Ubuntu better than ever
I switched to Ubuntu about 8 months ago or so, and really started using it full-time about 6 months ago. As the sole IT person for an organization of 1200 users, 420+ WinXP machines, and three server centers, I can easily say that administrating everything out of 7.04 has been a breeze. I’ve been reading up on 7.10, and can say that Ubuntu is easily rivalling Windows and OSX in terms of average-user functionality.
Whoa, whoa! I said average-user. Yes, I still have a WinXP gaming machine at my house for Team Fortress 2, Portal and Battlefield 2. However, reports are already coming out that Steam (Portal and Team Fortress 2) successfully runs under WINE. With the eye candy like Compiz Fusion, 7.10 now looks as good, or better than, Windows Vista, with a fraction of the overhead. What will be interesting to see is the gaming performance on 7.10 under WINE vs. on Vista with its inherent resource demands.
The features I see as the most valuable happen to be the most boring, but they’re:
- Ease of use in finding drivers for your hardware
- One-click server setup for common sevrer roles like File/Print servers, DNS, Web server, etc.
- NTFS support, which will GREATLY help introduce 7.10 machines to Windows-based networks.
All in all, you can try out 7.10 without having to erase anythimg. Simple burn a CD, but it in the drive, and restart your machine. You can check it out before you take the plunge. Perhaps the next time you’re going to consider re-installing Windows 2000 on that old machine you’ll consider 7.10, or when you’re re-installing WinXP, go for a dual-boot setup. or maybe even just go for it and order an Ubuntu machine direct from Dell!
Check this link out for a tour of the full features of 7.10:
<img id=”countdownimage” src=”http://www.ubuntu.com/files/countdown/dist/710countdown_default.png" width=”199" height=”164" alt=”Ubuntu 7.10 — Coming soon”>
