What I really like about switching to Ubuntu is that it’s something new (at least for me). The saying goes “familiarity breeds contempt”, and that’s how I was beginning to feel about WinXP. I’ve been using it for what seems like forever and Windows for even longer. I now find myself digging around the OS to familiarize myself with it. I’ve got a new system to learn, and I can’t help but think that it will make me a better developer in the long run.

I’ve even gone as far as to install NetBeans and Eclipse, so who knows. I might even begin writing some Java or C++ code in my spare time. I have to remember that there’s life outside the .NET framework.

On a good note, I was able to connect to my printer that’s shared on a WinXP machine. No problems connecting or installing the driver.

Like some other Linux distros I’ve researched, I had to install the necessary codecs for MP3 playback. It wasn’t difficult, but slightly annoying. Speaking of adding software, I really like the interface for adding software. It’s very easy to discover and install software using the Add Software wizard. I installed several music players, Mono, and NetBeans(among others). I was even able to connect and browse my iPod from Ubuntu. I think that topic will deserve a separate post of its own because it’s one of the main reasons I still have WinXP installed on my primary machine. Unlike a lot of people, I actually like iTunes.

So now I’m actually using Linux on a daily basis (unlike when I ran it as a VM), and I have to admit it’s very stable and the distro I’ve chosen is super easy to use. What’s next? Well, I’m going to try to get iTunes running in Wine and do some experimenting with the Mono development tools.

The first thing I did once I installed the VMWare tools was to grab all the latest updates. If you’re familiar with Windows Update, then you’ve got the idea behind updating Ubuntu. Again, it was super simple. I was also asked for my administration password before the updates could be installed. It’s nice to know that I need to explicitly grant permission to install/update applications. It’s something Windows should have been doing for years. As I expected, there were a few updates available. They were downloaded and installed with minimal interaction required from my end. And the really nice part was that a reboot was not required! I’m sure that’s not the case for all updates, but it was nice this time anyway.

Next, I tried browsing my network from the Ubuntu VM. Again. It was very simple (are you seeing a theme here?). I was able to navigate to my local file shares without having to do anything special on either the Linux or Windows boxes. This really surprised me. I expected the update to be easy, but I didn’t expect to be able to connect to my Windows file share that easily. To be honest. It was easier to connect using Ubuntu than it was with my other XP machine, but that’s a story for another post.

Now that I had the OS updated and verified my network connections, I started checking out the applications that were installed as part of the default installation. There’s a couple games, the GIMP, Firefox and OpenOffice (just to name a few). The games were of your solitaire/minesweeper caliber games, so I won’t get into too much depth here about them. Suffice to say I could waste some time with them, but they’re not the reason I’m looking into Linux again. As on Windows, Firefox is rock solid and works as advertised. I’m a long time Office user and love the ribbon UI in Office 2007, so OpenOffice is somewhat of a disappointment for me. Again, I’m not looking at Linux to find a productivity suite, so this isn’t a deal breaker for me. I don’t claim to be a *nix expert, but I’ve used some of the command-line tools before. The console was just as easy to use as I remember from my Mandrake days.

There was one thought that kept coming to me as I’ve been nosing around Ubuntu lately and it’s ease of use. Back when I was using Linux in 1999-2002 (ages ago in tech time), the phrase ease of use never came up. I would never have suggested anyone but a geek look into Linux. It was just easier to use Windows (Apple was left for dead back then). I think that’s changed now. I wouldn’t have any problem recommending Ubuntu to a non-geek. It’s easy to use, secure (at least not as big a target as Windows) and free. Not to mention the fact that it can run nicely on older hardware (or even in a virtual machine).

Next I think I’ll dig a little deeper into Ubuntu by trying out some typical power user tasks. Adding-removing software, adding users, changing hardware, and maybe write a little code. Let’s hope I’m still thinking ease of use.

I downloaded the latest release of the Ubuntu (v7.10) and fired up VMWare. The installation was about as easy as it comes. I literally had to make just a couple selections and the installation took care of itself. I’ve run Knoppix a few times just out of curiosity a few years ago, but I haven’t really used Linux since I was exposed to it in college. I mostly used Mandrake, and I even went as far as compiling the kernel for myself a couple times. Once as part of an assignment and then again just for fun (and no I didn’t have a life back then). I wrote a little C++ code on it and used it sparingly, but I never made the leap from Windows to Linux as a full time system. At that time I was a big time gamer and it was before I had heard of the LAMP stack, so I eventually moved away from Linux when I graduated. Well Tux, I’m back!

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be using Ubuntu as much as I can, and I’ll share my experiences here. From what I’ve seen so far Ubuntu is plenty fast on VMWare, so I think I’ll get a good experience on a virtual machine.