I love open-source and I really admire Linux for what it is and what it stands for. But I’m a Mac user. Can I last two days only with Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex?
I’ve used Linux distributions a couple of times, but just for Windows recovery purposes. I never really gave Ubuntu a try until two days ago. Obviously, I had to write a comparison about the differences between the features of Mac OS X and what Ubuntu has to offer. So forgive my lack of experience in the Linux field, and join me while I try to make a head to head comparison.
Here is a quick overview of my favorite Mac OS X features that would make many Windows users envious: Exposé, Quicksilver, spring-loaded folders, the Dock, iLife suite, QuickLook, Finder CoverFlow, TimeMachine, extended out-of-the-box support for multimedia devices and printers, iSync, Dashboard, Safari’s Web Clip, drag&drop support for text, Spaces, Growl notifications, system wide grammar check, Automator, smooth screen zoom, just to name a few.
Installation
Before I started on this path I had Windows XP installed in Bootcamp. I imaged the partition and stored it safely.
First of all, to make sure I can boot to Ubuntu, I installed rEFIt.
Ubuntu setup is a smooth ride until you have to choose where to install it: I formatted the Bootcamp partition to ext3 and set the mount point to / .
Look and feel
Gnome is no Aqua, but I got used to it. In fact, after two days, I didn’t missed Aqua at all, even though I could have installed a Mac theme with Mac4Lin. Changing the theme is a breeze.
I don’t know if it’s my reality distortion field, but those default fonts are really ugly. I quickly changed to some normal Mac fonts using this tutorial. After enabling Subpixel smoothing everything looks a lot better.
By default some nice visual effects are installed, powered by Compiz, a compositing window manager that uses 3D graphics acceleration via OpenGL. Installing CompizConfig Settings Manager to add some vital effects, that makes Ubuntu almost feel like a Mac, is a must. Most of the effects are just eye-candy, but some are really useful. The ALT-TAB is nicer. You don’t just shift through applications’ icons but through the corresponding window also. Like on the Mac, when you ALT+TAB you can quickly close an application by keeping ALT pressed and then press the F4 key.
There is another nice window switcher you can enable in Compiz and trigger with Command+Tab, a sort of a cover-flow window switcher.
I managed to get Vista-like Taskbar window previews with Compiz.
Screen zooming with Command+Mouse wheel up/down can also be enabled in Compiz and it works just like its Mac counterpart.
Exposé
With the help of Compiz, Ubuntu now has Exposé. I just enabled the Scale plugin in CompizConfig, set my corners for mouse trigger (you have a wide choices of screen trigger positions) and I was all set. One irritating thing though: I could not set a mouse trigger for hiding all the windows, which means I can no longer drag a file from a window to the desktop when the screen is all covered up.
Finder
Nautilus file browser has it strengths and weaknesses when compared to Finder. First of all, it does not have Cover Flow, Quick Preview or spring-loaded folders. If you are used to Quick Preview and you press the Space key by mistake, the file will actually open. For me, no spring-loaded folders means a loss in productivity.
External drives have an eject button for unmounting and will appear on the desktop, just like on Mac OSX. You can read/write NTFS drives and read Mac OS partitions (but you don’t have access to the user’s folder).
Unlike Finder Nautilus has tabbed browsing (like PathFinder), displays a search field when you start typing a file’s name, displays in a text file’s thumbnail the actual content, and you can modify the thumbnail size live on the spot.
But Nautilus has two killer features: you can resize an individual file or folder thumbnail as large as you want and you can overlay “emblems” just like you would label your e-mails with super stars in Gmail.
Another feature that surprised me was the detailed information the properties window would show for a movie file, like duration, codec and resolution.
System Speed
I haven’t reinstalled Mac OS X since I bought my MacBook, about two years ago. I have to admit it has become slower.
Ubuntu 8.10 seems blazing fast. I was actually amazed how fast it loads applications like Firefox or Open Office. A lot faster than a clean Windows install on Bootcamp.
Software Installation
Ubuntu has an iPhone Cydia/Installer-like application where you can find, install, automatically update or remove applications (something along the lines of MacLibre and AppFresh but much better). I thought that dragging an app in the Applications folder to install or dragging it to the trash to uninstall was cool, but what Ubuntu offers is way cooler. But you manually need to add some sources for some programs you may need.
Unfortunately, I’d say about 15% of the apps you need are not there. If you find a .deb package you are saved. It will be opened by an installer, but if you find a .tar.gz , a .rpm, an iso or bin and you’re a linux newbie like me, then you will certainly have some problems. You have to Google it and get down and dirty with the terminal. And even if you figure that out, after a ./config there are 90% chances your are missing some libraries or something is incompatible. If those 15% of apps you need are vital, then manual installing is a deal-breaker.
Quicksilver
I have Quicksilver on Mac, Enso for Windows but is there any equivalent for Linux? Unfortunately the shell is not the answer for me or for any Mac user. I must admit that 70% of the time I use Quicksilver as a launcher, so for launching and searching needs Google Desktop for Linux does it’s job well. Combine that with Firefox Ubiquity Extension and you can overlook the absence of Quicksilver.
What you can’t overlook is the absence of an Automator alternative. No shell, please!
Dual Monitor
It works out-of-the-box. You can arrange your monitors how you like in mirror or extended mode and set the resolution and refresh rate. No color profile though. I’m not a professional photographer but the absence of integrated color management may be a serious issue for some. I had only one external monitor attached to my MacBook, but it showed up 3 monitors in the settings applet.
The Dock
By default, Ubuntu doesn’t come with a Dock, but with a taskbar, like Windows. I tried two dock solutions: Cairo-Dock and AWN Dock. One was a resource hog and the other had far to many glitches. I tried installing a couple of other dock solutions but they didn’t come in a .deb package and ./config reported lots of missing libraries so I sticked with the task bar.
Dashboard
There are three important widget applications for Ubuntu: screenlets, gDesklets and Google Desktop Widgets. I only tried the first two and I was extremely dissapointed: most of them are useless and they look like old DOS programs. To simulate the Mac Dashboard effect on pressing an F key you need to enable in Compiz the Widget Layer and select one by one all the windows that are widgets (cumbersome).
On top of that, there is no Safari Web Clip equivalent, a very useful feature.
Fortunately, Ubuntu offers you applets that you can put on the menu bar or the taskbar (referred to as panels). These turned out to be very useful and they compensate for the lack of a good Dashboard replacement.
My favorite applets are: Weather Report, Invest (stocks), Network activity, Drawer and the fabulous Force Quit applet. To kill an unresponsive application, click the Force Quit applet and then, with the cursor turned into a cross, just click the hanging window and it goes away. The Drawer applet lets you store files and folders for later operations (Similar to QuickSilver’s Shelf).
Printer & Scanner
Linux has come a long way since I last tried to print something a few years ago in Knoppix. Now, when connected to an USB port, Ubuntu automatically detected my printer type and the test page printed just fine. I didn’t perform some thorough tests because my blue cartridge is out of ink, as you can see in the picture. The scanner function worked great with Xscane.
Wireless
It worked flawlessly out of the box and surprisingly it didn’t drop the connection to my home wireless router at all in my two days of heavy testing. On Mac I’m used to dropped connections at least once a day. The network manager is quite nice.
Power Management
You get all the Mac features you are used to and one extra bonus: Hibernate. Sleep works perfect ( to wake it up I had to press the power button) but Hibernate worked only once in three tries. Battery life seemed the same.
Mail and calendar
This is a sensitive topic. You get two noteworthy alternatives: the default Evolution Mail or Mozilla Thunderbird. Both offer the same functionality as Apple’s Mail but none of them have the same look and feel. Evolution’s interface is more attractive but in Thunderbird you can easily install extensions to Sync Your Google Contacts and hide the application to tray (by default if you click the Close button the application exits.
Another thing I’ve noticed is that you cannot drag&drop a file over the taskbar, desktop icon or application window to create a new mail. You must use the Send To menu. Very frustrating for a Mac user not to be able to use the drag&drop like he is used to!
iPhoto
I used Google Picasa. When it doesn’t hang it actually rocks. You can import files from digital cameras, send them by mail or upload them to Picasa Web Albums among other things. It is permanently scanning for new image files and it doesn’t look like a resource hog at all.
iTunes
Amarok music player is simply incredible. On the other hand, Rhythmbox allows you to listen to LastFM, web radio, download audio podcasts, download music from Jamendo music store or sync your iPod. For you video podcasts you can use Miro. These are way better than iTunes.
iMovie
You can try Kino and KDEN live but you will be dissapointed. KDENlive looks quite good but the interface is not that intuitive and crashes a lot.
Movies
The default video player, Totem, has no DivX/Xvid codecs installed, but when you attempt to play a file it offers to search for a codec and it automatically downloads it. You can do that or you can quickly replace it with VLC, the player I use on my Mac.
iWeb
I managed to use Dreamweaver 8 with PlayOnLinux. It works quite nice. I can’t say the same about iTunes installed with PlayOnLinux – it’s very slow and it hangs in the iTunes Store
Photoshop
A big drawback for Linux is the absence of native Photoshop. You can use Photoshop CS2 with Wine, but it runs slow and is a little unstable. Gimp is a good-enough alternative for my needs.
Growl
Good news here. There is an equivalent called Mumbles. Worked fine with Amarok and Pidgin, but not with Firefox.
Spaces
Virtual desktops were present in Linux long before Apple introduced them in Leopard. With Compiz you get multiple ways to change between virtual desktops/workspaces (the cool cube effect:-).
Time Machine
No TimeMachine goodness in Ubuntu. By default it comes with Simple Backup Restore,a pretty basic backup client. Other alternatives are TimeVault and FlyBack. They may do their job well but they are no match for the stellar 3D interface of TimeMachine.
Sound and Microphone
I could barely hear the sound in my Macbook’s speakers and by default the mic is not working. I had to fiddle with the sound settings to get it to work.
Keyboard and Touchpad
Some little problems here: Eject button does not work and CAPS, NUM don’t light up even though they work as intended when pressed. The F keys act like FN is pressed for adjusting the brightness and volume. To actually use the F keys you have to press the FN key.
To enable right-click and scrolling with two fingers I had to follow this tutorial, but now it works fine.
Web Camera
For iSight to work I had to follow this tutorial. Now iSight works with Skype and Ekiga( a voip client).My USB Logitech QuickCam Chat worked out-of-the-box with Egika but I had no luck with Skype. So far I have a mixed feeling in the web-camera department.
Chat
Pidgin is a great chat client supporting all the protocols you need, similar to Adium. Unfortunately it has no Video/Voice capabilites like Skype, but at least the file transfer works.
99% of my friends use Yahoo Messenger. On Mac, the Yahoo Messenger client supports video,but no audio. The Linux client is a joke. There is an application called Enhanced Gyachy that supposedly supports video and voice but I did not managed to install it.
Bluetooth
It worked out-of-the-box. I managed to pair my Nokia phone immediately and I was able to browse the phone or send files through the Send To menu. To receive files I had to install Bluetooth File Sharing application.
Ubuntu 8.10 is supposed to work with 3G dongles and phones for internet connections, but I bet setting it up is not a walk in a park.
iSync
Ubuntu doesn’t have such a thing by default. I tried a couple of applications but they didn’t work for me. Solutions might exists, but they aren’t for newbies. I really need bluetooth calendar, tasks and contacts syncing(I had to manually modify some configuration files in order for iSync to pick up my Nokia 3110 classic. I just wish it was that simple in Ubuntu.)
Screen Capture
You know Command+Shift+3 and Command+Shift+F4 right? Well, in Ubuntu, when pressing PrintScreen you are presented with a window that asks you where to save the screenshot and if you enable ScreenShot in CompizConfig you can take a screenshot of the desired area by simply pressing the Command key and drawing a rectangle with the mouse.
Blogging Tools
Yes, Windows Live Writer is the best. No point in discussing that further, at least for me. But at least on Mac I can use MarsEdit or Qumana for quick blog posts or little modifications of past posts on WordPress. With Ubuntu I didn’t find anything. I had to stick to ScribeFire Firefox extension.
Conclusion
Linux has come a long way, but it’s not totally ready for the mom and pop folks, in my opinion.
