If you’ve been reading digg lately, you might have noticed that it has became a premium place for showing off in saying that you no longer need Windows XP and are moving to Ubuntu. I’m considering that move as well during the course of the holidays, so here is a review of the “Moving from XP to Ubuntu” articles in 2006. This list is not exhaustive, but it contains experiences that might prove useful for anyone trying to make that move too.

For the benefit of those who have been living under a rock in the last year, Ubuntu is a linux distribution based on debian which gained tremendous popularity during the past year.

• Ubuntu Linux Is an Ideal Windows Replacement: This is a product review from Linux Insider (not really an impartial source, but still…), which highlights the main features of Ubuntu.
• A Pirate’s Ubuntu testimony: My dad, aka. the pirate, just came to me and said he was much more happy with the computer now as it is running Ubuntu Linux than he have ever been when it ran Windows. A nice cute happy story about a non-geek moving to linux.
• Ubuntu for your parents, uncles and aunts. No tech support anymore!: In the same spirit than the next post, this article highlights the user experience for a non-technology savvy point-of-view. During my visit to India last month, I promised myself that I would accomplish one important task. I would do everything in my power to eliminate the tech support role that I was playing to my parents.
• XP to Ubuntu: This post is a pretty detailed account of how his migration went. He finds many little drawbacks and quirks, but the user is happy nonetheless. In his case, he still keeps a Windows partition as life without Visio or MS Project is impossible for him (professionally).
• Using Ubuntu 6.10: This post was written by a Windows XP user who moved to Ubuntu because he wanted to find a free alternative to Windows, especially Vista. While it’s not a detailed walkthrough of going from one OS to the other, this posts highlights well the differences that one might expect to find when arriving in the linux world via Ubuntu.
• Life without Windows: A Philippine columnist writes about his migration from Windows to Ubuntu for his job. He listed the things he needed to do and proceeded to evaluate how Ubuntu fares in those areas. Here’s what my list looked like: 1) Write this column; 2) Browse the Web; 3) Get new software and install it; 4) Download files; 5) Play music and video files; 6) Burn CDs; and 7) Print my documents. Check the article for the results!

Overall, we can see that Ubuntu has gained a lot of popularity in the past year, and is expected to continue roughly at the same pace for 2007. I’ll keep you updated on my progress in the linux world too!

December 21st, 2006 | Computers, Technology