Hi
I have been using Windows operating system from the Windows 95 ages & have grown with the operating system going through the troubles of hanging operating systems, restarts & upgrading issues, licenses, virus, slow response times etc.
Started getting interested in non-windows OS in 2005-06 & since then have done enough research & development on non-windows Operating System alternatives. Believe me the non-windows OS(Operating system) market is full of non-compatible software, confusing nomenclatures, un-organized product lines & upgrade plans, support etc.
Having done enough research & used several non-windows operating systems – I would rate Ubuntu & Suse as the most user friendly Oss which are free & feature rich. There are several OSs available for specific applications & tweaked with certain functionality in mind. However, for daily usage – Ubuntu & Suse would be most ideal. The review would specifically cover Ubuntu OS which is based on Debian flavor of Linux.
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What is Ubuntu?*
Ubuntu means - “Freedom” in African sub-continent. The promoter of this Ubuntu is a UK based company called as Canonical which is headed by Mark Shuttleworth. The first release of Ubuntu was 4.10 which was called as “Warty Warthog” & was released in October 2004(hence 4.10). Since then Ubuntu team has released a version every 6 months. This year the Ubuntu team released 9.04 called as Jaunty Jackalope & the latest release is called as Karmic Koala with release number is 9.10, which they released in October this year.
Ubuntu – The Operating System*
Ubuntu operates on different hardwares – primarily AMD & Intel architectures(written in alphabetical order & not in the order of preference). It supports various motherboards – Ashrock, ASUS, Biostar, Gigabyte, Intel, MSI etc. The operating system has a very small foot-print as compared to it’s competitor – Microsoft or MAC & can easily operate with as low as 384 MB RAM & 10 GB Hard disk on a AMD K6 or Intel PIII. It supports all standard hardware like USB pen drives, USB cameras, DVD drives, SATA / IDE, SCSI hard drives, On-board LAN, VGA & sound etc without any issues.
Installing the OS is a standard 30 minute routine & needs minimum user inputs such as names, password, location, partitions etc. Once all these inputs are taken, the user just sits & reads the presentation & different features the OS has to offer as a splash screen keeps on rolling on the screen while the installation is happening at the back end. The user gets to see the progress of installation through a progress bar & gets to see what is being installed. The installation is complete when you restart the system – ONCE. That’s it. Reboot & bingo you are good to use the system. The default installation has several applications integrated in the OS & come as standard when you start using Ubuntu.
There is a little more content about this review which I am unable to put here becasue I have a restriction of number of words. If any one is interested in knowing what applications substitute windows applications - please visit https://kedarapte.blog.co.in