In the two days of testing, with two occasions it refused to load the graphic drivers and I could not enjoy Compiz. I found a tutorial which taught me how to modify XORG.conf to load XGL. (I suspect that messing with the resolution of the second screen might have overwritten the XORG.conf file.)
I think I jinxed my Ubuntu after installing KDENlive and some updates: it didn’t want to boot anymore. Now I have to reinstall it because I have no idea what to do. Sadly, this reminds me of Windows. Stuff like this doesn’t happen that often(ever?) on a Mac.
Even so, I’d say Ubuntu 8.10 is a fantastic operating system. I guess it may take a while to tweak an Ubuntu installation to perfection, especially for more demanding users. I will recommend Ubuntu to everyone who doesn’t afford a Mac, are not into heavy media content creation or hard-core gaming.
Aaron
November 13, 2008
If you’re seeing WiFi connections drop once a day with the Mac, there’s something wrong with your Mac. None of my Macs ever drop a WiFi connection, assuming it’s strong enough and there’s not something causing some MAJOR interference.
Why did you choose the standard Gnome desktop instead of the KDE desktop (default in Kubuntu 8.10)?
Linux
April 4, 2010
LOL – Mac OS dropps connections almost all the time for me too – seems as if there is a wifi driver issue because with Ubuntu linux or even Windows on the same machine, neither drop the connections. OS X sucks and I am not using a stupid toy OS with a Fisher Price interface. Linux is much faster and if you have issues with drivers or interfaces you can change it all to your liking, something that is not really always possible with a closed off OS.
Stefan Neagu
November 13, 2008
@Aaron. Thanks, I’ll make sure to pass along your comment to Bogdan.
Andreas
November 13, 2008
This is great. My MacBook is my primary computer, but I also use Windows a lot.
I’ve tried Linux several timed, but it never swayed me away from the Mac. And the reason: Most of the time I can afford a Mac.
But sometimes I kinda hope my MacBook dies, because as of now, I would have to buy a cheap computer and load it up with free software.
I’d like that challenge.
But my number one concern with switching to Linux is the apparent lack of support for playing music via Airtunes. I’m addicted to that one.
Luke
November 13, 2008
A lot of your issues seem to come back to the PEBKAC philosophy. I’ve been using Ubuntu as my Primary OS for probably a little over a year now, and ever though it took some educating I’ve been able to make it more productive then any stand alone Windows or Mac installation.
The thing I’ve found about operating systems is you need to use all of them, each for what they’re best at. If you have enough ram and a decent processor a Virtual Machine is simple enough to set up, at least in linux. In fact with the multiple desktops you can have an OS on each.
I’ve chosen Ubuntu because it’s the most streamline base for everything I need to do and it allowed me to choose what I like to see on the screen.
Mac only users seem to like being told what’s good, like itunes or quicksilver. In my opinion however itunes is a plague on society and though quicksilver is good, Gnome-do is just as good if not better as it’s expandable.
If you truly cannot live without a program, start up virtual box, run it in seemless mode if you really want. there’s always a way to get a program working. Crossover covers a lot of Windows productivity programs like Office.
The bottom line people need to see is linux lets you live free, it doesn’t dictate what’s good and bad, it gives you lots of choices on how to do things and it gives you the means to use any program you want, as long as you do the research to install it. Nothing in life worth doing is easy.
So instead of comparing Ubuntu or any linux distro to Mac and Windows, use them all together, play on their strengths, list off the tasks you need to do, not the programs you need to do them with.
Scott Wegner
November 13, 2008
Nice, objective comparison of the two OS’s. Constructive criticisms like this is what leads to innovation and hopefully next time you try Ubuntu, most of these things will be fixed.
You mentioned that you couldn’t find a Quicksilver replacement– try Gnome Do. It’s a great Quicksilver clone, and it’s loaded with tons of plugins which can hook into all sorts of applications and services.
Dan Kegel
November 13, 2008
What hardware was this?
I’d like to get to the bottom of those Picasa hangs. It doesn’t hang for us here.
Can you give more details about the problem?
Thanks,
Dan
Bogdan Stroe
November 13, 2008
@Aaron I don’t really know the differences between Gnome and KDE.I thought I’d just start with the default Ubuntu distribution. I will take a look at KDE. Thanks!
@Luke: I use both Mac and Windows(with RDC to my desktop PC and VMware with Bootcamp).Now I need to triple boot
@Scott Wegner: Looking forward to trying Gnome Do. Looks very promising!
@Dan Kegel:Macbook (late 2006),2 GB RAM. I think it had something to do with my digital camera connected on USB. Well, I cannot look further into the problem since Ubuntu refuses to boot (it just shows “initramfs” on the screen). I intend to replace it with Mint and check back on Picasa then.
Goran
November 14, 2008
Very nice review. As said it was objective and hopefully some developers will take a look at implementing some of those Mac like features in Gnome.
Ryan
November 14, 2008
Your wireless works great because you have an Atheros wireless card. Try this on any newer Mac and your realize that broadcom hates linux. Ndiswrapper is no excuse either.
John
November 14, 2008
Great post. Interestingly enough, I’m conducting a similar experiment with the Asus Eee PC. It comes with Xandros Linux, but I was thinking about installing eeeUbuntu at some point. I have Hardy Heron on another laptop and find it to be quite easy to use.
http://theeeepcexperiment.blogspot.com – 100 Days with the Eee PC
Jimmy Dean
November 14, 2008
Wow, Id say that is a pretty beeming review wouldnt you?
jess
http://www.internet-anonymity.net.tc
Wade Mealing
November 14, 2008
Setting up network manager for me with the 3G dongles and phones was a walk in the park. I was using a vodaphone dongle.. plug in, it detected int.. clicky clicky.. Done.
Ron
November 14, 2008
Just a little correction… If your Audio doesn’t work with the Mac Yahoo Messenger client, then something is wrong with your setup. Both Audio and Video work flawlessly. I used it every day to talk to my wife from the Middle East, and never had a problem.
sonicfrog
November 14, 2008
Been a Linux user for years.
You would certainly have an even better impression if you were installing it on a PC, for which it is optimized. I now only use windows if I’m using quickbooks, or doing something for school. I’m impressed it worked as well as it did on your Mac.
Bigdaddychops
November 14, 2008
Actually Ubuntu and my iphone use the same package manager, Apt. Apt is a very useful installer as it accuires the dependencies automatically and updates the installed apps too. i find myself in the cconsole alot, ’cause it is faster than the graphical interface. you should befriend the command line, it is the freind you never knew you had.
Brian Bufalo
November 14, 2008
Thank you for this comparison. I feel the same way on most of what you said here. I am a Mac Fan Boy, Windows System Admin, and Ubuntu tinkerer. I found I like Ubuntu but wouldn’t give it to Mom, yet. Anything is better the Windows Vista
Flame war ensue…
Sirjoebob`
November 14, 2008
I have never owned a Mac but I love the interface. I think that the option of having SIMILAR functions in Linux would be cool but should never be default. I run Linux for the aspect of customization. I customize everything in my Linux install down to my boot menus and could not be happier in Ubuntu.
Ed
November 14, 2008
One thing I love about Compiz over Mac’s Expose feature, is that new Windows are integrated dynamically even if you’re already in the Expose view, nothing like on Macs.
Ryan
November 14, 2008
A great replacement for QuickSilver that works on both Windows and Linux is Launchy. I love the little application and recommend it to anyone, especially quicksilver users looking for a fix on Linux or windows.
Joebob
November 14, 2008
Just what we need, another person “xx Days with Linux” experiene. This has been done a million times and is no longer news.. to anyone.
Mr. Potatoes
November 14, 2008
“I have Quicksilver on Mac, Enso for Windows but is there any equivalent for Linux? Unfortunately the shell is not the answer for me or for any Mac user”
It’s pretty sad that not only do you not want to learn the shell but put the rest of us Mac/Linux/Unix users to “not using the shell”. I use the shell quite frequently as it’s much faster and much more ‘accurate’ than the mouse or GUI. I am a geek but I have my girlfriend and most of my family working with both the GUI and the shell. Every intern I get I demand them to use and learn the basics of bash so that we can work effectivly together.
I’m not trying to scold or anything of that nature but I don’t think that grouping everyone into saying that the shell is not the answer for any Mac user is rediculous. It’s not the answer for ‘most’ people sure but for the power uers the shell is either the only way to go or the best way to go for many things.
Either way, I love Ubuntu but it sure is no Mac. I have it as my home server for storage, User management, development server and a coll home media server. Needs more work. It’s in a rack and i’m loving the hell out of it. I’m happy that you got to use another OS. I like the article
Sam
November 14, 2008
Overall, great post!
But the last bit in the conclusion where you said that it ultimately felt like windows broke my heart a little… As someone that uses both Linux (Ubuntu 8.10, bust started way back in the redhat days) and Mac, I definitely see the root of some of your criticisms and comments.
Rob
November 14, 2008
You can use Gnome-Do or Launchy (my personal favorite) instead of Quicksilver. You can download Gnome-do in the add and remove programs thing and you can download a deb of Launchy here http://mesh.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/launchy/launchy_2.1.2-1_i386.deb
CodeUser
November 14, 2008
I would say that Linux Mint (being an ubuntu sub-distro) would be great for any linux newb, It comes with great software preinstalled and configured. Additionally, it comes with Gnome-Do (use Command-Space to initiate it). I personally have MacBook (3,1) and use Ubuntu 8.10 more than Mac (10.5) as of now. I use virtual machines for testing other distros/linux stuff (VirtualBox). LinuxMint is good for starters, but once that has been mastered; I think Kubuntu 8.10 would be a suitable upgrade for a Mint user.
CodeUser
November 14, 2008
Also, this is a well-done objective review from a (new to linux) Mac user’s perspective.
redace
November 14, 2008
Gnome do is what you are looking for as an alternative to quicksilver for ubuntu
ALthough this is a new project, gloobus is an quicklook extension for nautilus. Its still in preview so there are bugs that need to be ironed out.
windows user myself but liked how mac implemented their gui in a more intuitive way
Bogdan Stroe
November 14, 2008
@Ron Yes, it looks like Mac Yahoo Messenger introduced Audio in the latest beta build. Thanks!
@Mr.Potatoes: It’s not that I don’t want to learn the shell. On Mac, because of Quicksilver and Automator , I mostly use terminal for the ping command. On Linux looks like ./configure, make,make instal,sudo,apt-get are mandatory to know.
@Rob @redace As soon as I install Mint over the unwilling-to-boot Ubuntu I will try Gnome Do
TiberiusDRAIG
November 14, 2008
With regards to a Quicksilver alternative, you should try out the ‘Deskbar’ panel applet. It gives you access to everything from files to IM contacts to Google search results. Once you begin to use it, you realise how powerful it can be through user customization, if only because of the large amount of integration with other applications, such as Evolution and Pidgin. Unfortunately, it doesn’t integrate with Emesene which is my MSN replacement of choice.
Another point I would like to add is that using a mobile phone or a 3G dongle for internet access is just as flawless and pain free as connecting to a normal wireless network. My Intrepid machine instantly recognised my K610i and listed it as one of my available connections. The same is true of the ’3′ internet dongle here in the UK, an example of a 3G internet device which works perfectly with Intrepid.
As a bit of a techy, I got interested in Ubuntu, naturally through curiosity. After using Hardy, I introduced my less than tech-savvy flatmate to it and he now uses it as his main OS, only booting into XP to play PKR. One of my friends put it onto her laptop so as to be able to use all of the applications in the repos that I showed her, as she is a university student and a lot of the stuff in there is very relevant to her work. My final example is another one of my friends who, after seeing my PC running Ubuntu with all the Compiz effects, bought a Dell machine with Hardy pre-installed and has since upgraded to Intrepid.
I agree that Linux isn’t ready for introduction into a consumer market on a grand scale, however in the case of Ubuntu, this is nothing to do with the OS itself. It is simply due to the infrastructure behind the project; the distribution channels, the support teams, the Windows migration experts. With the right marketing, Cannonical could generate significant interest in Ubuntu, if only here in the UK and Europe.
