my hard drive. I just wiped everything and installed Ubuntu, and then I lived with it. I probably will never go back to using Windows as my main OS again.

where can i get a glance at this windows distro you talk about? never heard of it...

oh and when i installed ubuntu i felt like "how the $%§§%§ can a distro support slapd but not libnss-ldap and not libpam-ldap?"

[tqk]

What did you feel when you installed Ubuntu onto your system?

I was fed up with Windows being so unstable.

What took you so long? :-) I installed Linux "Soft Landing Systems" (SLS) in '93 because Win3.1 was unreliable. Win* has not improved since.


I probably will never go back to using Windows as my main OS again.

I will definitely never go back to Win*, no matter how much they manage to improve.

Welcome to freedom. Enjoy!

[fuscia]

i was just bored with windows ME. i hate xp, so i switched to linux. i doubt i'll ever leave linux.

[Frak]

Just curious.

[buzzmandt]

My switch was long and slow, used dual boot for about 5 years now, did everything in windows EXCEPT anything crucial like online banking and credit card orders.....

with the release of vista, i've gone 99% full blown linux (kubuntu), even built a new pc around linux

[jyba]

I haven't used Windows for more than a decade, so I have no feelings about it either way. I started the transition from Mac OSX to Linux a year ago because I wanted the most up-to-date tools. emacs, bash, python etc. always seem to be three or four years out of date on OSX.

I'd be following tutorials on the Web only to find that I didn't have half the features that were being talked about. So in the end I decided to come to the source of the innovation rather than waiting for it to trickle down to OSX.

[carloslosgrande]

every so often my wife or a friend will ask me to help with their windows.
Ugh! It's so difficult to follow it gives me a headache.

[ekimus]

every so often my wife or a friend will ask me to help with their windows.
Ugh! It's so difficult to follow it gives me a headache.

Why don't you just tellt them you have no idea how windows works? As long as lobbyists (users are the most precious ones) still help people in fixing windows it won't loose substantial market share.

I stopped fixing windows a long time ago except when I get money for it. On the other hand I do help people with linux to some extend and if it get's too much I still charge for it so I might not be the best example.

At least I'm not spread the word that GPLd (or similiar licensed) software is free as in free beer.

[carloslosgrande]

Well I don't charge my wife, since aside from love, it would be unstrategic. My friends think that just knowing about an OS other than windows, not to mention actually installing it, qualifies me as 'expert':)

[superstylin]

I am 22, having used Windows my whole life (3.1-95-98-xp), the steps to Ubuntu were as follows:


1 - I found Firefox, I don't remember how, but it completely blew me away, that there was actually "free" browsers out there, and a hella lot better than the IE crap that I was accustomed to using... and this notion of open-source software intrigued me and I slowly learned more about Mozilla, open-source software and such...

2 - To be honest, I was perfectly happy with XP, I played my games, used firefox, winamp, etc...

3 - Then I started hearing about Vista, did some research into it, finding out about DRM, Trusted Computing, and this whole philosophy designed around restraining the consumer! I am "naive"? enough to believe that if I buy a OS I should be able to re-install it as many times as I wish, on the 2-4 pcs that I use at any one time, and to play whatever content or format I choose to play! So, I made up my mind, I enjoyed XP, but Vista is just one step too far in control...

4 - Mentioned Vista to a 23-yr-old friend, hes a life long windows user, he said he heard of some "ubuntu" linux that apparently is better than Vista and looks way cooler!

5 - Youtube Videos + Beryl = Drooling

6 - Curiosity, I looked around Ubuntu, first thing I looked at was who owned the distro (I know nothing, and still know nothing about Linux :p) and who was paying the bills, etc etc... seemed interesting, heard good comments, read your forums, people seemed helpful, answered help requests, etc...

7 - Burned Ubuntu, installed, it asked for a partition, I said F it, take it all!

8 - Happy Ubuntu user! At this point, indefinitely, I cant wait till 7.10 comes out with a stabler Compiz-Fusion!

:)

OFFTOPIC SECTION
Things that took me a long time to learn!
- WTF is Dapper? Fiesty? Edgy?
- WTF is sudo? why does every code have sudo O_o
- WTF is Gnome, KDE, X-windows

(I am going to find some time to suggest that during the installation of Ubuntu we have some "tips" that explain the very basic terms of Linux/Ubuntu!)



EDIT: If you want to hear something funny... We got a brand new Lenovo Labtop with Vista pre-installed and 3 gigs of RAM, and Vista is using 900 megs of ram (and we havent touched it!)!

[Frak]

OFFTOPIC SECTION
Things that took me a long time to learn!
- WTF is Dapper? Fiesty? Edgy?
- WTF is sudo? why does every code have sudo O_o
- WTF is Gnome, KDE, X-windows



1) Those are versions of Ubuntu, most stable is Dapper, latest is Feisty, and development is Gutsy
2) Sudo keeps you safe from people trying to mess with your system. It though only works well with Ext. 2&3 like filesystems, such as what Linux and Unix has. Hence its annoying in Windows.
3)Gnome is the Desktop Environment your probobly using, KDE is something different, and X is what they both run off of.

[bomanizer]

I felt a kaffeine-rush in my head. It's always a nice moment to make some coffee, sit back and load the newly-burned install-cd. It's always been a bit of an uphill ride with the rough edges on a new release, but I don't mind. I've always been able to sort out the problems, and the stuff that I "lose" when I went away from Win, well... :) I'll be fine.

