Ubuntu: Should I Install It?

[Imperialmajesty]

I'm sick and tired of Vista and would like to use it only for games and a few select apps, so I am going to dual boot Linux and Vista.

My question is, is Ubuntu any good? Does it take advantage of my hardware (Core i7 eVGA 285 gtx 6 gigs of ddr3 ram), and is installing apps on it prohibitivly hard?

 

[Aramazd]

Download it and try it out. You can boot it without installing.

IMHO, there not a big advantage of running Ubuntu instead of Vista, it's good, but not better than Vista. Unless your doing something intensive all your hardware isn't really being taken advantage of anyway. Apps should be easy to install from the repository.

 

[PeteAtoms]

I tried Ubuntu out for about a month before going back to XP.

It has a lot of good programs that are really easy to get, there is like a package thing that you just open and click the app's you want.

It was a hassle getting the appropriate drivers for my hardware and you can't play mp3's with a fresh install of Ubuntu, but there are ways to do it.

It's worth checking out, but in my opinion XP>Ubuntu. I've never tried Vista though.

Like Aramazd said, just give it a try before you commit to installing it.

 

[Imperialmajesty]

I tried Ubuntu out for about a month before going back to XP.

It has a lot of good programs that are really easy to get, there is like a package thing that you just open and click the app's you want.

It was a hassle getting the appropriate drivers for my hardware and you can't play mp3's with a fresh install of Ubuntu, but there are ways to do it.

It's worth checking out, but in my opinion XP>Ubuntu. I've never tried Vista though.

Like Aramazd said, just give it a try before you commit to installing it.

It is easy enough to dual boot, if I don't like it, i'll erase the ubuntu partition and go back to Vista. Plus performance only using the CD is horrible and not really representative of an OS.

 

[Aramazd]

It is easy enough to dual boot, if I don't like it, i'll erase the ubuntu partition and go back to Vista. Plus performance only using the CD is horrible and not really representative of an OS.

Any OS will run well on your setup. Performence will be a non-issue. The live CD would be more to test the feel of the OS and look at the features.

 

[Strider]

Some things to note from a ~3 year Ubuntu/Linux user:

• This is not windows. It will not operate, function, or act anything like windows.
• The command line is useful and extremely powerful, but pretty much never needed for daily use. That seems to be a common misconception.
• As pointed out above; DVD/MP3/etc. playback is not supported out of the box. This is due to copyright reasons. It's a very simple and quick download to include it all of however. Microsofts .NET Framework and Silverlight technology is currently being ported over to Linux systems (Mono and Moonlight) respectively). Both of those projects are actually supported by Microsoft.
• Gaming is not even close to being as good as Vista (for obvious reasons), but the amount of windows programs Wine runs will amaze you. I regularly play WoW, Rome: Total War, and Neverwinter Night 2 on my machine.
• The amount of customization available will blow you away.
• Installing/Updating every application on your computer can be done by the Update Manager. Very simple and easy. No hunting down new versions on the internet and re-installing them.

You should be fine with hardware support. When I first started playing around with Ubuntu 3 years ago it was an issue, but the ONLY issue I ever see now is wireless cards and bluetooth devices. Both of which have extensive troubleshooting guides that will get them running for you. Your nVidia card will use the basic open source driver. To use nVidia's driver (and activate all of the cards potential) you just go to System --> Administration --> Hardware Drivers then "activate" the nVidia driver. It'll automatically download and install the latest driver. They do it this way for people who only want "free and open-source" on their machines. My eVGA 9800 GT works like a pro.

I much prefer Ubuntu over Vista. Vista is pretty much "babies first OS" and most people just don't bother to learn more about their system to run anything more complex than Vista. You can get a completely customized system catered to you, but it'll take some time and learning. I'll be happy to point you in the right directions if you want to give Ubuntu a try.

 

[Imperialmajesty]

Some things to note from a ~3 year Ubuntu/Linux user:

• This is not windows. It will not operate, function, or act anything like windows.
• The command line is useful and extremely powerful, but pretty much never needed for daily use. That seems to be a common misconception.
• As pointed out above; DVD/MP3/etc. playback is not supported out of the box. This is due to copyright reasons. It's a very simple and quick download to include it all of however. Microsofts .NET Framework and Silverlight technology is currently being ported over to Linux systems (Mono and Moonlight) respectively). Both of those projects are actually supported by Microsoft.
• Gaming is not even close to being as good as Vista (for obvious reasons), but the amount of windows programs Wine runs will amaze you. I regularly play WoW, Rome: Total War, and Neverwinter Night 2 on my machine.
• The amount of customization avaible will blow you away.
• Installing/Updating every application on your computer can be done by the Update Manager. Very simple and easy. No hunting down new versions on the internet and re-installing them.

You should be fine with hardware support. When I first started playing around with Ubuntu 3 years ago it was an issue, but the ONLY issue I ever see now is wireless cards and bluetooth devices. Both of which have extensive troubleshooting guides that will get them running for you. Your nVidia card will use the basic open source driver. To use nVidia's driver (and activate all of the cards potential) you just go to System --> Administration --> Hardware Drivers then "activate" the nVidia driver. It'll automatically download and install the latest driver. They do it this way for people who only want "free and open-source" on their machines. My eVGA 9800 GT works like a pro.

I much prefer Ubuntu over Vista. Vista is pretty much "babies first OS" and most people just don't bother to learn more about their system to run anything more complex than Vista. You can get a completely customized system catered to you, but it'll take some time and learning. I'll be happy to point you in the right directions if you want to give Ubuntu a try.

I'm burning the disc now, and I will get back to this thread and tell of my experience.

 

[Strider]

I'm burning the disc now, and I will get back to this thread and tell of my experience.