I say good luck to them. Microsoft is facing a start-afresh situation with Windows 7 because the code in the current generation of the OS is a mess of code from at least the last 10 years, whereas Apple has an OS which, personally, I find to be locked down tighter then a squirrel’s a%$e. Ubuntu is unobtrusive. It ‘just works’.
Howard
November 14, 2008
gnome do for quicksilver replacement. its amazing.
TC
November 14, 2008
I too, finally dove head-first into Ubuntu 8.10 a couple days ago. I’ve always just used windows because it’s there, and I do a lot of PC gaming. Now I just have one partition for Windows which I only boot to do some gaming. Your article here is a near perfect expression of all the feelings I’ve had over the last few days trying to sort out my new linux desktop. Most things worked right after I finished installing, which was great. The first things I did were install Compiz and the AWN dock. I hate to say it but the default Gnome taskbar is pretty awful. It’s not much better than the windows taskbar. The Gnome panel on the top of the screen is great, though. Once I got my dock on the bottom, I was pleased. But the AWN dock people definitely need to make it easier to add and remove items on the dock (drag and drop please, don’t make me go into the menu).
I had some frustrations with trying to get audio to come out of my sound card. The best solution was to go into the BIOS and completely disable the motherboard audio. After that it worked great.
Adobe’s flash player in firefox is still buggy in ubuntu. Did a good 30 mins of research just to figure out how to fix it. Not good, everyone needs flash. Most people would just say “screw it” and go back to OSX or windows.
Also, before I tried the Gnome version, I tried Kubuntu (KDE version). KDE 4 is very slick looking, but after an hour I tried the Gnome version and found a lot of things just easier to find and to manage. System settings, apps (the KDE “start button” menu is cool, the way it slides horizontally, but ultimately it’s extremely slow to find apps).
Overall great review of 8.10, I feel like you accurately pointed out its areas of awesomeness, and just as accurately, its shortcomings. Thank God we know we get a Ubuntu OS update every 6 months!! Looking forward to next April’s set of improvements.
Dan S.
November 14, 2008
Mac OS X 10.5 includes video resolution, codec, audio channels, bit rate and duration in the Get Info window for video files.
Bertrand
November 14, 2008
Another good iTunes alternative is Banshee, especially version 1.4, recently released. Also, an awesome Quicksilver alternative is Gnome-Do, packed with eye-candy goodness.
Rishi
November 14, 2008
Fantastic comparison! I personally find myself using Mac OS X Leopard with Intrepid Ibex on VMware Fusion for those occasional tasks in which Linux is the best.
Bogdan Stroe
November 14, 2008
@ Dan S. Mac OS X 10.5 does not include movie details for Xvid/DivX encoded movies in the GetInfo window. (is there a trick for this? )
@TC In the short period of testing I did not experience any issues with Flash in Firefox. I will pay more attention to this next time.
@TiberiusDRAIG I want to use my Nokia 3110c (GPRS) as a modem over bluetooth. I will definitely try this after I install Mint.
Jon Cox
November 14, 2008
I’ve been running Linux for about 11 years now and have a Mac at work.
Gyach is really old and highly unstable. Last time I checked its code hadn’t been updated in 6 years. However, kopete (the default KDE IM client) supports video in both MSN and Yahoo.
Louie
November 14, 2008
I am a Dreamweaver and Photoshop die hard. I find Pixel a very nice Photoshop replacement for $30-$60 as I still don’t think paying for something useful is taboo. I find it interesting that Pixel gets very little Linux coverage. Codeweaver also works.
sena
November 14, 2008
If you are patient with linux it will open your eyes and you will understand how great it is. I love linux and I am learning so much from it. Free software rulz!
Vlado
November 14, 2008
You know everything looked good until I came to this line: “Sadly, this reminds me of Windows. Stuff like this doesn’t happen that often(ever?) on a Mac.”
Yeah, it never happened. As much as you are Linux n00b, you are Mac n00b as well.
ugh
November 14, 2008
What’s the point of trying to make unbuntu look like osx? Really, you have nothing better to do? You might as well try to do topiary with your pubic hair. Now please shoot yourself. Thanks.
milton
November 14, 2008
People saying that Ubuntu is better than Vista have really lost their minds, I think. Desktop Linux might be fun to play with for a few days, but its user experience is really horrid.
LostOverThere
November 14, 2008
As many have pointed out, “Quicksilver for Linux” is GNOME-Do. It looks very very similar too.
Marc
November 14, 2008
Hi !
First sorry for my english :p.
If you are searching an equivalent of time machine on ubuntu,it exists: time vault (currently not available on repository but you can find it here https://launchpad.net/timevault/+download
dan
November 14, 2008
Very nice review. As said it was objective and hopefully some developers will take a look at implementing some of those Mac like features in Gnome.
Everytimeref
November 14, 2008
Pleas can someone fix Bogdans Ubuntu installation. Broken systems make me anxious, it’s a symptom of my depression and I won’t be able to sleep until it’s fixed.
djames
November 14, 2008
“With the help of Compiz, Ubuntu now has Exposé.”
now how . . . this has been around since before Leopard . . .
j
November 14, 2008
“Ubuntu 8.10 is supposed to work with 3G dongles and phones for internet connections, but I bet setting it up is not a walk in a park.”
To my surprise, I plugged in a 3G dongle, clicked “Auto 3G Connection” in Networkmanager , and I was online.
Steve
November 14, 2008
Getting online with a 3G mobile is an absolute breeze. Literally takes about ten seconds to set up.
Ben
November 14, 2008
“I will recommend Ubuntu to everyone who doesn’t afford a Mac, are not into heavy media content creation or hard-core gaming.”
Just wondering…when did hardcore gamers EVER use macs?
Ernie Oporto
November 14, 2008
The only reason to bother with Linux as a desktop is if you can’t yet afford a Mac. For now, save your pennies for a Mac Mini to experience the professional look of Windows with that gooey core of UNIXy goodness. As a UNIX fanboy, I’ve never looked back. Otherwise, be prepared for a lot of customization work and apps that maybe or maybe won’t work.
