Ubuntu 8.04

My permanent separation (at least outside of work) from Microsoft operating systems has begun. I downloaded Ubuntu (a Linux product) today. I am using my trusty-yet-too-old Toshiba Satellite as a test platform. Ubuntu is praised for making old computers perform at par with newer, more souped-up systems. The installation process was not easy, bits and pieces I had to learn on the job. The computer, however, restarts even faster than with the original XP Home Edition. The other beauty is that it comes equipped with practically all the applications you might need for common chores: OpenOffice (a Microsoft Office clone which is completely free online). Another added plus is the fact that you could, if you needed to, run antivirus software on Ubuntu, but it is not necessary. Since the design is the collaborative effort of world-wide developers from every corner of the world and every walk of life, Ubuntu is not targeted by virus programmers. If anything, since Ubuntu is challenging the oligarchical nature of Microsoft, the meanies usually leave it alone.

Initially setting up your computer might require some time, the results are worth it. Problems, however, might pop up without warning. For example, I had to go into the system code to update my screen resolution. There's plenty of documentation online, so it wasn't hard at all.

I'll give you all posted on how it goes. This is my first venture into an open-code OS, and, as a faithful Microsoft user (all the way from DOS 1.0 to XP) I feel like a man on a first date 20 years after his first wife died. Depressing.