Posted by Kromey at 11:52pm May 8 '08Okay, I'm no n00b, and I've installed various Linuxes before.
But DAMN!!
Ubuntu installs quickly, and virtually everything works right out of the box!
The only difficulty I had getting up and running was getting my wireless card to work. It didn't work immediately, so I began the long and arduous task of setting up NDISWrapper (which has some dependencies it doesn't ever tell you about, making installing it a very arcane procedure) and then scouring the web for the proper driver to install.
After almost 2 hours I finally had it installed, but it wasn't working! Went through the troubleshooting on the website, and what did I discover? Ubuntu had already loaded a functioning driver!!! All I had to do was go to the System menu, Administration, and select Hardware Drivers. From there I was able to enable my wireless (and ATI, for that matter!!) drivers and, after clicking past the "OMFGWTFBBQ this is a closed-source driver!" warning, my wireless now works beautifully.
In fact, the wireless support in Ubuntu is, I would have to say, far superior to anything I've seen in Windows! Want to choose your network? Click your wireless icon, then select the network from the drop-down list. None of this nonsense of waiting for the window to open, then waiting longer while the window populates the list of networks - it's all right there, right when you need it, immediately!
Incidentally, I'm posting this from Firefox 3 Beta 5. I have to say that I think I like it, although really there's not that much that's different.
Anyway, the short of this post is that Ubuntu is almost ready for the average Windows desktop user. I say almost because there are a few things that will trip up or even totally baffle all but the most computer-literate:
There's a lot more I could list, but that's enough for now.
But DAMN!!
Ubuntu installs quickly, and virtually everything works right out of the box!
The only difficulty I had getting up and running was getting my wireless card to work. It didn't work immediately, so I began the long and arduous task of setting up NDISWrapper (which has some dependencies it doesn't ever tell you about, making installing it a very arcane procedure) and then scouring the web for the proper driver to install.
After almost 2 hours I finally had it installed, but it wasn't working! Went through the troubleshooting on the website, and what did I discover? Ubuntu had already loaded a functioning driver!!! All I had to do was go to the System menu, Administration, and select Hardware Drivers. From there I was able to enable my wireless (and ATI, for that matter!!) drivers and, after clicking past the "OMFGWTFBBQ this is a closed-source driver!" warning, my wireless now works beautifully.
In fact, the wireless support in Ubuntu is, I would have to say, far superior to anything I've seen in Windows! Want to choose your network? Click your wireless icon, then select the network from the drop-down list. None of this nonsense of waiting for the window to open, then waiting longer while the window populates the list of networks - it's all right there, right when you need it, immediately!
Incidentally, I'm posting this from Firefox 3 Beta 5. I have to say that I think I like it, although really there's not that much that's different.
Anyway, the short of this post is that Ubuntu is almost ready for the average Windows desktop user. I say almost because there are a few things that will trip up or even totally baffle all but the most computer-literate:
- The incessant "This is closed-source OMGWTFBBQ!" warnings. I mean, c'mon, really, what's the point? This is not going to encourage adoption of open-source software (which I'm sure is the intention) - it's going to drive people away from Linux at all! Sure, give open-source software a higher preference, but don't try to frighten your users or you won't have any!
- Related to the previous point: If you have drivers available, use the damn things by default! Don't disable your users' wireless cards until they find the nigh-hidden option to enable them!
- A quick little "Welcome to your computer" introductory tutorial that launches by default (such as what you find on new Windows installs) would go a long way to remedying the learning curve of Windows users trying to become accustomed to the differences, like the lack of a Start menu. It's not really a drawback per se, just a nice little touch that would be of benefit. Incidentally, quick introductory texts that opened the first time you launched a new program would be good, too, especially for MSN Messenger users first discovering Pidgin.
There's a lot more I could list, but that's enough for now.