| | Desktop linux, particularly the Ubuntu distribution, has come a long way in the past 3 years. It has become easier to install, easier to use, and more reliable than windows. However, the areas that linux falls flat in still are speed and application support.
Speed:
Linux is a much more efficient and advanced operating system than the now 7 years old Windows XP. That being said, there is still work to be done about speed. The boot time remains significantly longer than windows. Also, the time it takes to return from hibernation is still over 30 seconds, compared to the less than 10 using windows.
The integrated graphics display drivers need some work. This is especially apparent using Firefox and trying to scroll through a page full of images. It lags a lot. Tweaking the settings makes things better, but still nothing compared to how well it works in Windows XP
Applications:
While linux has a huge library of applications, there are still three applications without proper linux versions: iTunes, Photoshop, Office 2007
There are lots of linux-based ipod management software suites, but they are definitley no replacement for iTunes itself. Forget about GIMP, Photoshop is a necessity. While it is now possible to install Photoshop using wine, it's still slow due to an extra layer of abstraction. When will adobe make a version for linux? Who knows. Office 2007, a seriously awesome upgrade to Office 2003, is pretty damn irreplacable. Especially since OpenOffice decided to not follow Office's lead, making it a lot less relevant.
Linux is already an excellent desktop os, and it's thiiis close to being a no excuses windows xp replacement. Maybe I'll give it another shot in a few years.
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| | Posted 5/7/2008 6:00 AM - 230 Views - 0 eProps - 0 comments
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