Windows Vista... dismissed

Do you know anyone that is satisfied with Windows Vista? I don't, and I suspect that you don't, either. I guess Bill Gates and a few other Microsoft execs might be happy with it, but I haven't seen anyone not on the Microsoft payroll who is willing to admit it.

I purchased a new Acer laptop last year on a whim. The technical specs seemed fine for my use. Intel Dual Core processor, 1 gigabyte of RAM, 160GB hard drive, CD/DVD burner. I wanted it to use as a surfing machine, blogging, and some light word processing and spreadsheet work. It came with Windows Vista Home Standard Edition pre-installed. At first I was reasonably pleased with it. Even though the boot time was long, I liked the eye candy that Vista brought to the table. It's networking system was a little quirky, but I finally got it working with my home and office networks: printing to different printers, sharing folders, etc.

After a couple of months with the machine I started to realize it's weaknesses. Suspend and hibernate never worked properly and would often require a cold reboot to return the computer to a usable state. Then it sunk in that the eye candy was just that... eye candy. It wasn't really functional or useful. It was pretty to look at, but served no purpose. Boot times seemed to get longer and longer, but I admit that could just be my perception of the machine changing over time. Then the real issue started. Occasionally it would lock up during the shutdown process, requiring me to hold the power button to force it to shut down. Then it would complain about that on the next boot. I was getting more and more frustrated and started to read other people's issues with Vista online. There are a lot of people out there on the internet(s) that are very, very unhappy with this OS. Some even call it Windows ME 2.

I did some investigation into 'downgrading' to Windows XP. I heard that Microsoft was allowing some users to do that for free so I called to check. Of course I wasn't eligible, and would have to purchase a copy of XP if I wanted to install it on my laptop. I decided that that route wasn't for me. I feel like I've given Microsoft enough of my money, and they produced and forced new PC and laptop owners to adopt Vista, which is a broken product.

Linux seemed like a good choice as a replacement OS on my laptop. I'd installed Ubuntu on my teenage daughter's desktop PC about a year ago and it had worked out great for her. It did everything she needed and wanted, and I didn't have any virus or spyware issues to resolve for her.

After I decided that Ubuntu would be my new operating system I had to decide if I wanted to have a dual boot system or not. Part of me wanted to hold on to Vista for the 'just in case' quotient, but I eventually decided to go cold turkey, no dual boot, 100% Ubuntu.

The install went very smooth. The only hardware issue I had was the wireless adapter and I quickly found the fix for it on the Ubuntu support forums. It's now been about two months since the install and I haven't regretted it at all. I'm still experimenting with Wine to get a couple of Windows only applications working, but overall I am extremely happy with the system. It's easy to update and to customize the look and feel, and everything just works.

This is definitely not the same Linux that I tried several years ago. While I had fun playing with it on an older computer, it wasn't ready for me to use exclusively. Ubuntu, on the other hand, is a true replacement for Windows, and it's ready for prime time.

If you're unhappy with Vista or sick of Microsoft's exploitation of humanity you should give Ubuntu or one of it's derivatives a try. You would probably be pleasantly surprised.