I’m going to dispense with the personal stuff because nobody wants to hear that, so I’ll just get right to the point.

For years I’ve been a purely Windows based geek – which basically translates to – I’m used to fixing problems and getting around the desktop in the way MS intended.  I’m good at the superficial stuff like getting drivers installed, getting around Office and working out why things have gone all funny.

Now, here’s the thing.  I was one of those people who bought Vista on day one.  I actually pre-ordered it (yes I know…) and used the Beta2 and RC1 when they were released to the select… thousands.  Now, there has been a lot said about Vista and I don’t agree with a lot of it.  Yes, things are a little different to XP, but they’re not necessarily harder to accomplish than they used to be.  The security is better, there is DirectX10, which is nice but a bit of a hog and it is very stable, thanks to its Server 2003 code.  These aren’t the things that bug me though.

The system requirements – as in – not the ones MS say you need to get it running but the ones that are necessary to have an enjoyable experience running it.  You shouldn’t really need a dual-core CPU and 2gb RAM to not feel a performance penalty of some sort.  I’m lucky enough to be able to build my own PC’s so this isn’t an issue for me, its just an excuse to upgrade again and get down and dirty with the fiddly stuff, but for many it is a deal breaker.

The cost – Vista Ultimate was over £300 when it was first released in the UK.  Technically you could get away with buying the much cheaper OEM version from some retailers in conjunction with a piece of hardware, but even so, its a hell of a price.  What compounded the issue for folks on the UK side of the pond was the comical exchange rate used by a lot of software companies.  Instead of using the rate the rest of the world uses, they simply change the dollar sign to a pound sign.  At the time of release this meant doubling the price for UK buyers.

The boredom! – Yes, after at least 10 years of what is basically the same OS and the same way of doing things I feel like it is time for a change.

Ubuntu

Ubuntu was an intriguing proposition back when Vista was launched.  It promised a user friendly face to a whole different ball game.  Linux has always had a reputation for being hard work, a plaything for programmers but rock stable and flexible.  Version 6.06 had just been released so I thought I’d give it a try.  Unfortunately I failed miserably.  After running the live CD I got no further than a blank screen and various comments during boot that said “huh?!” a lot.

I tried each new version that came out on Canonical’s 6 monthly release schedule with no success, until 7.10 came out…

TBC