Perfect for programmers and network admins (Ubuntu)

Member Name: aaronphil

Product:	Ubuntu
Date:	21/07/09 (19 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some great features also customisable to kingdom come and back again

Disadvantages: Does not always like some hardware

Ubuntu is an open-source OS that provides pretty much unlimited possibilities for your computer. Ubuntu is based upon Linux and new releases usually come out once every six months.

So your original OS goes belly up (assuming you were running Windows) and you are too poor to buy a new version of Windows. What's the answer? Ubuntu of course.
Now before I actually look at what makes the OS good and bad this is NOT Windows and no matter how hard you try it will never be Windows.

So first off Ubuntu is free and open-source which means if you're stuck and need help or are completely new to the OS you can find loads of resources to help you get somewhere with this sometimes temperamental OS.
(NB: for those not in the know OS stands for Operating System and enables the computer to be useful)
Now as I said earlier it is NOT Windows, as a result you can expect some real compatibility problem even worse than with Mac OS X but no fear help is at hand. If you have a Windows app that you just can't do without you can use an emulator called Wine which allows you to run applications that run natively in Windows with no trouble at all. If you do still have Windows and want to test a program or something then you can run a virtual machine and install Windows into that allocating some 'virtual' hard drive space.
Say you have a graphics card or some other piece of hardware that the inbuilt driver updater just does not pick up; most manufacturers now provide drivers for Linux so you can be sure that your components will run fine under Linux

So now we've cleared up the biggest annoyance that is compatibility what now. Well what makes Ubuntu so great? Well I dislike Microsoft so anything that is cheaper than an Apple Mac and not Windows does it for me.
Ubuntu is great, it loads fast it has some cool features like 'wobbly' windows when you move them around plus it comes complete with Firefox as standard also Open Office which means you don't need to use Microsoft Office to get that report completed. Some other great features are the "send a message" feature that means if one of your colleagues is using Ubuntu and they are out but you want to give them a message you can do so on the lock screen and when they log back in it shows up.
The other thing I love about Ubuntu is the look of the interface and although the taskbar is at the top it seems the most natural for it to be. Even as a dedicated Windows user for many years with about 1hr of exploring the features I was a competent Ubuntu user.

"Wow, this sounds great" I hear you cry, well it would be if it was that simple. Most of the Windows keys found on most standard keyboards does not work like the Windows Logo button for instance, so it's to the mouse to open up that 'start' menu. Also for some odd reason it does not like my Wi-Fi card on my laptop nor my graphics chipset. I can't find drivers for either and the one solution I did find refused to play so alas no funky 'wobbly' windows or internet for lappy. My desktop fared better with Ubuntu recognising my Belkin G Wireless dongle and I was, after much huffing and puffing, able to update the driver for my Nvidia GeForce 8600GT so I now have some good graphics features like the 'wobbly' windows I was talking about earlier.
On the plus side however everything else works a treat and I am quite impressed.

So now I've fed your mind with the faults of Ubuntu and of Linux systems in general, why on God's great earth would I go out of my way to get this OS. Well the answer is simple you can do anything in Linux and I mean anything so if you are a programmer or network administrator then it is ideal and is incredibly easy to diagnose faults. A programmer friend of mine is currently carrying out a project for a company and all they are using is Ubuntu from servers to actual workstations, everything is Ubuntu based which he can find faults and customise everything for the clients specific requirements and also drives down the cost of software which would probably total more than £10,000.

So there you go, Ubuntu in a very large nutshell. In my opinion I think it is worth getting just to experience the OS, dual booting with Windows is what I do but obviously if you have no OS then Ubuntu is fine on its own.

Summary: A good OS for most users but some pesky things make it quite bad overall

Variety of features:
Reliability:
User friendly:
Installation:
Update possibilites: