the upsides of Ubuntu

Why Ubuntu and friends may be more suitable than Windows 7

With the release of the new polished, sexy Windows 7, many would-be Linux converts are back-tracking and forking out big dough to keep Microsoft on top. Apple's newest OS is quite slick as well, unsurprisingly. However the cost of using 7 is substantial - $110 for a single user license upgrade! OSX Snow Leopard is $30 to upgrade. Ubuntu is free free free.

Upside 1: Ubuntu is free
The best things in life are free. Ubuntu is totally free for all users. Paid support is very good, too, though most users will opt for plentiful information in free online forums.


Upside 2: Free Software

Today's Linux environment is capable of providing nearly all the functionality (and more) of Windows or Mac, without software license costs. For casual and power users alike, all needed functionality is available and free.

That's not to say support isn't free; but even the support services are much cheaper. Besides, even if they were the same price as with Windows it wouldn't be justified by all the maintenance and license fees of Windows software.

Upside 3: Ubuntu Software Center
Ok, this is really an extension of Upside 2, but it is worth highlighting the advantage of Ubuntu over Windows. Ubuntu includes a program that connects to thousands of free, secure opensource software sites. With the click of a button you can download and install exactly what you want, from office software, to business, developer tools, educational materials, games, etc. Any and every kind of software, right at your fingertips. A helpful website is www.osalt.com which supplies lists of opensource alternatives to popular paid applications.


Update 4: Ubuntu Update Manager
A truly 1st class bundled program for managing drivers, firmware, operating system, and software updates. This program downloads and installs updates automatically or at your choosing. What sets Ubuntu's update manager apart from that of 7 or (eww) XP is it's integration with all of your applications. Windows Update includes updates only for select Microsoft products and drivers. This feature is convenient, saving you time and hassle, and works behind the scenes. Your operating system will not be bogged down by those stupid "update managers" that startup and randomly run in 7.

Upside 3: Security
The numbers always seem to be changing, but I have seen it written that anywhere from 75% to 98% of hack attempts, viruses, and malware occur on Microsoft products (namely the Windows OS). Apple OS attacks are on the rise too. Ubuntu is extremely secure; so secure that it is nearly impossible to contract a virus or malware.
File encryption is easy and built-in, or you could install one of the many free encryption apps. You can even save your files in formats for use in Windows environments.


Upside 4: Highly Customizable Desktop Experience
Windows 7 themes are pretty, but simple and limited. Check out these images of very different desktop customizations. Personally, I prefer the 3D desktop options. Program launchers are fun, too.

Upside 5: Great Detection and Support of Native Hardware
It is amazing that sparkling Windows 7, in all it's glory, is so poor at   a) detecting hardware on older machines, and   b) installing the newest drivers. Windows 7 users who upgraded from XP are likely to run into driver problems, especially on laptops. And why would you run an operating system released in 2001 on your 2006 computer in 2010? This is not a problem on Ubuntu. Hardware support is superb and automatic for machines old and new. Driver support isn't great on all Linux distros, however.

Upside 6: Quick, painless install + live trial
Ok, the Windows 7 install is painless, too - but Ubuntu shines in it's ability to test the operating system live before you install it. Nearly all Linux distros have this feature. You download and burn Ubuntu to a CD, DVD, or flash drive, boot from it at startup, and viola! In 15 minutes you are using a live, uninstalled version of the operating system without making any changes to the original setup. This is perfect for testing drivers or just test-driving the operating system.


                             

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Linux for beginners: questions and answers

What is Linux?
Like Windows or MacOS, Linux is an operating system. The difference is that there are many different "distros," or distributions, of Linux - sort of like Windows 95, 98, 2000, and XP, only there are hundreds of them and they are constantly being updated.

Linux can be thought of as the core runtime of the operating system, with differing layers of interface built on top. The layers can produce completely different desktop experiences. Many distros market themselves toward a different demographic - for example Puppy Linux is for older computers and is very portable, while Ubuntu is user friendly and designed for professionals and casual users - much like Windows.