Bogdan Stroe
November 14, 2008
@Steve I managed to find an old USB cable,loaded Ubuntu Live-CD and connected my Nokia 3110c (GPRS). It’s true,it took about 10 seconds to get online ! But how do I do it via Bluetooth?
csarak
November 14, 2008
A good Quicksilver alternative is GNOME Do. It looks much the same and has many of the same features. I usually don’t even use my apps menu. I believe it’s in the repositories too, so no TGZ installation.
elvinu
November 14, 2008
U MADE ME LOL! How can a mac crash if it is made for 1 PC??????
Linux & Windows is made for 1 billion(or more) pc`s ..so..U CANT COMPARE!!!
1. linux is NOT windows nor mac
2. is FREE!! if u have 100$ – u have a pc.
3. u have NO viruses & garbage
4. if u want erm..almost everything? u can have windows. if u want safety, freedom to choose, customisation & more u have linux. if u want ..ermmm….buy a mac? what? visual? search youtube and u will see some BETTER desktops in ubuntu.
windows & linux are the best in all they do. if u have them both u can do whatever u like..
i keep them both…WINDOWS for GAMES & PHOTOSHOP, UBUNTU for the REST.
my 0.2$
Vinod
November 14, 2008
Hi,
I would like to point that the new beta of Yahoo messenger supports voice as well as webcam on Mac.
kodiakmike
November 14, 2008
You should try gnomedo. sudo apt-get install gnomedo. Its a great alternative for quicksilver.
Maarten
November 14, 2008
Nice review, but I don’t agree with your conclusion. How many persons that buy a computer install their OS? How many persons that buy a computer tweak their OS until perfection?
Answer is few percent. The average person buys a computer, preferably with all the software pre-installed. The average person just wants to surf the web, write a document, adjust a picture, chat with friends listen to music and watch a movie.
These are all things that you can do perfectly with UBUNTU (or many many other GNU/Linux distibutions).
Things get different if people are used to one thing, let’s say Windows. People don’t like changes and therefore don’t like Ubuntu and say it’s not ready.
You messed up with XORG, whereas 90% of other persons never would have touched that file. Ubuntu works perfectly without compiz.
But you might be right that the more technological users (like you) expect more from an OS and therefore consider Linux as ‘Not ready’. For you that’s the right conclusion, for many many other person it is not.
James
November 14, 2008
I recently switched from using a Mac to using a PC with Ubuntu and have not had too much trouble making the transition. The nice thing about Macs is that you simply buy it, plug it in and everything is there. With Ubuntu you have to install it yourself, however once you get a machine has well known hardware (I simply looked at what DELL offered with their Ubuntu machines and duplicated that), it works pretty much flawlessly.
BobCFC
November 14, 2008
Well balanced review and quite thorough for only two days.
Mr. Potatoes
November 14, 2008
@Bogdan Stroe: Gotcha. I use the terminal to open and close and just-about-everything my mac.
Good Review
reg
November 15, 2008
If you are looking for an application launcher, you may want to try Katapult or just press Alt-F2.
Michael
November 16, 2008
Btw note that XGL is very old code and should not be used anymore.
himanshu
November 16, 2008
Well,
I have used a lot of desktop operatings systems: beos, mac os x , linux ( a lot of distros ) , windows, dos , bsd ( freebsd and openbsd ).
However, I am in love with windows XP. It just works, and has a simple interface. I havent reinstalled windows xp on my laptop for more than a year now.
I did installed some worms because i dl tons of warez from torrent sites…but if you have got Process Explorer and Recovery Conssole, it’s just too easy to spot the malware and remove it.
Yup, i dont even have any antivirus installed on my machine. If you have process explorer and other nice sysinternals tools, and you know how to use them, then you will never have to rely on any kind of antivirus.
There is a reason why XP is intalled on 90% of desktop PCs: It simply works
BK
November 16, 2008
As many people have mentioned already. Gnome-do is your Quicksilver replacement, moreover than Google Desktop. It has MANY plugins and can do pretty much the same thing.
With iPhoto, you will want to look at F-Spot. It has a lot of features and great plugins. The reason I say that is because the last I checked, Picasa is a pre-packaged wine application. Likely the cause of the hangs you are seeing.
Other than that, great review man. I agree that Linux on the Desktop still has some downfalls, but just as many as Windows and OS X when it comes to setting up from scratch. Once it’s running and someone knows how to use the niche apps, it’s just as good in my opinion. Much better these days than a couple of years ago.
artbar
November 16, 2008
Photoshop issue
I would recommend GIMP 2.6 + UFRaw 0.14, it is not replacement for PS, but does the job realy good.
zeckalpha
November 16, 2008
Check out the Hotwire Shell for an interesting, easy to use, new approach to shell for beginners… I’ve used Automator and this is the closest thing I’ve seen on the Linux side to that… It is NOT just a shell keep in mind. It is different.
Mike Brown
November 16, 2008
Very nice and unbiased article! I see that you didn’t get Firefox working with Mumble though? Did you download the DBus Notifications Extension so that Firefox would display when downloads are completed?
Bogdan Stroe
November 16, 2008
@himanshu You like living dangerously with no Antivirus on Windows XP.
@artbar UFRaw is a nice addition to GIMP
@zeckalpha Hotwire is more like Windows PowerShell than Automator. I’ll certainly check it out.10x
@Mike Brown Thanks Mike. I didn’t know about DBus
darkhole
November 16, 2008
Gret Post!!! By the way.. you must to forget the old method to install programs and apps… In Ubuntu Linux you can install all this using Synaptic (installed by default in Ubuntu) or the “Add/Remove Applications” dialog, you use to mention this in the Software Installation section.
You don’t have to download.debs.. Many, and many programs can be installed using this tools.
Try to search n this dialog:
avant window navigator
gnome-do
AWN = Avant Window Navigator
By the way.. F-spot is a Photo Application that is installed by default in Ubuntu, you can use that for a replacement of iPhoto. This can also import photos from cams, and upload photos to Flickr or Picasa.
And, remember.. Don’t download .debs, .tar or .rpm from web pages.. This is not the method to install applications in Ubuntu, you just search using the Add/Remove Applications dialog.. and if this didn’t work, you can use Synaptic (Package Manager).
