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Our Blogs The BeerFiles Vista and Kubuntu - easy installs, uneasy comparisons
Our Blogs The BeerFiles Vista and Kubuntu - easy installs, uneasy comparisons | Vista and Kubuntu - easy installs, uneasy comparisons |
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| by Stan Beer | |
| Thursday, 22 November 2007 | |
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Page 3 of 3 No-one should expect Ubuntu to be like Windows - they're different beasts. Windows is an operating system which requires you to go out and find the software you want wherever you can find it on the open market. Ubuntu is designed to include pretty much everything you need in its software repositories. If you can't find the software you need already loaded by default, all you need to do is tick the boxes of what you want in a vast list provided by Ubuntu and it will automatically be downloaded and installed for you. Or at least that's the theory. Featured Whitepaper
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Take for instance, the issues I have had getting a simple encrypted DVD to play using pre-loaded players on both Kubuntu (Kaffeine) and Ubuntu (Totem). In both instances, I was given a message that the DVD could not play because certain files were not loaded. I understand the copyright issues in the US which prevent the files being preloaded (canonical really should consider paying the license fees if it's serious about getting mainstream marketshare). However, what what I don't understand is why a new user should be expected to embark on a frustrating and possibly perilous adventure of discovery just to find the necessary codecs to watch a DVD on their Linux system. Here's what I think should happen: Ubuntu/Kubuntu should simply inform the users that they need additional files to watch a DVD and then ask them if they wish to download and install them. If the users answer yes, they should just download and install the files and enable users to watch their DVDs or be damned. Another disappointing issue with Ubuntu/Kubuntu is speed - yes that's right! Don't get me wrong. I found Ubuntu to be much faster than Windows for most applications - except one big one. Browsing the Web on Firefox for me at least was immeasurably faster using Windows Vista than Kubuntu and, from my previous experience, Ubuntu as well. I don't know why this is the case but it's annoying to find the leading open source browser running slower on the leading Linux distro than Windows. However, that was not nearly as annoying as my latest effort to download the latest version of Firefox 3.0 beta using Kubuntu. With Vista I already have it running - and it's lightning fast (another story). With Kubuntu all I have is an extracted tar ball which I'm tring to figure how to install. I know I can find the answers to these questions on user forums and but why should newbies be expected to do this when it's well within the capabilities of desktop operating systems to do this for them? The point of all this is to say, despite the obvious deficiencies of Windows Vista, as far as usability is concerned it's still way ahead of Ubuntu or Kubuntu and we haven't even discussed wireless configuration. However, a few simple tweaks with the end user in mind could narrow that gap for the leading Linux distro considerably. For the sake of of choice, let's hope it's sooner rather than later. |
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