So after having many headaches with my laptop, and several ongoing arguments with Windows XP, I’ve finally given up Windows on the laptop and now run Linux. Kubuntu Hardy Heron (8.04) to be more precise, I did start with Kubuntu Gutsy Gibbon (7.10), but only had that installed a few days before the newer version was released.
A new laptop was probably in order, but I currently have a personal dislike towards Vista, and my recent arguments with XP left a bitter taste of Microsoft in my mouth....spit or swallow ?.....Vista is fine for many situations I am sure, but since I ‘upgraded’ from Windows 2000 to Vista at work, I’ve decided it’s less productive, takes me longer to achieve simple and common tasks....and generally frustrates me all round.
It looked pretty, but I found it so clumsy I set the theme so it behaves more like a Windows XP machine.
Overall I’m really pleased with Hardy Heron. My preferred programs like MailWasher run under Wine, and with other software like email, browsing etc....I’ve always found an alternative that in many situations is the same if not better than what I was using. My headaches with the laptop have gone now too, my wireless internet is running flawlessly and the laptop no longer reboots itself every 60 minutes or so.
And considering this whole process has cost me $0.00, I really cannot complain about the price.
I’ve had a few days downtime while I had to adjust to the changes that Linux bring, and simple tasks still take me longer than previously while I learn the commands, but this was no different than when I first started using Windows all those years ago, and I am sure will not take long to be up to speed.
What really sold me though on the idea of switching to Linux was the Live CD, as this way I was able to boot my laptop into Linux without any install process. This way you can use the system and decide for yourself if it was really you want. Live CDs for Kubuntu can be obtained from the website http://kubuntu.org/download.php
As a side note, if anyone is or wants to run MailWasher under Wine, we strongly suggest you also install the corefonts package.
http://wiki.winehq.org/winetricks
Also under Wine there is currently an issue where MailWasher doesn’t like being closed while it is checking an account, but we’ll get that fixed up soon.
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