Victor Marquez

Making the Switch from Windows to Linux, why you shouldn’t be afraid!

// May 14th, 2009 // No Comments » // Linux, Operating Systems, Tech

Microsoft has controlled the PC market for quite some time now. Controlling about 90% of the market share, its operating system, Windows, is the most used operating system on the planet. How long will its control of the market continue though? Experts estimate that in two years Microsoft will lose about 15% of its market share to Operating Systems such as Apple’s, Mac OS X, and open source operating systems such as Linux. You might ask yourself, why would windows be losing so much ground? The fact of the matter is that people are growing tired of Windows. All of Microsoft’s operating systems are very much the same; they do not have as many innovative features as other systems have. The number one reason Apple’s computers are selling so well is because of the creativity that is put into producing them. When you look at Apple’s operating system you are immediately attracted to how crisp and clean the Graphical User Interface is, but not just that. It’s different! Just take a look at their main navigation menus. Microsoft Windows has a taskbar at the bottom of the screen which is not too visually appealing. In contrast, Mac’s have a menu bar at the top which dynamically changes according to the program which is opened. Furthermore, instead of having icons which clutter the desktop, Mac’s have a Dock which provides users with easy access to their favorite programs. Apple is always coming up with new ideas in order to keep their customers interested. That is something that Microsoft has lost touch of; Microsoft has lost track of what the average user wants, and concentrates mostly on their business clients. And now that Mac’s are able to use Microsoft Office they are also losing their business clients. It’s no wonder why Linux is taking more after Mac’s. Apple’s ability to provide users with a fun, yet useful environment is what sets it aside from Microsoft.

The Unknown World of Linux

Linux was created by Linus Torvalds in 1991, and ever since it has only continued to grow and flourish. In its early days, Linux was mostly run through command line and did not present itself as a valid operating system for the average user. But Linux has come a long way from those days and is now more user friendly than ever. Linux has many distributions, in other words, it has many different versions, which are worked on by different companies and/or developers. The most popular ones being: Debian, Fedora, Linux Mint, Ubuntu, Mandriva, and Gentoo.

In this article I am going to talk about the Ubuntu distribution. Ubuntu, meaning “Humanity” in the Zulu language, uses GNOME as its Graphical User Interface and allows users to modify the look of their system to meet their needs, and thanks to online communities, graphical themes for Ubuntu are very easy to obtain, and install, so that all a user really has to do is browse the website for a theme that he or she finds appealing, download it, and install it.

Ubunu’s Installation

Installing Ubuntu on your computer is just as simple as installing Windows. You pop in the Ubuntu installation CD and follow the instructions. The process only takes about 30 minutes and is very easy to follow.

The User Interface

The default setting for the Ubuntu GUI is pretty simple. It includes a top bar and a bottom bar. The top bar has three menus:

• Applications - Contains all of your applications, and also the Add/Remove button which we will talk more about later.
• Places - Contains your basic folders such as Home, Documents, Pictures, etc. I also contains Computer, and the storage devices that are attached to your computer.
• System - Contains all of Ubuntu’s system preferences and system settings.

The top bar also contains a set of icons that appear depending on open applications along with a clock and a shut down button. The bottom bar in Ubuntu provides the user with a trash bin icon, a view desktop icon, and a workspace switcher applet which allows the user to switch between Ubuntu’s multiple desktops. Although Ubuntu’s default setup contains two task bars, users are not limited to those taskbars. Users may add or remove task bars from their desktop in order to help them organize or simply customize their desktop.

Adding and Removing Programs

Ubuntu’s add and remove programs feature is simply one of the most well developed parts of Ubuntu. The Add/Remove Programs application presents the user with all of the applications that the user has installed on his/her system and all of the applications which they can install as well. This makes things extremely easy for users who want to find an application but don’t want to spend hours searching for one on the internet.

All that the user has to do is click on one of the categories and Ubuntu automatically looks up any applications that are listed for the criteria. Ubuntu’s Add/Remove application also contains a rating system which allows the user to see the success of the application. Best of all, all of the applications are free!

No Need for Microsoft Office

Ubuntu comes pre-loaded with OpenOffice, a program suite developed by Sun Microsystems which gives users programs that are almost identical to word, excel, power point, and access. The OpenOffice Suite allows users to open a wide variety of file types, including .docx, .pptx, and .xlsx, all of the new Microsoft Office file types. The only disadvantage to opening these files with OpenOffice is that some of the attributes, mainly design, will not be interpreted correctly by OpenOffice.

Multimedia Experience

Just like Windows has Windows Media Player, and Mac OS X has iTunes, Ubuntu has Rhythmbox as its default media player, but users are not limited to Rhythmbox. There are other popular audio programs such as Songbird, an iTunes look alike, and Amarok. Rhythmbox, Ubuntu’s default music player, is not that much different from iTunes. Although its main purpose is to manage music, both on your computer and your iPod. Therefore it does not contain a music store like iTunes. For videos, Ubuntu users can install VLC Media Player which plays all types of video formats, without having to worry about codec’s that are not present.

Additional Programs

One of the many beauties of Ubuntu is the amount of free programs that are available for it. Here are a couple of programs that are popular amongst the Linux community.

• Picasa - Google’s picture viewer, allows users to import pictures from their cameras and save them to their computer. It also gives you the option of e-mailing pictures, and uploading pictures to Web Albums. [ http://picasa.google.com ]
• Gnome-Do - A quicksilver like application which allows you to launch applications by simply typing in a command. [ http://do.davebsd.com ]
• Thunderbird - Mozilla’s E-Mail client is one of the best ways to keep your contacts, and e-mails organized. Themes and extensions may also be applied. [ http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/thunderbird ]
• Skype - Skype is a chat client, which allows users to send files, make calls, and use video, in order to communicate. [ http://www.skype.com ]
• AWN - Avant Windows Navigator, is a Mac Like dock, which allows Ubuntu users to keep their application launchers organized. [ http://launchpad.net ]

Customizing Ubuntu

If you enjoy customizing things to fit your needs Ubuntu is the way to go. Ubuntu provides users with an astonishing experience that will leave you amazed. Ubuntu gives their users the ability to completely customize their desktop, including window borders, icons, mouse cursor, wallpaper, top bar, and bottom bar. If the user really wanted to they could make their Ubuntu PC look exactly like a Mac.

Keeping Your System Up To Date

Unlike Windows which provides updates in packs, Ubuntu checks for updates on all of your programs everyday and notifies you. This allows users to stay up to date with the latest software upgrades or fixes, and it also eliminates the long wait for your system to get updated.

The Final Verdict

With the popularity of Windows declining and the rise of other operating systems, Linux definitely has a chance to become popular among the everyday user. But in order to do so word of the advancement of Linux must spread. Otherwise the mindset that Linux is still an Operating System ruled by Command Line will never change. That’s not to say that Linux is perfect, but it is definitely starting to shape up and could become a big contestant. With more companies like Dell, IBM, Adobe, and Google looking to Linux for further development, the days of Microsoft’s dominant stronghold over the computer market are numbered.