[uibesteven]

Ubuntu is free! Windows costs me everything I have!!!

[ruarymac]

I worked for the Australian Air Force (just quit to start new job next week) where I was exposed to UNIX. Haveing a an intrest I began teaching myself what I could and decided that I should load UNIX/LINUX onto a spare machine at home to continue my learning experience so it was always in the back of my mind to take the plunge. However, when my wife went to a computer auction and came home with a new laptop and desktop I began the shuffle around - old PC hannded down to oldest daughter - her's passed down to youngest daughter etc. The new laptop and desk top required an OS. I loadded XP and it took a long time. Then there was the hastle of ACTIVATION (makes my blood boil just typing the word). I had so much trouble with activation failing becuase I laoded SP2 and then becuae I added a network card and changed out the cdrom for a dvdburner etc. I was extremely anoyed. Then along came a magazine with a UBUNTU live cd on it. I stuck that thing in 5 PC's (at work of course - didn't want to hurt my PC). Well it never failed on any of them. It booted quicker than XP even from the CD and it looked good. I then took it home and dual booted my Dell laptop with UBUNTU. Not a hitch. Fantastic. I have not booted to XP on my laptop since.

I would love to see LINUX (of any distro) take the market share from MS Windows. It does need to be more GUI controlled I think for that to happen. So bring it on.

[FSHero]

Hi all,

I first tried GNU/Linux when I got curious about the "Linux" driver for NVIDIA graphics cards. I must have heard about Linux before, but hardly. I decided that it was noteworthy enough for NVIDIA to write drivers for it. Hence, I tried Knoppix.

I have no idea of how I found Knoppix. But I tried it immediately when I found out that it booted from a CD! I'd never heard of anything of the sort before (except bootable Windows restore CDs :p )

It was great. I used it on a 833MHz P3, NVIDIA Geforce 2 graphics card, 384 MB RAM. It could read all my different USB disks with no extra drivers. It could play sound (MP3s, WAVs, audio cds, etc.).

I used it for a few months. At the same time, I also learnt about Free software. I can't remember what led me to find out about it... but I immediately liked the co-operative spirit of Free software.

Eventually, I tried a hard-disk based distro. I tried Fedora Core 5, but the DVD I burned was faulty. Instead, I tried Debian Sarge, but the DVD was faulty again, lol. I installed Debian Sarge from a CD, which worked!!

I was not too impressed. I found that I needed to install "packages", and their "dependencies" when I was installing programs. I had no internet connection on this computer at the time, so I just gave up installing stuff.

I then heard about Ubuntu, and how it was designed to work and be simple. I installed Kubuntu Edgy, and was impressed. Unfortunately, I didn't use it much -- I had to go to University. But I got a wireless network adapter (after much research), and installed Kubuntu Feisty (which I was eagerly awaiting!).

It was GREAT! It detected my wireless NIC, played OGGs and audio cds out of the box, had OpenOffice, Firefox, Amarok (particularly impressive!) and so on.

Eventually, I installed Kubuntu Feisty on my second computer (better: Pentium 4 3.4GHz, NVIDIA Geforce 6600, 512MB ram). The Windows XP installation on it crashed (no surprises there ;) ) I couldn't even get into safe mode.

With Knoppix, I backed up my files, and then restored Windows XP, then installed Kubuntu.

I haven't ever needed to touch Windows since. Kubuntu can do everything that Windows XP could: word-processing, spreadsheets, web browsing, IRC, e-mailing, photo album organising (digiKam), image editing (GIMP), printing, file sharing (NFS), and so on and so forth. Beryl also gives cutting-edge visuals. All while being secure, and stable.

I'm now going to try to convince my family members to make the switch! I don't think they'll be disappointed! Personally, I'll never go back to Windows or any other proprietary operating system again, if I can avoid it!

[FurryNemesis]

I got sick of re-installing Windows every three months.
The final straw was runaway cycling of the hard drive due to awful cluster management. XP used to freeze for minutes at a time and I finally snapped.

Backed up all my files, tried FC 4, failed to burn the isos properly, did more Linux-related research, came across Ubuntu, tried version 5.10, loved it, rest is history.

I've just come back from a week of testing a PCLinuxOS/XP dual boot configuration on another HD. It took me a whole day to get from a non-SP2 XP install to workable. PCLinuxOS didn't agree with me, but have started testing Enlightenment as a desktop environment. I did like KDE, but getting the wireless to work was horrible. Wizards didn't work at all, even on a card that worked fine in Ubuntu. The Ubuntu kernel is newer, though, which probably explains why.

[BLTicklemonster]

What did you feel when you installed Ubuntu onto your system?

I was fed up with Windows being so unstable. I just was angry, and didn't care what was on my hard drive. I just wiped everything and installed Ubuntu, and then I lived with it. I probably will never go back to using Windows as my main OS again.

I love Ubuntu. It is my primary OS, but I keep XP on dual boot. The strange thing is, XP is way more stable for me than Ubuntu ever has been. No upgrade in XP has ever caused me to lose functionality of a single program, ever. Nothing breaks when I upgrade XP. I'm to the point where I refuse to do a kernel upgrade in Ubuntu now. I've actually had Ubuntu to totally nut up and refuse to do anything before. Also, Grub gets confused and takes forever on boot to decide what it's going to do because of something to do with deciding which linux kernel it wants to use. Firefox (either from the repos or downloading from the firefox site) is slower in ubuntu, too. I know there's threads where "expert" types try to ignore this, but the fact remains that there is a noticeable difference in times between the two systems.

