[ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu/Linux is still not an OS for the masses - discuss

[A J Binnie]

I thought I'd throw my tuppence worth in.

Before I discovered Ubuntu, I had a few attempts at installing Linux.
One was Mandrake (version 7, I think), and I had a couple of attempts
at installing Debian and Redhat, all to no avail. I can't remember how
I found out about Ubuntu (Dapper), but I found the Ship-it feature,
ordered a CD (and received 3!).

It worked on my laptop (Pentium M, ATI graphics card) and the desktop
PC (AMD Athlon and S3 onboard) without any issues whatsoever. I found
it a breath of fresh air when compared to Windows, especially with
issues like wireless networking. Ever since I started using wireless
with windows, I've had issues where it just refuses to connect to the
network at all, and I still find these issues with my current Vista
laptop, especially switching between wireless networks.

Ubuntu just worked for me, and I have had no similar issues with
subsequent releases. My time with Ubuntu hasn't exactly been
hassle-free - I would say that most niggles occur when upgrading from
one release to another (8.04 rings a bell), but a fresh install is
never more than 20 minutes away, unlike Microsoft's offering. I would
concede that there can still be issues with things like Flash, but
someone who is completely new to Windows would not necessarily know to
download the Flash plugin.

With the interface, Ubuntu/Gnome makes a lot more sense than Windows.
I have a friend who had limited computer experience. He had Windows
for a while, but when it crashed and he couldn't find his installation
media, someone provided a copy of Fedora and he has never looked back
since.

If a complete novice were to ask me to set up a computer for them,
Windows wouldn't get a look in!

And yes, I did try to convince my friend to switch to Ubuntu :)

Gus