Moving From Windows To Linux

Posted on | August 15, 2008 |

On January 5th 2008 I finally deleted my Windows partition on my PC and have not looked back ever since!

For about three months before that I was dual booting Windows XP with Ubuntu. I had basically been a Windows user (98SE then XP) since I bought my first PC in 1999. Prior to that I was a Commodore Amiga user after moving from, wait for it, a Sinclair ZX81, Spectrum 48 and Commodire 64!

If you, like me, have either got or used Windows Vista, you may have noticed that it is pretty slow compared to XP. Before I installed Ubuntu on my wifes laptop her Vista installation took around 4 1/2 minutes to boot up to a “usable” state and several minutes to shut down. Windows XP in my honest opinion, is the only viable choice of the two, but have no doubt that Microsoft will stop supporting XP within the next 12-18 months, forcing you to upgrade (not only your OS but probably your PC too!) to Vista!

I have yet to find a Windows application that I miss that much as the Linux alternatives are more than usable, and in most cases, I have found easier to use! At work, I am stuck with Windows XP and Office 2007. Office especially I have taken a real dislike to with its new layout. OpenOffice is far more user-friendly in my opinion and the latest version is a cracker! So much faster than the previous one.

If you have an old (but usable) PC/Laptop kicking around somewhere, why not install Linux on it? Trust me, it is actually a lot of fun! I have an ASUS eeePC 701 too that runs Linux, though I have replaced the pre-installed OS with eeebuntu.

So, why Ubuntu? Well, I did dabble with Linux about 5 years ago. Then I tried SUSE Linux and Red Hat. Although I tried, I couldn’t really get to grips with it and eventually returned to Windows. Obviously, over the last five years, Linux development has progressed and is far more accessable! I may get accused of being a geek or a bit of an anorak, but to be honest, I don’t really care! My computer does everything that I ask of it and does it pretty well thank you very much!

So, in short, I would recommend Linux to anyone, and usually do!