But I know that people have problems with XP, and I applaud your decision to use Ubuntu. It is a great OS and gets better with each release. So it's worth it for me to keep using Ubuntu instead of XP because regardless of what I just mentioned, there are just so many advantages to using Ubuntu as opposed to XP.

Welcome to the free world, tell friends, and tell them to tell friends, too!!!

[NoVista]

I came here with a hate for "Here's the next operating system you have to pay me for because I just made the one you paid me hundreds of dollars for obsolete." Obsolete, I ask? Heck, Win98 SE was still ok.

I never knew the reason of what the penguin was supposed to show, so when I learned it was about "being content", I about hit the floor because that was one of the words I would use when describing it to someone.
The words "serene, quiet, and complete integration" come to mind also, not to mention the whole OS looks and behaves better.

Being able to have all free software along with my OS was just pudding on the cake!

[wilberfan]

It was almost exactly a year ago (late August 2006) and I had just been reading about the dreaded Vista. You could only install it TWICE on the same machine?!!!

Bulls**t!

It was just about that time I saw an article (in e-Week?) about Ubuntu Dapper...

:)

[Killswitch]

I just wanted to try something new. Windows is great; easy to use, small learning curve, alot of software/games I wanted were for Windows (mainly just Photoshop).

Since I have been using dedicated server for my website hosting, I have messed around alot more with Linux and got fairly interested in it.

Honestly, I got tired of having to go through and find Windows Genuine software patches. I bought my computer new, but the copy of XP didn't validate and I am not about to pay $200 for Vistacrap or XP, so i decided to give Ubuntu a shot. So far, I really like it. If I can manage to get Photoshop 7 on here somehow I will never leave it.

I can see where all the hype comes from about Ubuntu lately... you cant visit Digg without seeing something about it. It's an amazing OS to have distributed free. Someday Miscrosoft will have to consider drastically cutting the price on Windows or distributing a free version else they will have some hardcore competition. This day and age, computers are everyday part of life, it wont be so hard for the noob to pick up on linux (it's not really that hard).

Just to clear one other hting up, I dont hate Windows, I actually like it alot. I just don't like Microsoft's business practices and strategy.

[Frak]

I just wanted to try something new. Windows is great; easy to use, small learning curve, alot of software/games I wanted were for Windows (mainly just Photoshop).

Since I have been using dedicated server for my website hosting, I have messed around alot more with Linux and got fairly interested in it.

Honestly, I got tired of having to go through and find Windows Genuine software patches. I bought my computer new, but the copy of XP didn't validate and I am not about to pay $200 for Vistacrap or XP, so i decided to give Ubuntu a shot. So far, I really like it. If I can manage to get Photoshop 7 on here somehow I will never leave it.

I can see where all the hype comes from about Ubuntu lately... you cant visit Digg without seeing something about it. It's an amazing OS to have distributed free. Someday Miscrosoft will have to consider drastically cutting the price on Windows or distributing a free version else they will have some hardcore competition. This day and age, computers are everyday part of life, it wont be so hard for the noob to pick up on linux (it's not really that hard).

Just to clear one other hting up, I dont hate Windows, I actually like it alot. I just don't like Microsoft's business practices and strategy.
Photoshop 7 runs wonderfully under Crossover Office. Just so you know. It does run under Wine but I think some extra DLL's are needed.

[aninaiian]

I just graduated from high school and had nothing to do for the summer. So, I thought that it was the perfect time to try out Linux. I then setup a minimal installation of Debian on top Windows through CoLinux on my laptop.

Eventually, I decided I wanted to dual boot. However, I wanted something easier to setup than that very minimal install of Debian, so, I looked around and found Ubuntu. A few months later, I wiped Windows XP off my hard drive. I didn't do it because XP was a horrible OS. I did it because Ubuntu did everything I needed it to do and was much easier to maintain.

[Crick]

My first step began when I downloaded Mozilla Firefox. I consider this my "gateway drug", in that it opened my eyes to how nice free / open source software really can be.

Yes, I think that this is a lot of the key to migrating.

There are probably loads of people who are frustrated with their M$ experience. Mine were most of the standard reasons; malware, paranoia (closed source, possiblity of XP itself or malware invading my privacy), dislike of forced upgrade cycle and general M$ shadiness.

But it has been in the past extremely frustrating to migrate. Back 10 years ago, getting printer drivers, network card, multiple hard drives, almost anything out of the ordinary to work was extremely time consuming. Now, most of it just works. But additionally, there are the pet applications that a person uses to do things - mail, websurf, vpn, rip, burn, play media etc etc.

Thus, when you switch to an XP/linux dual boot, the slightest thing can send you back to M$, where you will remain because it's working, somewhat.

So, EFFECTIVE migration is not as simple as downloading Ubuntu and installing (except for a 10 year old). I'd suggest doing the following for a permanent migration:

1. Migrate your applications first. Find XP equivalents with known linux ports, preferably native apps that have windows ports. Some examples are firefox (web), thunderbird (mail), openoffice, etc. If you are a gamer, take the time to addict yourself to something like Wesnoth.