If you have any questions/issues it'll be easier to catch my attention in the CivFanatics chatroom. Just click the "Chat" link above and it'll take you there.

 

[Bratmon]

I have a question: is it worth installing (dual boot with XP) if the computer will NEVER be connected to the internet?

 

[Turner]

I'm not a huge fan of Ubuntu. But I like Mint. www.linuxmint.com

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

There are plenty of Linux distros, so you should use what works for you, not what works for your friend or is most popular.

 

[taper]

I've been using Ubuntu for a few years now too, and I will never go back to Windows. Strider has it right when he says Linux is not Windows. If you're expecting Windows without having to pay for it, you'll be disappointed. What you will get is powerful, open, highly customizable and capable operating system. Is Ubuntu the best Linux? Probably not, but it is an excellent starting point. The biggest thing is willing to take the time to learn the OS. If you do dual boot, I recommend installing vlc for video and dvd and wine for gaming. I think it's included in the latest version, but ntfs-3g will let you read and write to your Windows partitions.

 

[GVBN]

Haven't used Ubuntu since like version 5 but if it still comes with Gnome then get Kubuntu instead. I'd still recommend Arch Linux over any other distro

 

[Aramazd]

Haven't used Ubuntu since like version 5 but if it still comes with Gnome then get Kubuntu instead. I'd still recommend Arch Linux over any other distro

I second Kubuntu if you do decide to go linux. KDE>Gnome

There are plenty of Linux distros, so you should use what works for you, not what works for your friend or is most popular.

How do you expect someone to know which to choose? (k)Ubuntu is a great place to start.

 

[Padma]

A couple of useful links:
Linux is Not Windows
I'm thinking about Linux, but...

I don't personally care for the *buntu versions. There is absolutely nothing wrong with them, I just think they are over-hyped. The latest Kubuntu, I admit, does have the best implementation of KDE4 that I have seen. The *buntus are at least useful for letting newbies see what this Linux thing is all about.

(Oh, and anyone concerned about the 'Freedom' in Free Software will not use mono or moonlight. They are patent traps by MS just waiting to be triggered.)

 

[Imperialmajesty]

I gotta shrink my volume... Ok, on my C drive, I have about 100 gigs free, and I want to use that for a new volume that will be for Linux. I have Vista 64bit.

 

[kuukkeli]

I have dual boot with Windows 7 and Ubuntu. While Ubuntu has some features I sorely miss while using W7 the problems outweighed the benefits and I'm currently using Ubuntu just to... eh, download some files from the net.

Driver support sucks for Ubuntu (SounbBlaster Audigy clips and snaps on Ubuntu and I can't adjust the sensitivity of my mouse wheel). After upgrading (by making clean install because Ubuntu's upgrade is notorious for screwing things) my computer didn't shut down initially and while that has been fixed by updates I still need to select shut down or restart twice (first just closes any open windows). I haven't been able to make my home network work between Ubuntu 9.04 and Vista (it worked with 8.10).

I'm no stranger to command line and at times I even miss the DOS days but some of the things I'd expect to be easy in common OS's demand hours of Googling and modifying multiple files in Ubuntu. The documentation is often terrible and there can be many instructions on the same forums and only some (maybe even one) actually work.

On the other hand 8.04 Ubuntu was perfect OS to install on my mother's computer. She only uses the web and email and plays some games like solitaire and mah-jong. She doesn't need to do anything that's complicated and everything that's installed updates automatically. For her it's easier than Windows and for her everything she needs works.

 

[Imperialmajesty]

Ehh, I tried out Ubuntu, and I wasn't really impressed. Video was choppy with the correct drivers, some programs simply wouldn't work, etc.

I'm going to look around for another distro until I find something I like.

 

[kuukkeli]

Ehh, I tried out Ubuntu, and I wasn't really impressed. Video was choppy with the correct drivers, some programs simply wouldn't work, etc

About video being choppy, did you have the desktop effects on? I had to disable them because they caused tearing and blockiness on my video.

 

[Quintillus]

Haven't used Ubuntu since like version 5 but if it still comes with Gnome then get Kubuntu instead. I'd still recommend Arch Linux over any other distro

I actually like Xubuntu best by a small margin over regular Ubuntu. At first I liked KDE due to its similarity to Windows' interface, but the more I use GNOME or xfce the more I like them. And every distribution I've tried KDE 4+ in I've had stability problems with (this could just be my hardware configuration, though - Vista gave me problems not everyone else had, too). Supposedly Xubuntu is for low-resources systems, but it sure seems adequate to me even though I've got far more resources than it requires.

Of the distros I've tried (mostly in virtual boxes), the *buntu's have definitely been the easiest to set up and get working perfectly, with Mandriva very close behind. Installing programs on many varieties of Linux is actually easier than on Windows thanks to package managers. And I have to admit that Ubuntu's graphics effects were impressive even inside a virtual box - Microsoft's PR people behind the "Wow" campaign for Vista clearly hadn't used Compiz Fusion enough.

Right now my primary Linux is split between Ubuntu and Xubuntu 9.04, which I really like now, and Mandriva 2008.1 with KDE 3.5, which I used earlier. I run them inside of VM's, though, so I always have quick access to Windows. Probably decreases the Linux experience a bit, but it's still decently good. OTOH, I was ready to switch to and very nearly did switch to Ubuntu back when I had Vista before I got XP. As I said, Vista didn't get along with my computer very well. Wish it had, as it would have saved me a lot of trouble, but at least I've had a working setup with XP for more than a year now.

Strider, have you had any luck with Civilization III on Linux with Wine by chance? I installed it and the editor works, but the game doesn't start at all - I'm guessing it's a CD protection problem.