Two days ago I decided to install Ubuntu 8.10 on my laptop. The installation was difficult to complete due to a flaw in my Dell laptop’s “thermal management” functions, but otherwise, it was smooth. Once in the OS, I had some minor issues with getting my wireless network card driver to install, but the drivers were available on the CD, even if not installed by default. At present everything is functioning well.
I really like the Gnome UI on Ubuntu, and I feel that the interface is quite intuitive. The best part about running Ubuntu so far is that like all modern versions of Linux, there is a package manager, which makes installing software really simple. No more hunting for the latest version of the software to install from many websites, just go down the list and select what you want to install, then apply and watch the package manager install your selections for you.
I originally thought that since I run a Windows network, in a domain environment, that I would have issues with communicating with the other systems, especially given that I had problems with Samba before on other Linux installs. Ubuntu seems to work well with Windows networks right from the start. The only thing I truly miss from Windows at the moment is Microsoft’s Windows Live Writer, for blogging. I am presently using a tool called Drivel, which works nice, but is certainly not as complex as Live Writer (I suppose I will just run that from Windows 7 on the desktop).
So far, Ubuntu seems very comfortable and a nice change of pace from Windows (#1 reason to switch to Linux, Windows XP is becoming boring).