2. Buy a new hard drive specifically for your linux drive, along with (probably two, it makes it easier to transfer stuff) external USB hard drive enclosures. There are several reasons for this:

save yourself any trouble if you need to boot into XP for some reason
put a barrier between rebooting XP and figuring it out in Linux (even if it's only 5 minutes, it still forces you to think about the solution instead of being impatient)
you never risk wiping your XP drive, saving worry, and potentially time and money


3. Pick a time where you have no urgent need for Windows apps. Allocate yourself between two weeks and a month for this.

4. When you migrate, try and anticipate your needs and get as many applications as possible working in Linux while you have free time.

5. Install Wine. It will probably help with some remaining applications.

------------

I only hope that somehow malware writers can't infiltrate the repositories as linux becomes popular. At the moment everything is nice and stable, things are working smoothly, I can put my thumb on the CPU heatsink of the laptop without it burning because the CPU load is reduced, and I can install all manner of stuff so, SO easily with synaptic. I'm doing everything I used to do on windows.

[foxholeunder]

To be honest, I don't even hate Windows anymore; I have forgotten about it. When I install Ubuntu, I feel frustrated at the occasional bug (there are fewer and fewer, though), but overall, just very content and satisfied. Actually, the facial expression of the following character best described the feeling:



By the way, it's no coincidence. When Linus originally proposed Tux as the mascot, here's what he had to say:

http://www.sjbaker.org/tux/

From the very start, Tux was supposed to appear "contented" (the word that Linus used), and this is the way many Linux users feel about their OS.

Contented....... That is the way I feel myself!

My first post here on the Ubuntu forums went something like follows:




[sing-song]
-- So began many ventures with different flavors of Linux; I even succeeded to learn about Unix! --
-- From servers to desktops, I have devoured most all; but it was not till Ubuntu did Windows fall! --


For the last few years I have been primarily Linux; dual booting into Windows, for applications I had not felt comfortable to leave. So I set a goal at the start of 2006 that I wanted to be 100% free of Windows applications. So I set about, setting up, 3 and 4 multi boot systems; across several computers; playing around with different flavors of Linux and Unix; testing each one for the comfortable feeling, I had had with Windows, for so many years.

In October of 2006 I found Ubuntu; well, the forums anyways. I was immediately transfixed with the amount of helpful, friendly threads, that were in the Ubuntu forums. I download the the most recent stable version; and fell in love!

After only one month, I downloaded the then non stable release of Ubuntu - Edgy Eft 6.10; and formatted over my only remaining True Windows partition – I had found Linux Nirvana!




I have Truly found Linux Nirvana since I found Ubuntu!

I now have 16 computers running various versions of Ubuntu including servers I am very "contented"!

[Frak]

------------

I only hope that somehow malware writers can't infiltrate the repositories as linux becomes popular. At the moment everything is nice and stable, things are working smoothly, I can put my thumb on the CPU heatsink of the laptop without it burning because the CPU load is reduced, and I can install all manner of stuff so, SO easily with synaptic. I'm doing everything I used to do on windows.

As long as the Ubuntu repo's are being used, the user is 100% safe, also as more users join the Ubuntu Project, becoming a MOTU will become more difficult, and responsibilities becoming top key. Meaning for Community repo's, the protection isn't as much, but since so many people are able to view the source code, the problem could be alleviated in literally minutes.

[Sam Plamondon]

I really like Windows, but I installed Ubuntu because I wanted to experiment, and to learn a new, more customizable OS.

[new2*buntu]

I really like Windows, but I installed Ubuntu because I wanted to experiment, and to learn a new, more customizable OS.
+1. I just wanted explore a new OS.

[NullHead]

I installed Linux because my dad always uses it and I wanted to figure out why. Linux has changed my life for ever more from a result of me trying linux.

[atlfalcons866]

i installed ubuntu because of several reasons that i got tired of windows and its useless features. I havent had windows on this computer in 5 months and have no plans to install windows ever again:)

1.windows genuine
2.virus/spyware
3.Microsofts built in spyware
4.fragmentation
5.slow downs
and the list keeps going on

[SomeGuyDude]

I must be one of the few here who hold no hostility toward Windows. Odd.

When I first installed Ubuntu, I had a "well this will be fun to play with during downtime" kind of feeling. It took a while before I thought it was "legit" enough to actually make into my main OS.

By the time I made the switch, I had no real dislike of Windows, just a preference for Ubuntu. I will admit that Windows' sluggishness becomes glaring when you've worked with a snappier system, though.

[SonicSteve]

I had many reasons,
1. I used windows for years. I even worked for Microsoft on the XP installation call centre when it was released. I loved XP then, don't really dislike it now either. It was leaps and bounds better than 98se or 2000.

2. About 1.5 years ago I first heard of Vista's EULA, the coming DRM and the hardware requirements. It seemed like the time had come to see what Linux was all about.

3. I then had the chance to play with Vista's beta and release candidate. I didn't like either one and I still don't like it. I've used Home Basic, and Business versions, I've come, I've seen, I've rejected.

4. I installed Ubuntu with no real expectations, but to conquer my fear of the unknown OS called Linux. I really didn't expect that it could replace windows for me.

HOWEVER.....

It has and I really like it. I'm content with it, it does what it is supposed to do. Get me from A to B and it does it with just as much style as windows ever had
It's now the only OS on my desktop. I can leave it running for days and it responds as well as the first moments after boot up. I have a machine at my office that does the same. Windows has never done this.

