The new version of Ubuntu 8.04 came out a few days back. I can’t wait to download it.
For folks who don’t know what Ubuntu is .. its a flavor of Linux Operating System that comes free of cost. Some people might ask why switch from Windows to a Linux OS? My answer would be simple- Why would you want to pay Micr0$0ft to get an OS that has security holes and then pay the anti-virus vendor a few bucks more to protect it?
I switched over to Ubuntu about an year back on the recommendation of a colleague of mine. I told him i wanted to try something better than Windows(XP at the time) ..something that would not necessarily require me to upgrade my hardware(Vista)..something that would not force me to run a heavy anti virus software for which i had to pay every year..something that would boot and run fast.. and most importantly something that was available free of cost. He suggested going in for Ubuntu.
Since then i have never thought of going back to Windows. Feel like it takes ages for Windows to boot. I can still access my personal data stored on the Windows drive through Ubuntu. I can perform every operation i used to with Windows under Ubuntu. It has out of the box setup for most of the components. Installing Ubuntu (6.10 back then) took just 15 minutes for me.
Now, coming to some of the drawbacks of using Ubuntu.. The biggest drawback is that you hate using Windows at your workplace:). You need an Internet connection to upgrade or fix an issue that you may come across once in a while. The support is via Ubuntu forums, so again you need an Internet connection. Debugging issues may require you to have some preliminary knowledge of Unix (support forums are always there to help you out).
All in all, i would highly recommend Ubuntu to all of you reading this post. Switch and you will know what you were missing!