Linux is open source, which means the source code is available for anyone to look at and edit to their liking. Nearly every Linux distro is free to use as a consumer, and most are free for industry as well.

Which distribution of Linux is best for me?
The answer to this question depends upon your computing needs.

You could do a search through internet forums to find what other people with your computing needs use. You could also search using your computer model number, as certain distros work better on certain computers - usually due to hardware divers that are included in the distribution.

The following links may be helpful for choosing the right distro for you:
Linux.com Distro List
distrowatch
Linux Distribution Chooser

Feel free to post your favorite distribution!

Review of Acer Aspire TimelineX 3820T-5246

I purchased my Timeline recently after searching furiously for a budget-minded notebook that wouldn't break the bank. The Timeline X AS3820T-5246 embodies the following features:

• Processor speed: dual core Intel i3-350M with 4 logical cores (2.26GHz, hyper-threading)
• Memory speed & quantity: 4gb DDR3 at 1066MHz
• Hard drives speed & capacity: 320GB with Intel Rapid Storage Technology
• Ultra-mobility: at about 1" thick, less than 4lbs, and 8 hour battery!

I was skeptical of performance and battery life at first. I am a budget-minded shopper, and I was in the market for a notebook that can handle some virtualization and development, and perhaps a game or two as well :-)  Netbeans, Eclipse, and Visual Studio 2010 all seem to work just fine. No slowdowns were experiencing when several Chrome tabs, Word 2010, and a 2gb ram version of Windows 7 in VirtualBox were running.

The battery (surprisingly) does hold up for 8 hours of light use - word processing, web browsing, and basic programming. The processor slows itself down to about 900MHz when heavy lifting isn't needed. I get about 4-5 hours of more intense computing, with the screen brightness down a couple notches - not bad at all.

The bluetooth 2.1 is great for syncing with a wireless mouse (without a usb notch transmitter waiting to be ripped in half on accident) or other peripheral devices such as printers or cell phones. Wireless N is very quick. It seems faster than my previous laptops when connected to wireless G as well.

Only downside - no optical drive. However who really needs one these days? Don't you already have a decent flash drive for moving files (a good flash drive is faster than a CD or DVD) and a digital music player?

The TimelineX is a winner - with more power than the ASUS Thin and Light notebooks and similar battery life, it's the best laptop in class.

**Update: I added a 64gb S599 SSD (by ADATA). This thing made an already quick computer INSANELY fast. I couldn't be happier. Everything task is instant...I don't even hibernate or standby anymore because it takes less than 30 seconds to boot into 7.

Windows XP preload hard disk consistency utility

If your disk appears to have integrity issues (i.e. the OS has difficulty reading files), XP will automatically forgo booting into the explorer desktop and test the disk for errors. This utility is called chkdsk. You have the opportunity to stop this process, but it is not recommended - if you hard disk is starting to fail, you will want to know ASAP so you can transfer your files to a new drive.

click image to view larger

If the disk check freezes, you are out of luck. The hard drive officially has unrepairable errors. You will need to purchase another one or send it to the manufacturer for repairs. Before you do anything though, find someone who is experienced enough with computers to recover your data.

If you are tech savvy, you might consider purchasing a cheap hard drive enclosure with a USB connection. I've seen them for sale on the net for less than $4. Simply remove the afflicted hard drive from the computer and put it in the enclosure, then hook it up to another computer. You to read the disk and (hopefully) recover your files. A file recovery tool (like the free Recuva) may be helpful.

Signs of hard disk errors:

• strange noises coming from the hard disk
• notifications about file corruption problems during normal operations
• issues with start up, including error messages, screen freezing, or very long startup times
• program or operating system freezes during normal operations

I have found these links to be valuable:
How to Use Chkdsk in Windows XP
Consistency Check Stops Running
Recuva - Undelete, Unerase, File and Disk Recovery
How to Fix Bad Sectors on Your Hard Disk

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