[Methuselah]

I actually wouldn't say I hated windows to being with.
My computer is running XP, which I upgraded after I bought a Dell with Millenium. My first computer ran windows (surprise, surprise) and I've grown accustomed to how it's structured and where things are. I have found XP to be more stable than windows 9x and adequate. I was always interested in other operating systems, but not necessarily as windows replacements.

However, what I have been learning about Vista has left a real sour taste in my mouth. WPA is more draconian than ever, DRM I don't need is being integrated into the operating system, licensing is more restrictive than ever, windows operating system purch.."rental" prices are higher than ever and hardware requirements are higher than ever. Operating systems are supposed to dole out system resources to running applications not gluttonously consume it in order to run all sort of anti-user garbage; is this supposed to be an attractive product?

Windows Vista (hmm vista...implying freedom) seems more intent on restricting the PC owner in various ways. I don't need this. Maybe Microsft should be paying me to run this huge boot sector virus.

No, after all my research and learning from other people's mistakes, that's when I firmly decided I'm getting out from under Microsoft's thumb. I'm going no further down this road. My next PC (which I'm building for myself) will not have windows. That'll not only cut costs but buy liberty --- for free.

There is some software/hardware I wish was better supprted under Linux/BSD. However, The only way I can force than hand of manufacturers is to join the swelling ranks of those who are happily using non-Windows OSs on their primary machines.

So I do hate Vista, but that is the logical outcome of looking past the glitzy (?) "Aero" interface. However, I think practicality, is what is really driving me to abandon the Microsoft garrison. Open source OSs are just a better fit for me and Vista just made that blissfully obvious.

[Presto123]

Me? Well, I wanted to try something different than the Windows. I got so fed up and tired of all the charades with Viruses/Malware. The protective programs I had on ******* made everything just as bad because they would take forever to fix things and slowed startup to a crawl.

After all of that, I burned out my mobo and taught myself how to put a new one in. Sooo...after I tried to get ******* to work on a newly installed mobo, of course the ******* decided I didn't have the right key/mobo combination (Blah blah blah.).

I then chunked XP for Ubuntu and ONLY run Linux on this system. Laptop is a different story, but with my experiences with Vista, I'm almost tempted to wipe the Windows partition out so that my Ubuntu partition can breathe a little easier.

At least the resource hog didn't reject that I dual booted.

Also, I am really fed up with Gates and his OLPC BS he's pulling. I can't stand money grubbing people who hinder those wishing to do good. I didn't really like the ******* system at first b/c of all of the problems. NOW I abhor supporting him for his charades.

[khurrum1990]

I tried a different OS out of pure hatred for Windows. The last time Xp crashed even after so many maintenance checks just pissed me off. I wanted a Unix system so I did 2 things, installed Linux at once and got a Mac. Didn't like OS X much, liked Linux a lot and have been using it since.

[mikewhatever]

I wouldn't call it hate, because I had far less problems with Windows. It never crashed, it never got viruses, it ran at a reasonable speed, and was reliable. I was curious, though, and when I tried linux, I found that I liked it more. Even though I had more problems with alsa, compatibility, and wireless.

+1. Well said.

[Methuselah]

My windows computers have not really given me many problems either. I've never gotten serious a virus and I only recently started running virus protection (which won't activate so has not been fully functional for several months). My one failure to boot event came after a power outage and I later fixed it by running chkdsk.

However, I can't think of anything in Vista really put there with me in mind. I can see things put in with MS in mind and with Hollywood in mind and with hardware manufacturers in mind though. This has really turned me off. It's almost like it's taken for granted that I'll buy and install windows so who cares if it's not even in my interest to do so. Alternative time.

[toupeiro]

Hate is a strong word. No -- I didn't hate windows, I still don't hate windows, but I was tired of it. I was tired of Microsoft Software, and Genuine Advantage (even though i am legit), and Spyware tools, and Malware tools, and Virus Scanners, and Vulnerability patches to a brower thats embedded into my GUI, and the bloated pig called the windows registry, and windows media player, and $400 office suites, and proprietary file formats, and lousy 64-bit development at the time.. There were so many reasons... I switched to linux 100% at a time when I was just burnt out on Windows, and the direction the Operating System was heading from a development standpoint. I support both operating systems today still, but about two years ago I chose to also switch my primary career path to UNIX and Linux and I definately have no regrets.

[atomkarinca]

It wasn't a hate for Windows in particular but a hate for what it brought. Whenever I needed a software I just used to download one and cracked it. One day I thought "this is not just illegal but also a disrespect for the work the delevoper has done". So I switched to GNU/Linux. I tried Knoppix, Fedora, Mandriva, OpenSUSE and I finally settled for Ubuntu.

Now I don't download music off of torrent but listen to Jamendo (http://www.jamendo.com) artists. There are very good musicians there (like La Goutte au Nez, Abdou, Fresh Body Shop, Cool Cavemen, Marc, Derek, Jaunt...) and I love to explore new stuff.

I don't use pirated software but download FOSS from the repositories. Ubuntu Studio comes with a lot of good audio and video editing tools, too.

I never had any problems with viruses or malwares but it's good to know that it's way harder to be infected with those on Linux.

I found an alternative for every software I used on Windows (like AcetoneISO2, Wammu, Blender, Gimp, OpenOffice.org, aMSN, Downloader for X, Geany, GnomeBaker, TuxGuitar, Denemo, Hydrogen...)

For the games, I just use Wine. I managed to run my favorite games (like Call Of Duty 1,2, Colin McRae Rally 2004, Worms World Party and a few more) without a glitch.

