For many years now ive been using a version of Windows. My first computer may have been a commodore 64 followed by a macintosh but i never used those things properly. They were simply little boxes that sat there and looked at me with their buttons and switches. Nowadays I think back and tell myself “Its ok. You were an idiot back then and didnt know how fun computers can be”. Still feel ashamed for not paying them the level of respect they deserved.

But now that I know the joys of computing I can safely say that out of everything Ive tried so far… Windows operating systems are the number one system for all the masochistsout there. Thats why I decided to switch to a flavour of linux.

Ok so I didnt go all fancy and get the latest version of the most obscure build anyones ever heard of. I decided to keep it simple. Im new to the whole linux thing so why not try out Ubuntu. All my friends (tech savvy friends that is) say its great. Lets give it a try.

Well when I was using Windows XP on my laptop (Yay i changed before being subjected to Vista on my machine. Used it on others unfortunately) the thing ran awful slow. Ya see i had gotten a virus and even after removing every possible trace of it the slowness remained. I put up with it for a few weeks then said fudge this and  nuked the drive Low level format style (After backing up the data of course).

In order to bring my laptop back to life the magical ubuntu cd was taken from its cardboard cover and slipped into the CD drive and when it started spinning and my monitor spat out the logo at me i knew it was time for some fun.

Now when i started using PCs properly I was using windows 98. I upgraded to Windows ME and was sadly disappointed by it. Then came 2000 which was better but still lacking. XP came along and now things seemed to be getting back on track but then Vista broke onto the scene and all hell broke loose again. With that kind of pattern in mind I was expecting Ubuntu to be nothing special and to most it may seem that way but to me it was very interesting indeed.

Everyone knows the trouble ya have to go to setting up a new machine and installing all your favourite programs. with Ubuntu you simply fire up the Synaptic Package Manager select what ya like and tell it to work away while you make yourself a cup of tea. The ease with which this is done is still one of my favourite things about the OS.

One other thing i like about Linux is the security. I never knew what everyone meant when they spoke about root and why it was so important. I didnt know why my OS was telling me that I needed to be root to install such and such a program or to update virus signatures or get firewall updates and the like. I thouhgt “But these arent risky things” but i was wrong. The simple things we tend to take for granted can cause the craziest of problems if left alone. Which makes the forced existence of a super powerful “God” account known as root very handy indeed.

Of course I have just begun to scratch the surface of what Linux has to offer so I’ll cut it short for now. I will be doing a series of articles on Linux and my experiences wth it as i mess around with it more. I will leave with one tip though.

Programs beginning with K are pretty nice. So if ya install Ubuntu get rid of pidgin and get Kopete. Much nicer.