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.
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)?
@Aaron. Thanks, I’ll make sure to pass along your comment to Bogdan.
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.
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.
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.
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
@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.
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.
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.
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
Wow, Id say that is a pretty beeming review wouldnt you?
jess
http://www.internet-anonymity.net.tc
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.
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.
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.
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.
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…
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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
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.
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
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.
Also, this is a well-done objective review from a (new to linux) Mac user’s perspective.
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
@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
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’.
gnome do for quicksilver replacement. its amazing.
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.
Mac OS X 10.5 includes video resolution, codec, audio channels, bit rate and duration in the Get Info window for video files.
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.
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.
@ 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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
As many have pointed out, “Quicksilver for Linux” is GNOME-Do. It looks very very similar too.
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
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.
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.
“With the help of Compiz, Ubuntu now has Exposé.”
now how . . . this has been around since before Leopard . . .
“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.
Getting online with a 3G mobile is an absolute breeze. Literally takes about ten seconds to set up.
“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?
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.
@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?