So, I'm never going back. Hell, I'm even getting more and more friends to Ubuntu now.

[Tea, anyone?]

I can't say that I hate windows - as long as good security packages are installed. I've spent countless hours dealing with viruses on my family's computers. I've used a mac for several years and I love that, but my wife just got a laptop donated to her, with windows installed but no discs. And some viruses pre-installed too. It was at the point where I wanted to do a clean reinstall of windows, but as I didn't have the discs, I thought I'd try Ubuntu.

My verdict is still out. I'm learning how it works, trying to make the computer do a few basic things (shut down properly, sleep, hibernate, connect automatically to my network), but generally everything is good. Still, I used to like messing around with computer innard when I was fifteen, but I really have other things I should be spending time on now.

[jken146]

It was more frustration than hate (talking about XP, I think I might have hated Vista), but the real reason was I wanted to see if it was better. Of course it was!!

[Medich]

Windows is really unstable,and it has a lot of viruses,spyware ...
Every version of Windows has bugs,we all remember "WIN Millenium edition" ,that was a big :lolflag:

Ubuntu is great ,I had some problems with installing it on my dual xeon workstation,but after 3 days ,it is ok now. Linux and open source is the future of IT,that's my opinion. I am a student of FIT (Faculty of Informatic Tehnologies),and I look forward to help the Open Source Community. That's all from me ,for now.
):P from Bosnia and Herzegovina :)

[aaaantoine]

I tried and installed Ubuntu out of curiosity.

And also, because I am a big proponent of open source software.

[icechen1]

I am tired of reinstalling Windows so i switched to Ubuntu

[khurrum1990]

I am tired of reinstalling Windows so i switched to Ubuntu
Same here, sick of reinstalling Windows on my pc. I can't live without Linux anymore. I don't even feel like using a pc which doesn't have some form of LInux on it.

[Foodster]

i just started changed.only ever used windows but apart from games will never go back.just three days on ubuntu has made up my mind.finding it a bit complex but with such a good community out there help is never far away.
one thing i have noticed,there are some real hardcore windows people who'll slag you all day for daring to try something else.
fools.since it came out all i seem to do is repair/reinstall vista for people.its got to be the worst os i've ever come across and i was determined to never put it on a machine i owned.

[kajillin]

i got sick of "your validation key is not genuine" after every two weeks so i said f*&# windows :P

[ItsManaged]

Mine started as curiosity - what is this linux thing? (Redhat 7)
Then it became - why I am paying for this windows thing? (Mandrake ?8?)
The it was, wow, I'm so glad I don't have to run scans, recover my machine all the time - what a waste of time that has been (Ubuntu 5.04)
Then I started to wonder why people persist with the dreaded weedows (Ubuntu 6.10)
But what capped it off for me was the encryption BS going on in VISTA - Microsoft really are out to get us! (http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.html#oss) (Ubuntu 7.10)

[bartos]

For me, a combination of factors:
I didn't care for Windows itself
I didn't care for spyware (esp. WGA) or other malware
I wanted a secure computer
I like tinkering with my computer
running Linux gives me bragging rights
I like the concept of free-as-in-speech software
I also like free-as-in-beer software

+1

I donate to who I think best deserves it not because i have to and then am told I can't use my software as it is not "Genuine"

[stoodleysnow]

Yup. :-P
Bye-bye Bill, return to the dark pit from whence ye came.
:)

[Wiebelhaus]

i got sick of "your validation key is not genuine" after every two weeks so i said f*&# windows :P

lol

[jken146]

I am tired of reinstalling Windows so i switched to Ubuntu

Yeah, reinstalling Windows is a tiring, frustrating and tedious mess. Reinstalling a Linux distro (especially *buntu) just isn't! (at least most of the time in my experience)

[khurrum1990]

Yeah, reinstalling Windows is a tiring, frustrating and tedious mess. Reinstalling a Linux distro (especially *buntu) just isn't! (at least most of the time in my experience)
I think reinstalling any OS is tiring. Even Linux cause u have to update it, install codecs, personalize it again and stuff.

[kajillin]

I think reinstalling any OS is tiring. Even Linux cause u have to update it, install codecs, personalize it again and stuff.

yes but you can save all the packages to a cd or dvd and have it act as a repository for a one click setup (basically) with windows its pretty much the same just more hassle for something so simple

[de_valentin]

For me, a combination of factors:
I didn't care for Windows itself
I didn't care for spyware (esp. WGA) or other malware
I wanted a secure computer
I like tinkering with my computer
running Linux gives me bragging rights
I like the concept of free-as-in-speech software
I also like free-as-in-beer software

Yup that about sums it up.
Allthough I don't feel I have earned a lot of bragging rights yet.

[quinnten83]

I think reinstalling any OS is tiring. Even Linux cause u have to update it, install codecs, personalize it again and stuff.

Actually, If you use seperate home partitions you can pretty much skip the personalisation. It is saved for you.

[quinnten83]

The reason why I prefer linux (i still dual boot, need windows for school & work), DRM, MS telling me that I have to get a new license after changing hardware once too often.
Just the general costumer unfriendlyness of MS, basically.

[ctyc]

I felt nothing, I started on unix and I am still using unix, windows is just there like air pollution, or stupid people.

[Tristam Green]

I will admit that Windows' sluggishness becomes glaring when you've worked with a snappier system, though.

