Mint India wants user feedback on Ubuntu 9.10

[Sushubh]

A journalist for Mint who had previously written about Airtel Fair Usage Policy wrt to this forum is now looking for user opinions wrt. Ubuntu 9.10 release.

Some of the basic questions you can answer...

1. What made you decide in favor of Ubuntu over a windows platform
2. How has been your experience so far>?
3. In your view what sets Ubuntu apart?
4. Features and availability of apps wise, how does Ubuntu compare?

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I used Ubuntu before I bought a laptop that came preloaded with Windows Vista. It is free to use legally and worked better on my desktop which was getting old.

It is a great alternative operating system for people who have no specific requirements to use Windows. In fact most of casual computer owners in India can easily switch to Linux unless they use an application that has no decent alternative to Windows products.

For example. If you have a computer at home which is primarily used to connect to the web, surf websites, listening to music, watching movies, communicating with friends through messengers and social networks... Ubuntu would work just fine.

It is not an option for people who have to use specialized applications like Adobe Photoshop or development for Windows. There are alternatives in Linux but they are not good enough. Some proprietary applications usually have no alternatives on Linux. Corporate users thus tend to stay away from alternative platforms. PC games is another problem area. Few well known games are released for Ubuntu.

My experience with Ubuntu has been pretty good. It works great. It is stable. It can do everything I do personally at home. It is not hard to learn for a long time Windows user if he is prepared to adapt to the changes in UI.

Ubuntu has been one of the best Linux distributions I have tried. It is updated regularly (6 months). It is widely supported by vendors who develop applications for the Linux platform. Linux in general is great because it is free and actively developed.

About features and applications... it depends upon person to person. Almost all popular consumer applications have a version and an alternative product for Linux/Ubuntu. Firefox, Opera, Skype, Chrome, Picasa are some popular applications that are available on Ubuntu from the original developers. Alternative applications are pretty good too.

 

[Sai]

1. What made you decide in favor of Ubuntu over a windows platform Speed of ubuntu , graphics, free from virus !! , open source...2. How has been your experience so far>?It is pretty good3. In your view what sets Ubuntu apart?Its speed , graphics4. Features and availability of apps wise, how does Ubuntu compare?All applications i use (ff,chrome,skype etc.) works in ubuntu . Photoshop not works ...... alternative option is good (gimp)

 

[vishalrao]

1. What made you decide in favor of Ubuntu over a windows platform

Being a software engineer and enthusiast and having access and freedom to tinker with your OS, desktop environment and applications as you wish is a big attraction. May not be completely ready for those who are not very tech savvy.

2. How has been your experience so far>?

Very rewarding/satisfying so far and it only gets better and better every release. Very few occasions to need to go into Windows - for some games and some very restrictive apps/uses like iTunes for iPod. Otherwise you can do most work (and even play games) like OpenOffice, FireFox web browser, Evolution or Thunderbird for email, Pidgin/Empathy for chatting and various graphics, audio, gaming apps are available as well.

3. In your view what sets Ubuntu apart?

Ubuntu to me seems to be the most user friendly with the most sane/common sense default applications and settings on the standard Live CD. The parent company Canonical's promise of always keeping it free of cost and providing the same desktop, server versions for free access unlike other companies who have a free version but a separate "enterprise" version for which they charge lots of money.

4. Features and availability of apps wise, how does Ubuntu compare?

Ubuntu 9.10 is very up-to-date with features and availability of apps. Sometimes due to Ubuntu's attempt to be safe/stable it may not have the latest/cutting-edge software/features and the applications may be of slightly previous versions but it is acceptable compromise. If you want very cutting edge / latest features and apps then Fedora 12 might be a better option.