automaticable

It’s always been an awkward question for me: “Mac or PC?”  The question is invariably focused on those two choices, completely leaving out the less-common option that I so devoutly use.  The Operating System I refer to –falsely described as ugly, difficult, and useless – is Ubuntu Linux.  For my entire two year relationship with Linux my answer to the Mac/PC question has almost always been followed by the even tougher question of “Why Linux?”

I have always responded to this question with some variation of it being productive for the computer-inclined, but more of a waste of time for those that don’t have the time to work out the kinks.  The recent Karmic Koala release has flipped this upside down.  The previous reasons to stay away from Linux have fallen by the wayside with this ground-breaking new release.  Faced with the new releases of Snow Leopard(Mac) and Windows 7, Karmic has come out with quite a large bit of competition;  I feel well justified, however, when I say that Ubuntu is the perfect alternative for those yearning to move away from the proprietary world.

The largest reason that I have always dodged the concept of migrating from Windows/Mac to Linux is the horrid hardware setup that I’ve always faced.  This has been completely wiped from my concerns with the Karmic release.  A clean install immediately recognized all of my hardware (which is quite the feat – my computer is a mismatch of scavenged hardware from old wrecks).  I continued to put Karmic through the test, as I installed a second video card with the hopes of setting up a dual monitor.  One BIOS change and one reboot later I was up and running on the second video card.

Another thing that has always scared people away from the Linux experience is the lack of software comparable to Windows/Mac.  Ubuntu specifically focused on this issue, and opened up the brand new Ubuntu Software Center(USC).  USC takes the great usefulness of the Synaptic Package Manager, and brings it into a more useable and comfortable GUI.  USC will offer a one-stop place to find software, read reviews, see and make ratings, and finally install.  Rumors also say that the USC has plans to become the breeding ground of an Ubuntu version of an app store.

My greatest worry withWindows 7 being released so near to the same time as Ubuntu 9.10 was that Windows 7 would come out on top in benchmarks.  My concerns turned out to be even greater after watching a Windows 7 demonstration (Windows 7 house party!) and noticing the very quick boot time.  Results have been published though, and www.techie-buzz.com shows that Karmic boots in near half the time of Windows 7.

With all the results in, I can confidently say that this is the Ubuntu release that I have been the most excited about.  With all three of the OS giants giving out the top of their game this year, I believe Ubuntu has finally released an OS that has the potential to break into the common household.  I am not saying that Ubuntu is the end-all to the OS war – Windows 7 and Snow Leopard are great at what they do – but it certainly is a valuable candidate when making your OS choice.   Prepare yourselves – soon the question may be “Mac, PC, or Linux?”