My God, yes. My WinXP machine is fairly trim, and while slower than my Ubuntu laptop, I attribute that to the much slower specs overall.

However:

Dualbooting Vista and Gutsy on this laptop, I can now definitely feel the doggedness of Vista versus the speed of Gutsy. I timed my startup for Vista from GRUB last night, and it was well over a minute and a half.

From GRUB to Gutsy, I think I get ~30s. The difference is amazing.

Likewise, I harbor no ills to Microsoft PRODUCT. I don't like the company's business practices, but they made a fairly decent product (referencing XP here). I still play Counter-Strike and Final Fantasy XI on XP, and I use my Gutsy laptop for everything else.

[pmgr33r]

Curiosity, and I'm hooked

[vishzilla]

I really like Windows, but I installed Ubuntu because I wanted to experiment, and to learn a new, more customizable OS.

Same here, with Linux I can meddle more with the OS.

[Incense]

I installed Linux because I wanted to use linux. Microsoft really didn't have anything to do with that.

[Drmgiver]

I do not necessarily "hate" Micro$oft, I do indeed have a strong dislike for the Windows OS and I use Ubuntu whenever I can. I dislike that its as easy to crack as a peanut shell. I am quite careful on windows as to not get viruses, but with Linux, you don't have to worry about being careful, you just simply wont get them. It kinda makes you want to go to a site that has been laden with viruses and just laugh because it won't affect you at all. So, as I don't really "hate" M$ Windows, I love Linux.

[NightwishFan]

I do not like Microsoft. Windows I would hate less if it were not owned by such a company. Same goes with Mac. It is mostly philosophy for me.

[doorknob60]

I installed Linux after I was going to have to reinstall Windows XP because it was getting slow again...and I thought I might as well try Linux. Also, I had recently had some really horrible experiences with the free "upgrade" to Windows Vista on my laptop. It worked fine at first, but things kept crashing, including iTunes, right after you would buy a freakin album! I got really mad at M$ then, and I still don't really like them, but 2000 and XP aren't all that bad.

[Lord Xeb]

For me, I tried to duel-boot windows and linux, but in the end, ended up making my laptop not boot at all. I wiped the linux partition and left it unallocated space and unformated. even in doing so, my windows still would load; so, I said, "**** it!" and installed Ubuntu and haven't had a problem since ^_^ My boot is between 29 and 42 seconds (on average about 33). I have experienced a few dificulties (Ubuntu crashing), but other than that, life is normal :D









One of my friends is all pissed that I installed linux and still insists that windows is way better... >:/ It is not and is more like a Mac than anything else >_> I love you linux

[fredbird67]

The thing that drove me to Linux was back in 2002, when I was thinking about upgrading from Windows 98 to XP. I went to a local Barnes & Noble one night and found a copy of Windows XP for Dummies. I was reading it and discovered something about XP I did NOT like at all. Starting with Windows XP, Microsoft now makes you register your copy with them. I had two problems with this:

1) This is an invasion of privacy.

2) On previous versions of Windows, I've always had to upgrade my hardware just to make it run at an acceptable speed, and I learned that WGA may complain if you, say, add too much additional RAM. This, IMHO, was STUPID.

I had first heard of Linux about 3 or 4 years before this, and happened to think, "hey, how about switching to Linux?". Like I said, WGA was just not acceptable to me, plus I'd heard that Linux was more stable.

However, I took my time in switching. I first started out by downloading and installing Windows versions of all programs I could find that were available on both Windows and Linux (Firefox, GIMP, OpenOffice, Thunderbird, etc.) and familiarized myself with them. I also fiddled around with any live CDs I could get my hands on, too, to better familiarize myself with Linux.

In 2004, I upgraded to Windows 2000 in order to have .NET compatibility for a VB programming course I was in at the time. After that class had finished, though, I began noticing an error message that kept popping up every so often. It eventually got to where that same error message kept popping up every few SECONDS. Thinking I had a virus, I tried cleaning the hard drive and reinstalling Windows 2000. Guess what -- those error messages STILL kept popping up every few seconds.

Needless to say, I had enough. I finally decided "how about I install those Mandrake CDs I downloaded here while back in the computer lab?". I did, and Mandrake never once had that same kind of problem at all, and so I went for broke and never looked back. This was back in January of 2005, when Ubuntu was in its infancy, and as such, I hadn't heard of Ubuntu at that time, and in fact, I had gone through several distros, switching to Ubuntu in January of 2008 in response to finding that KDE4 was a piece of crap (I liked KDE3 just fine, why did they have to scrap it?). For the last four years, my computer has been Windows-free, and IMHO, it's the best move I ever made. :-)

[mikewhatever]

What did you feel when you installed Ubuntu onto your system?

I was fed up with Windows being so unstable. I just was angry, and didn't care what was on my hard drive. I just wiped everything and installed Ubuntu, and then I lived with it. I probably will never go back to using Windows as my main OS again.

I think it rather ridiculous to hate an OS, all I felt was curiosity.

[sports fan Matt]

Not hate here, just a few points..

-No matter what Windows OS I had, I always felt like the machine had some sort of a bug/virii in it. I got paranoid and often wouldnt sleep after paying for a computer with windows and thinking "am i really and honestly getting everything out of my computer i paid $750 (just threw out a random number) for.

-Couldnt customize anything- It drove me nuts to think this was true but in the grand scheme of things it is. There is no way you could ever customize it to a Ubuntu or Linux extent.

