It's been about six months since I ended my computing relationship with Windows and installed Ubuntu on my main desktop computer. I thought a report might be in order.
Ubuntu is:
Secure. The Windows "security" systems, aren't secure. The MicroSoft idea of building walls around the vital core of an operating system, then having a staff of hundreds to thousands of people working 24-7 to keep up with the wall-breachers is absurd. It's futile because there are hundreds of thousands of hackers at work. Consider the "100 monkeys" Razor. Linux protects it's kernel, or root, with a double-crypto system which requires a pair of passwords to open the system; one to boot the computer and one to open the desktop. Additionally, there is a password required for the root, or modification-pathway to the kernel. When a vulnerability DOES show up in a Linux distro, it is announced and fixed immediately. So far, I have seen just ONE such fix, while my wife's W7 computer has seen dozens of "fixes" in the same time frame.
Piracy. Windows has committed a corporate strategic error by caving in to the Federal Government's demand for spying on everyone, supposedly to keep terrorists at bay. Windows 10.1 now requires a portal allowing Government spying, and Microsoft is going backward all the way to Windows Seven to install this portal on all Windows computers. Of course, M$ says the portals are only for targeting ads to individual tastes, but the problem with spy portals is that any hacker/government can use them. Linux is almost impossible to create and establish spy portals in.
User-friendly. Using the default arrangements for desktop (Unity) is a totally seamless switch from Windows Seven Classic. There are simple icons to use with one left-click (Windows requires two clicks unless you put icons in the TaskBar). Opening a suite with an icon give you familiar screens to Windows. The same Close-Minimize-Expand (contract) widget is there, only moved from upper right to upper left. As an advantage over Windoze, it minimizes itself, requiring only a quick scroll-over to bring it back.
The suites themselves are mostly the same as Windows Seven. On my desktop, I have a universal search suite (Linux, not Google's), a File Manager, Firefox, Libre Office, the Ubuntu Software Center (a one-stop shop similar to Google Play or Apple's pirate's lair), a video suite, a sound suite, a text editor, Thunderbird email, the Systems suite, the complete "works" portal to Ubuntu, and finally, FileZilla (a super-file manager). There are also icons for opening the desktop and the usual trashcan.
Resource-friendly. In case you haven't heard, installing Ubuntu (or almost any other Linux distribution) on an older Windows Seven machine will give you speed and capacity which you could only dream about, unless you had expanded your RAM and overclocked your chipset (which if you know how to do, you have probably already switched to Linux 10 years ago). This computer has only 2GB of RAM, and it does NOT bog unless I have 10+ active browser windows open with each one in active two-way communication in a website. A 4GB setup would fly! My wife's computer (she is hanging on with Windoze Seven) is only 5 years old, has 4GB RAM, and bogs about anytime more than ONE active browser window is open. She will get Ubuntu soon, I have a plan to convince her...
Ubuntu in the future. I am getting ready to make the next Linux-leap. Ubuntu is available for tablet computers and phones. I have an old Motorola Xoom 10" tablet which still soldiers along just fine and a Samsung Note 3 phone. As soon as I can verify that Verizon Wireless will allow the tablet to use Ubuntu (no one at the phone place seems to know that), I will switch the Xoom over to Ubuntu. When I get familiar enough with portable Ubuntu, the phone will be next. If the usual conservation of resources with Linux that I have experienced on my desktop and on two old laptop computers holds true with the Google-operated systems, I will soon be done with Google, just as I have already put Windows out of my computing life. The sticking point with the Google portables might be apps, though, that will require careful research. The Ubuntu team has developed PhoneGap, a system which lets Ubuntu run all Android apps, but as you see here, the installation of PhoneGap can be tricky, calling for Level-Three BASH knowledge. I am only a Level One BASH guy presently...
Summary. If any of my readers are still using any form of Windows, I urge you to look up someone with an Ubuntu machine and try it out. Actually, you can do this experimenting yourself, because Ubuntu will allow a dual-booting download, available here, which will let you switch back and forth between Windoze and Ubuntu while you decide.
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