But, if you want to search .debs.. you can download this from the official page:
http://packages.ubuntu.com/ … but you will be doing the same of install this across the tools preinstalled in Ubuntu.
Fred
November 16, 2008
As an ubuntu user (and definately not a mac fan), I found this review quite constructive, which is unusual for Mac users (and windows users that haven’t get got jack of microsoft).
I hope the people creating this wonderful OS and the applications read this and get some good ideas.
I found with Ubuntu that you have the ability to tweak to absolute perfection, and that takes time, because in 2 days something might bug you, but in 5 days, you’ve customised it out – that extensibility and customisability is a tremendous thing you get with Linux. And then every now and again, you get bored, change themes, etc.
bozo
November 17, 2008
gnome-do is a great quicksilver clone.
T
November 17, 2008
Just a note: if you go to System –> Administration –> Synaptic Package Manager, you can find more packages than the Add/Remove program does. (I think this is true, correct me if I’m wrong. Sometimes this can be annoying.)
Andy
November 17, 2008
@Ryan – Broadcom probably hates linux but Ubuntu 8.10 loves everybody! I have Linksys WMP54G v2.0 PCI, it worked out-of-the-box. The only thing you have to do is to connect to LAN first so the restricted driver manager can download the driver after you enable it. But for sure, no more NDISWrapper or Shell for installing this.
ned
November 17, 2008
hi!
as – sadly – too few people have pointed out, deskbar applet is the application launcher you're missing.
Did try out the others – but deskbar applet just works … normally I'm a KDE-user, but I did try out Gnome for a while, and deskbar applet was the only reason I was seriously considering switching to Gnome for good …
The developer said he'd make it desktop-independent, so it can be used under KDE, too; looking forward to that.
Jamie P
November 17, 2008
@Aaron: Presumably because GNOME is the standard desktop installed with Ubuntu, and also GNOME is much closer to Mac OS than KDE, which is very windows-like. I would personally recommend GNOME over KDE.
Matthew Payne
November 17, 2008
As far as an iPhoto or picasa analog, I would highly recommend digiKam.
http://www.digikam.org/drupal/node/323
I does a great job syncing photos with all the popular photo websites. I host my own with gallery2. I works great with that too.
witman
November 17, 2008
I really enjoyed the article. You may like my article I posted talking about one other difference I wish Apple would hurry up an “fix”.
http://www.witty-banter.com/index.php/2008/11/16/the-one-way-linux-beats-osx/
xc8/Brox
November 17, 2008
Actually there is WAY to sync the Nokia with evolution, http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=705103
Chris Lees
November 18, 2008
There is a bug in Ubuntu 8.10 that can cause the graphics drivers not to install when you try the Ubuntu method. If you use the normal Linux method of installing the drivers, it works. XGL is not the answer.
I appreciate that you're first and foremost a Mac user, but it looked in some places like you were trying to force Ubuntu to become the Mac OS. For instance, I think the fonts on Mac OS X and Windows Vista look blurry.
Kdenlive does crash, and it is very limited (it needs commercial sponsoring, IMHO), but it shouldn't cause problems booting. It's not low-level enough for that. Did you perhaps add the "Proposed" repository, which is a testing ground, to your Ubuntu?
Lastly, those problems you had wouldn't have occurred if you bought Linux preinstalled on a new computer, which is how "moms and pops" experience their operating system.
Otherwise, good review. Stick with Ubuntu; once you understand it a bit more you'll enjoy it more!
Felipe C
November 18, 2008
I love my Mac, but I also love my Ubuntu. I have Leopard on my laptop and Ubuntu in my desktop. They just do different things.
I read in the beginning that you installed rEFIt, there's no need to do that. There is a simpler way:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MacBookPro#Ubun...
Using rEFIt was kind of a drawback for me when I thought about installing Ubuntu in my Mac, I knew there should have been a better way, so I searched for a while and found the solution… (then posted it in the Ubuntu wiki), so for new users who don't want to put some weird sounding rEFIt in their mac, this is the solution.
I hope people will get encourages to at least try Ubuntu as a Live CD.
Cheers
Ed
November 18, 2008
Really like this post and the rest of the site. Keep it up!
Imran Khan
November 19, 2008
If you r missing Quicksilver in Ubuntu then I will guaranty you "Gnome Do" is the perfect alternative for that. Just try it and you will start using it for everything you do with your desktop.
Imran Khan
November 19, 2008
Spring folder has a better alternative in nautilus plugging call " move to " right click menu script.
Mark
November 19, 2008
If you're looking for a file manager with springiness Rox filer can be set up so that folders spring open when files are dragged onto them. It can also manage the desktop and panels; PLUS there are loads of native applications which can be installed from the project website (http://www.roscidus.com) using the zeroinstall facility (which, I've been told, is a lot like the method OSX uses). It's not quite as much of a Jack of all trades as Nautilus, mind, but a lot of what's missing can be added to the panel.
gnobuddy
November 19, 2008
Thanks for a review that at least tries to be a neutral comparison, compared to some of the much more inflammatory "reviews" I've read.
It's interesting, though, that the implicit assumption is that the Mac must be better, and only those who can't afford a Mac should consider Linux. In our house, my wife uses a Mac, and I use Linux. I've tried the Mac a few times over the years – and I find the Mac way of doing things drives me out of my gourd with frustration in just a minutes, and I can't wait to get back to Linux.
For instance, I often hear that Mac's are intuitive and easy to use, yet I find the opposite to frequently be the case. As an example, who in their right mind would come up with the idea that you burn data to a CD by dragging its icon to the TRASH CAN!!?? That has got to rank as one of the worst interface design ideas I've ever run across!
It's very true that if you work with Linux, especially if you semi-randomly install software from all over the 'Net, sooner or later something will break. There is a lot of unfinished and unstable Linux software out there, since there is nobody to ensure any sort of quality control. It's also true that there is a lot of outstanding software available for Linux, Amarok and Firefox being examples. And Ubuntu/ Kubuntu, in particular, is making huge strides in adding the surface spit-n-polish that is so often lacking in many other Linux distributions. Kubuntu 8.10 looks pretty sharp right out of the box, with the new KDE 4.1 desktop.
