Ubuntu: Linux For Nearly Normal Users?

Ubuntu's back with a new edition. If you don't know what Ubuntu is, I'll get to that, but here's the bottom line:

If you need to perform the typical tasks of most computer users — Web browsing, word processing, spreadsheet number-crunching, music-playing, video-watching — Ubuntu will do that, for free. And it's (usually) easy to install. And anyone who has used a PC or a Mac will pick up Ubuntu's standard graphical interface in about five minutes.

But is it a replacement for Microsoft Windows? Well, that's a tougher question.

 

Ubuntu has the advantages of Linux: It is fast, multitasks like crazy, virtually eliminates the possibility of virus infections, runs a ton of free software and isn't the memory- or disk-space vampire that Windows has become over the years. It also dumps (for the most part) some of the more painfully geeky aspects of using Linux — including 'tarball' installations of new software, most of the dreaded sessions with the command-line Terminal, soul-crushing hackfests with configuration files and so forth.

For those of you who don't know, Ubuntu is a version of the Linux operating system that is specifically designed for ease of installation and use — in other words, it's supposed to be Linux for "Nearly Normal Computer Users." Many versions of Linux have made this promise, but Ubuntu might be the closest one to fulfilling it.

I've used Ubuntu for a couple of years now on a spare "parts-is-parts" computer that's hooked up to my big-screen TV and stereo, where it serves as a media PC and an occasional Web-surfing device. The new version, like other recent versions, comes with everything most computer users need — including the powerful and free Open Office suite (which works fine with most Microsoft Office files), pre-installed media software and the Firefox Web browser.

Installing any operating system on a computer is an adventure but Ubuntu's process is usually pretty tolerable. I won't get into some of the options you have available for using Ubuntu — like dual-booting Ubuntu with Windows, installing Ubuntu inside of Windows, running it off a memory card or a DVD and so on. Instead, I'll talk about my experience of using Ubuntu as the sole operating system on a PC.

To try out the new version, I installed Ubuntu from scratch. I downloaded an image file of the software and burned it onto a CD — if that's geek to you, just visit Ubuntu's Web site and follow the links to get a free CD sent to you — and then rebooted my computer, making sure the CD was the first 'boot drive' the computer sought.

Ubuntu went to work, self-installing without a hitch. Past versions of Ubuntu ran into hardware compatibility issues for me — and I'm sure, with all of the different PC hardware out there, this one will do that with some people — but I had no such problem with my current installation. The software simply installed and worked right away.

There was one glitch: the computer had no sound at first. I've had past problems with Ubuntu with this — problems that required one of those dreaded configuration file hacks to fix — and I turned to a Google search to find the problem this time.

The solution was embarrassing, actually: Ubuntu turns the volume on its mixer program (which is different than just the mere volume control slider) all the way down by default. All I had to do was open up the mixer program and turn the volume back up.

Outside of that, Ubuntu worked perfectly as soon as I installed it. For brand-new users, there's a little bit of a learning curve but it's nowhere near what used to be the case with Linux installations — even ones that featured graphical interfaces. Ubuntu has of all the software you're likely to need unless you're a PC gamer. It ran smoothly and with terrific speed right away.

But — again — is it a replacement for Windows? No. It's certainly different and in many ways better, but it doesn't have the ubiquity that gives Windows such a huge advantage. And you really should have at least a bit of minor-league tech skills before installing, Just In Case.

For me, Ubuntu works great as the operating system on the second home computer. It also is an appealing option in the emerging world of netbook computers. If so much of my work life wasn't completely tied to Microsoft computing, I might be tempted to make it the main operating system on my Windows Vista-equipped main home PC — but I'm not there yet.