Last week I spent sometime rebuilding my laptop. I installed Windows 7 Build 7057 as my primary OS (7100 had yet to be leaked) and, in a random moment of inspiration, decided to dual boot Unbuntu. This random moment of inspiration was afforded by a co-worker who uses it extensively.
This is not the first time I have installed *nix as a desktop OS. I have experimented, in years past, with many flavours, including RedHat, Mandrake, Debian, Unbuntu, Slackware, and, even more daringly, NetBSD–but not for 3 years.
Furthermore, I have used *nix as a server OS for years. I am not a Linux ninja–I’ll leave that title for someone more deserving, but at the very least, the concepts are not lost on me. I can appreciate the differences between *nix and Windows and typically advocate using each of them in their strengths rather than adopting an all-Microsoft or all-Linux standard.
Each time I have experimented with Linux as a desktop operating system it has ended the same way. Lots of excitement fading to frustration, fading to elimination by virtue of non-use. (i.e., I stop using it because it isn’t enhancing my productivity)
With all of this said, I have been pleasantly surprised by my latest attempt. Unbuntu 9 is very polished. I have enjoyed tweaking it and trying to make it do everything I rely on Windows to do. I would say that I have been 95% successful in this. I have yet to find image editing software that will satisfy my needs like Photoshop, nor have I found that perfect Dreamweaver replacement. I may try GIMP for the former, though I have never particularly liked it. I’m experimenting with Aptana Studio for the latter. We’ll see.
I have also had great success running Office 2007 with Crossover. I would even go so far to say that my experience has been flawless. It has defied my expectations.
It hasn’t all been puppies and sunshine though. While I would say that many aspects of Linux as a desktop OS are improving, there are some aspects that continue to be problematic. While package based installations work well for the most part, installing almost anything else is difficult enough to slow down even a seasoned user. Where should I untar the files? What permissions do the files need? There are lots of questions and the answers are rarely intuitive.
Even more frustratingly, I have found several applications that can’t run as my user but also can’t run as root due to an inability to connect to the X server. While there are solutions to this, the answer is anything but intuitive. The average user doesn’t know what environment variables are and shouldn’t have to troubleshoot them to install a rudimentary piece of software.
It is also bizarre that simple things like font rendering are so bad out of the box. I have never used a browser in *nix where the fonts didn’t look messy. It took me a considerable amount of experimenting before I stumbled on this guide that helped me solve the problem, ironically with Microsoft fonts.
It is problems like this that prevent me from recommending Linux as a viable alternative to Windows for those who aren’t technically competent.
All of this said, there are some features that surpass Windows in usability. CompizConfig includes a million desktop experience enhancements that I really wish some alternative for Windows existed. Many of them are imitative of things Apple currently uses, or, things Apple ripped off. (but that’s another discussion) These enhancements have really taken the lid have really added value to features I never was able to use efficiently in times past, such as the concept of multiple desktops.
In summary, I’m pleasantly surprised, but now it’s time to reboot. Photoshop is calling.
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