For the record, I think Mac's have some nice things about them: I like the visual appearance of the OSX GUI. Other than that, though, I'm much, much, much happier working on my Linux boxes, and the cost of the hardware is not the reason why – if you gave me a new Mac for free, I'd wipe OSX off it and install Kubuntu rather than deal with the continual frustration I feel when dealing with Apple's OS.
-Gnobuddy
vinit
November 20, 2008
Me too mac fan but using Ubuntu. Have a look at some screenshots of Mac4lin on Ubuntu 8.10
here.
martin
November 23, 2008
Did you try the default launcher (ALT+F2)?
It search for applications and documents based on their name and description and, of course, opens web pages. You get a nice list of all matches (hidden by default, but it’s just one click to activate).
It doesn’t support search inside documents. But I rarely need that and when I do it’s not hard to open a specialised application from the launcher (with the words I’m searching for as parameters).
If it fits your needs, then it’s a very nice launcher. It’s easier to use than any other alternative suggested here.
I use GQView as my image viewer. It’s fast and stable and integrates really good with traditional UNIX command line tools. Which means you can whip up any (and I really mean any) functionality you need as a “plugin” inside the graphic viewer effortless. That is, if you take the small effort to learn basic command line skills. The UNIX command line(s) is neither the most intuitive nor most effective command lines I’ve used, but it’s not as hard as most people think and it’s both more effective and simpler to master than the OSX graphical interface for most tasks. The only command you have to remember is man (as in MANual). Don’t be afraid, commandlineofobia is easy to cure.
Argl Borps
November 28, 2008
As has Expose. It's been a feature of OS X 10.4 which came out 29th April 2005
KiL
November 28, 2008
And you, too, parrot the standard nonsense that Mac Users like to be told what's good. Some of the most creative minds work on the Mac, you could imagine that those people don't need anybody telling them anything, but hey why give up your snugly fitting preconceptions for something as irrelevant as reality?
I for my part hate QuickSilver and love LaunchBar. Actually it was LaunchBar that started the whole typing-launcher-scan-your-harddisk-and-be-very-intelligent-about-it thingy. LaunchBar has been around since NeXTSTEP. Also QuickSilver is expandable before you make statements otherwise please check your facts. It has tons of plugins, but that doesn't make it more powerful than LaunchBar. For everything I do on LaunchBar I need at least two more keystrokes on QuickSilver… Yes and LaunchBar is not free and costs money. Oh my god, some people do like to say thank you if a developer does something great for them.
The Mac OS doesn't indicate what's good and bad either, I'm also using a ton of GPLed software on it (Smultron, Cyberduck you name it). And your notion like nothing in life worth doing is easy is also complete bullshit. I think sex really is not that difficult. And why should I have to do things that the computer is perfectly capable of doing for me, after all it's supposed to be a tool to make me more productive, isn't it? So what's bad about thing working perfectly together well integrated etc. BTW getting that to function surely wasn't easy for the Apple developers, so there.
Nxx
November 28, 2008
Saying that creativity by fiat excludes one from herd behaviour is inane. And just as if the world were there to prove my point, creativity (and art) is actually /categorised/ and comes in /styles/.
And it is equally true of all flavours of computer user that most stick to whatever the vendor (or distribution) define as /standard/ and even defend the software they happen to be made to use.
leon
December 6, 2008
I despise the mac interface, i really hope the Ubuntu Gurus dont go down that road!!
kiwisoup
February 16, 2009
The funny thing to me, is that the first few days I used a Mac after years of using Windows…I absolutely HATED it! It takes more than just a couple days to come to a conclusion like that, and only judging it based on comparisons is a sure way to dislike something new.
james
February 19, 2009
You don't seem to know about synaptic! If the application is not listed on add/remove you can go to the synaptic package manager under system/administration which will let you click to install around 26,000 applications that cover all the main applications available. No need to get down and dirty.
zaine
February 22, 2009
u recomend ubuntu for those who can't afford mac? lol, osx86 is free, it just takes forever to download (using frostwire) and all u gotta do is copy it to a disc (iso image) and reformat the drive to mac journaled using the dic utility, i've been using osx86 (10.4.6) as my primary computer, and i gotta say, i hate linux and windows compared to it, it's so stable, and well designed, unlike windows and linux, i just wish i had a real mac to get the better kernal with a better bios link, then it would be just like having a mac
Boones
March 9, 2009
Very good review. I Didn't saw this grom all these sides.
Ranguvar
March 28, 2009
Pretty good review, honest and fair
Seriously — if you're willing to get a little adventurous, the shell can do many things faster, simpler, and just plain better than a GUI. The shell is a simple programming language all by itself, and can make your life much more productive 
I'd have to say the biggest issue I have with this review is the fact that you avoided the shell like the plague. I actually found this odd, as OS X comes with a shell as well (Windows before PowerShell is a toy, no comparison)
I'll go back to my Mac-hating ways now
Shani
July 23, 2009
Really good review ! I'd like to add a few programs though.
For Backup you could try crashplan. It's available for mac linux and windows.
For replacement of quicksilver you should give gnome-do a try. Really good.
Immobilienmakler
August 25, 2009
thanx for that grat roundup, i have the same conclusion: not yet ready for the average user. After installing ubuntu at my new pc i got lost…no printer (i have a multi function print/san unit- the ubuntu driver installation seemed to get a nightmare)…and some more problems…
Finanzberater
August 27, 2009
sorry, i like open office and lot´s of the other open source staff, but linux ubuntu just works for me as a emergency rescue kit for windows ;-(
gdfgdfgd
September 12, 2009
I would say that Linux Mint (being an ubuntu sub-distro) would be great for any linux newb, It comes with great software preinstalled and configured. Additionally, it comes with Gnome-Do (use Command-Space to initiate it). I personally have MacBook (3,1) and use Ubuntu 8.10 more than Mac (10.5) as of now. I use virtual machines for testing other distros/linux stuff (VirtualBox). LinuxMint is good for starters, but once that has been mastered; I think Kubuntu 8.10 would be a suitable upgrade for a Mint user.
hanum
October 30, 2009
nice tutorial. Thank's a lot for info sharing ^_^