I’ve just installed Ubuntu onto my Dell Vostro 1500 Windows XP laptop. And I’m currently using Ubuntu 8.04 to write this post.
The first thing you notice about Ubuntu when you start it up is the color. It’s not cloudy blue like XP, smooth white like OSX nor even solid black like Vista. Instead what you get is milky orange. I believe that’s the closest description of the color I can come to. Keep in mind of course that I’m talking about Ubuntu 8.04. I’m not sure what other versions look like.
Now, after getting used to the change in color I had to get used to the user interface itself. Instead of the XP start button I get the Ubuntu Icon, Places and System.
The Ubuntu Icon opens up a menu similar to Windows XP’s “Start > All Programs” menu. Except in this case, all installed programs are automatically categorized into groups such as Accessories, Games, Graphics, Internet, Office etc.
Places is similar to the Windows Explorer except that it doesn’t open up a new window. It shows a drop down menu of your main folders and such. Clicking on one of it would open up a new window that I believe would be the Ubuntu version of Windows Explorer.
System on the other hand is “Control Panel” in a drop down menu form. Pretty straight forward isn’t it?
Oh! I forgot to mention that Ubuntu has the taskbar on the top of the screen. It has another one at the bottom of the screen that serves to show the applications you have running and the number of “Desks” that you have running. These “Desks” are just multiple instances of your desktop. It’s good because your computer is less cluttered. You can put certain applications in certain desks to conserve space.
One really annoying thing for me is the sudden change of shortcuts. I’m used to windows shortcuts. I almost never use the start menu anymore thanks to Launchy and shortcuts. But with Ubuntu, most of the shortcuts I’m used to are rendered useless. And that’s just really tough and confusing for me. I feel crippled!
I’m unsure about this, but right now I have to go through some serious updating for Ubuntu. I think it’s probably similar to Windows XP, so no complaints there. However, I find it slightly annoying that Ubuntu does not allow me to run multiple instances of the installer. Meaning, as I’m updating I can’t install other programs I’ve just downloaded. I’m sure there are ways around it, I just don’t know them yet so it’s getting on my nerves.
Before I end this post and go back to updating and exploring Ubuntu (which overall is quite a pleasant experience) I’d like to say that the most impressive thing about Ubuntu so far is the security. When I tried to open my NTFS-formatted “Media” partition, it asked for my password. When I tried to change my computer settings, it asked for my password. There’s the option for it to remember the response of course. But I feel that it’s quite a good thing that they have this. It’s definitely better than Windows Vista’s UAC where all it does is asks for confirmation instead of authentication.
Anyway, back to Ubuntu updating!