ubuntu for novices

[Kevin Mulligan]

I set up my wireless card after installation, because ubuntu detected by 
onboard ethernet first. I didn't know what to do, so I just let it 
continue. There is a setting somewhere in one of the menus to 'engage' 
the wireless card.

This is all from memory, I'm currently on Win2kPro. Please forgive me if 
its incorrect ;)

--Kevin

David Feldman wrote:

> I'm surveying distributions I'd recommend to novice users, 
> particularly  Windows switchers. My feeling is that Ubuntu is _almost_ 
> there but  lacking one key feature and a couple less key features.
>
> Key feature: A GUI for configuring wireless cards. The ability to 
> enter  the SSID and WEP key at install time is helpful, but there's no 
> easy  way to do this after the OS has been installed. Asking a novice 
> user to  edit a text config file isn't really a good thing.
>
> Less key feature: A GUI for installation. The installer is relatively  
> straightforward, but might be interpreted as unfriendly-looking due 
> to  its text-based nature. More importantly, for those unfamiliar 
> with  text-based UIs it's not always clear which key to hit, so even 
> if a GUI  installer isn't added, some hints on which keys to use might 
> be a good  addition.
>
> Less key feature: NTFS/FAT resize as an option during install. A few  
> distros have this, and I think it's a great idea because it allows  
> Windows users to create a dual-boot setup without doing a reinstall 
> of  Windows or any pre-configuration of their systems. For extra 
> points,  provide a preconfigured option to add a shared FAT partition 
> when  Windows is installed on NTFS.
>
> I bring these up not to be negative, but because I've been really  
> impressed with Ubuntu in so many respects, particularly hardware  
> support and UI simplicity, not to mention the whole single-CD install  
> thing. In the meantime I'm looking at distros like SuSE 9.2 (with  
> GNOME), Xandros, and Fedora Core 3 for recommendation to novices and  
> Windows switchers...any comments welcome.
>
> --Dave
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
> -- 
> David A. Feldman
> User Interface Designer
> http://InterfaceThis.com
>
>