-Tech Support-I literally spent 4 sleepless days on the phone with Lenovo after a bsod not only rendered the OS helpless but I was ready to give my system for a brand new one at the factory, since it was bsod'ing.

[Mohamedzv2]

I have no hate to windows.

In fact I still use it most of the time. Because I can use wireless internet and Cinema 4D on it.

On Ubuntu, I can't seem to find a wireless driver but that may be since I lost my wires for internet. And also I can't use C4D in Ubuntu which is liek the funnest thing for me to do for graphics.

So all in all, I changed to Ubuntu for bragging rights, thought it would be easier to code, and Linux looked cool

[richg]

I do not hate Microsoft at all. They got me to where I am now.

Hate means you have a lot of hidden anger and are just waiting to vent, on anything.

I had an excellent W98SE system until I realized about five years ago that support was going to run out so I started looking and found out about Linux/Linspire. Don't bother. I know what many techies think of Linspire.
Linspire got me to Ubuntu and no, I do not Hate Linspire.
Linspire was just part of the Linux revolution.
I view Ubuntu the same, just a stepping stone to the next level whatever it may be. Change is inevitable, struggle is an option.

Rich

[Mason Whitaker]

By my nature, I am such a power user, and that is really tough to be one on Windows when running more than three programs at a time freezes your computer.

Linux is stable, barely lags at all, and lets me do what I have to do.

[jimi_hendrix]

a friend came over and showed me his laptop

"hey whats that", "linux", "what can you do with it", "make it look cool and do normal windows stuff", "can i try it without whiping my hard drive?", "ya i have some liveCD's", *tries them and none work*, *downloads ubuntu*, *it works*, *makes ubuntu look cool*, *rarely uses windows anymore*

[bruce89]

Wikipedia.

[mamamia88]

i installed ubuntu out of boredom of windows. not because i hated it

[dannytatom]

i installed ubuntu out of boredom of windows. not because i hated it

+1 There's only so much you can do with window. ;o

[aceinthenight]

+1 There's only so much you can do with window. ;o

& even less with Linux ... I wish there were more apps!

[kk0sse54]

& even less with Linux ... I wish there were more apps!

Perhaps for you, but for what I do I find the number of apps quite sufficent.

[Messyhair42]

i wanted an open source computer. now that i use ubuntu i'm very happy with it and got my parents turned onto linux

[Johnsie]

I'm a professional programmer for a mailing firm in the UK. My knowledge of Windows (and Linux) makes me alot of money so I have no reason to hate either operating system. I don't care either way as long as the software I'm using is fully featured and working propely. To be honest there is alot of shoddy software available for both systems. On Windows I do have more choice of software and hardware, but Linux is also useful for some things.

[zakany]

No hate for Windows here. I installed Ubuntu on an unused machine for my daughter to use to web surf. That machine was running Win2k and needed an update.

I confess, I also wanted to tinker with Linux, but the installation went too smoothly for that. :o

Install. Works. Daddy's done.

[Giant Speck]

What are you guys doing just standing around? Can't you see this is a zombie thread? Run! Run for your lives! Protect the children!

[dragos240]

I always felt that my machine was too slow, i've been doing various activities on my computer since i was 2 years of age. I had always had the curiosity to experiment with various things like malware, this made my dad reformat my computer every 2 weeks, later at 9 i asked my dad about the origins of the computer and different operating system than mac or windows. He said that there was unix and linux, i didn't know what linux was or unix, so i google'd it. Everywhere i searched i found out that it was too tech savvy for me to try out at 9, and at 13 on a sunday, i found out about ubuntu, a few weeks later i wanted to install it for real, since my dad is a windows fanatic and wants my system to keep windows i installed wubi, it worked great, even though it had so many problems wherever you looked, it was nice, i was using hardy in 2008 and then i decided to uninstall wubi and try out partitioning, i did it 98% successfully, i had sucessfully installed ubuntu on my system, but then my vista parition got corrupted becuase i tried to play my music while i was waiting. Luckally an ubuntuforum'er came by with the name "caljohnsmith". He helped me out, and after a few days troubleshooting, i got my ***ty vista working again, after that a few days later, dad wanted me to step off for a moment, so he was sure i didn't mess anything up, he logged out of ubuntu, and booted into windows, at the end he was satisfied, thanks to caljohnsmith, i am now able to type this post and post it on the thread, i basicly switched to ubuntu becuase i enjoy trying new things, i never had even tryed anything BUT windows before, so this was quite an adventure, which i enjoyed every step of the way, now that i've had several cups of ubuntu, i think sometime soon it's time to break out the hammer and smash some windows :p .

SInserelly,
Dragos240

[Mr. Picklesworth]

*I installed Ubuntu with a hate for Windows.*

I just was angry, and didn't care what was on my hard drive.

“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”

"You have controlled your fear. Now, release your anger. Only your hatred can destroy me."

Err, enough said :)

[Mason Whitaker]

Perhaps for you, but for what I do I find the number of apps quite sufficent.Yeah...I'm learning how to program and Python, but most of the applications that most people would use have already been made! XD

[DOS4dinner]

A five year old XP installation running Norton 2007. Takes 10 minutes to boot, 15 seconds to open Windows Explorer, and keeps trying to install an update that doesn't exist. That's what brought me to the Ubuntu side.

Oh, and the ease of setting up SDL and other programming goodies.