Ubuntu Linux......Free and Worth Using......

I have been a MS-DOS / Windows user ever since I started using computers (somewhere in late 1980s). Though I used Unix as part of a course in school and college, I never really got hooked to it (it was so boring, text based, can't see anything, can't feel anything).

2 months back, I was just browsing through some websites on Linux OS and came across Ubuntu Linux (Ubuntu.com). I tried downloading it but after 3-4 hours of broadband usage, I realised that I may never be able to download it. Then I located a page that promised "Free Shipping".

I had seen many free CD shipping pages and realised that they are just means for spammers to send even more junk in your inbox and probably sell your physical address to some nasty people.

Anyway, I decided to trust this website and put in my information. After that I forgot about it. One month later, the postman came to my house to hand over "a yellow packet, from some foreign country" (that's how he described it). When I received the package, I was surprised to find that it was Ubuntu Linux CD. Free and delivered to my address in just a month's time.

Receiving CD was one thing and getting started on Linux was another. I wasn't sure if a "technically challeneged person like me" would be able to install and use Linux. Another surprise here - installation was smooth, without asking any silly questions. Though my old system (P4-1.5GHz) took some 20-25 minutes to complete installation (roughly the same time that it takes to install Win2K), what followed later was absolute delight.

The look and feel of Ubuntu Linux, combined with readily available software, easy setup, have made me a real Ubuntu Linux fan. Ubuntu has been on my system for last 1 month and I rarely missed Windows during this period. The open office software that comes with it, allows me to work easily on my MS-Office docs (that I sometimes carry from office to home in my USB drive). USB drives are automatically recognised. Internet Browsing is much faster as compared to the Windows 2000(I couldn't figure out why).

The only times when I missed Windows was when my friends wanted to (Video) chat with me on Yahoo Messenger. As far as I know, so far there is no Linux equivalent of Latest Yahoo Messenger for Windows.

Though the die-hard linux fans say that it is not for "technically challenged" (in other words - people who xcan work only in GUI mode), I believe Linux has evolved into a good GUI based OS that can be used by people who are new to computing. If you are used to Windows, it may take some time to figure out what those strange sounding Application names mean (things like "Evolution" which is mail client, or "Synaptic Package Manager" which is Ubuntu's package manager or something like Windows Update Manager and Add-Remove Applicatiobns combined into one).

I guess Ubuntu is slowly taking over the love that I had for Windows. If they continue to supply free CDs, I guess there are many converts in waiting.