I treated myself to a new laptop computer for Christmas (I also got socks and a nice chamois shirt from the family), a Dell Inspiron 15 chosen in part because Dell offers some of their products with the Ubuntu version of Linux preinstalled as the operating system. This particular model came with Windows 7 instead, but I was confident I could save it. As soon as I got my new indulgence home, I fired up my 5-year old desktop (also running exclusively on Ubuntu) and downloaded the latest installation disk from the Ubuntu web site, burned it to a CD and popped it into the drive on my shiny new De. The install program asked if I wanted to set the computer up to boot into either Windows or Linux, but having lived harmoniously with Ubuntu for over a year now, I opted to wipe out Windows entirely, going 100% Ubuntu Linux. As usual, the installation ran flawlessly and my brand new laptop was now free from the clutches of the evil empire.
The only glitch was that the WiFi wouldn’t work no matter how I tried to configure it. Finally resorting to the online Ubuntu community forums, I found that the driver needed for the Broadcom WiFi card was not included in the default install because it is not open source. However, by following the menu choices System -> Administration -> Hardware Drivers, the system obligingly offered to download and install the required driver. After that, everything has been sweet as tarte au sucre.
Ubuntu still comes with a generous selection of great software, including Open Office, but I typically like to pad out my system with some favorites: Bluefish for web editing, Audacity for multitrack sound recording, Scribus for desktop publishing, and Inkscape for vector graphics. The new Ubuntu Software Center utility makes it easier than ever to find and install free, open source applications for a myriad of uses.
Linux is not just for geeks anymore and if you’re the slightest bit squeamish about ditching Windows you can easily choose the dual boot install, so you can choose either operating system when you start the computer. Or try Ubuntu without installing it to your hard drive by running it directly off the CD – although this is considerably slower and doesn’t show the system off to its best advantage.
