Ubuntu features

Now that I’ve had Ubuntu installed for a few days, it appears both more powerful and easier to use than Windows. Seriously.

Some thoughts/features.

Installing it as a dual-boot with XP was easy, as was adding the printer that was attached to another computer on the Windows net. Both tasks were easier in Ubuntu than in Windows.

Ubuntu montitors what you have installed, and with a couple of clicks you can install all updates. It does this for every program you’ve installed, unlike Windows Update, which only does it for a subset of Microsoft products.

It also has a program that catalogs and can install the literally thousands of programs available. You can deinstall them there too. There’s a huge amount of open source software available.

Ubuntu installs with a CD player/burner, FireFox, GIMP (a powerful graphics program) OpenOffice (a replacement for Microsoft Office), and an Instant Message platform that works with AOL, Yahoo, MSN and others. There’s lots more useful installed software too.

The CD burner/player popped up the title of the audio cd and a list of the song titles. Uncheck the ones you don’t want to hear, a feature I’ve not seen on the three Windows CD players I use.

I’m a web developer, and frequently need to optimize and tweak digital camera photos before putting them on the web. Fifteen minutes with GIMP, and I was resizing, cropping, tweaking the color, and most importantly, saving as JPG to a smaller, optimized for the web size. On my Windows PCs I use either FireWorks or Photoshop Elements to do this, and so far, there’s little they can do that GIMP can’t.

OpenOffice read and writes Word and Excel docs, and experienced users of Microsoft Office who have used OpenOffice say they are impressed with it.

Yes, the IM program works with all major platforms, as well as several smaller ones too.

Everything in Linux (of which Ubuntu is a variant) is a file. This actually makes things easier to access, once you get used to it. There’s also a real command line interface called terminal, where you can get stuff done fast. The Windows command line continues to get dumbed-down, which seems a shame. The command line is not for everyone and you don’t have to use it that much in Ubuntu. But it’s there – and powerful.

Most Linux variants have a superuser login that gives you control of everything. Ubuntu does this indirectly. When using superuser commands, it will ask for the password of the main user, grant those rights for that command or a certain period of time, then revoke them. Since Ubuntu aims at being for “human beings”, this is a good idea as it protects the system a bit. No doubt grizzled Linux geeks think it’s silly (and probably know a way around it anyway!)

While you probably don’t need them, and most don’t use them, there are firewall and anti-virus programs. The smaller installed base of Linux and the inherent better security of the operating system means spyware and virus beasties barely exist, if at all. (If you run a server app, then use FireStarter, the firewall.)

All the programs mentioned, including Ubuntu, are open source and free. There’s no need to spend hundreds, or even thousands, to buy programs for Windows when you can do the same, or even better, for free on Ubuntu. But it’s not just the money,it’s the philosophy, the idea of people creating software for people, without getting bogged down in proprietary platforms that lock you in.

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