The Road to Ubuntu (or Leopard) - screw the OS, move your apps online with Google

Adam Turner
Monday, 03 December 2007 09:52

Opinion and Analysis

Switching to Google Docs means my documents are auto-saved every few minutes and I can access them from anywhere. Using it in a Tabbed browser gives me my precious Tabbed environment. The fact it further reduces my reliance on the operating system is the icing on the cake.

Of course the downside to using an online word processor is that no internet access means no files - a particular concern in Australia, where free wifi is relatively rare and mobile data is expensive (often with limited coverage). The release of Live Documents is designed to work around this by caching offline copies, but unfortunately it's a Microsoft Word plugin and I don't want to use Microsoft's bloatware for simple text editing. Google Gears will eventually let Google Docs work the same way, but meanwhile you're still taking a risk leaving your docs online.

The final piece in the puzzle was last week's announcement that Vodafone is offering 5GB per month of HSDPA mobile data for only $39 per month, and they even throw in a free USB modem. This is the best mobile data plan in Australia, even offering better value than most low-end DSL plans. Of course Hutchison's 3 network already offered some really good deals, but the difference is in the fine print. 3's HSDPA network only covers the major cities, outside of which you roam on to Telstra's painfully slow but ridiculously expensive GPRS network. Vodafone's HSDPA network offers a similar coverage footprint, but once you're beyond the HSDPA network you roam to Vodafone's 3G network and then Vodafone's GPRS network - which means no risk of bill shock.

With Optus cable internet access at home (plus at my father and father-in-laws houses) and a Vodafone HSDPA modem, I'm prepared to risk keeping my docs online. Of course there's still the remote possibility of Google losing my files. When someone comes up with a proper solution for offline backups they might be able to lure me away from Google Docs.

Competitors such as ThinkFree Online are working on similar features, but I've found ThinkFree Online's Java interface to be rather sluggish - you certainly wouldn't want to be using it all day, every day. Google Docs' AJAX interface is lean and mean, I reckon you could even use it over GPRS or dial-up in an emergency.

ThinkFree Online has a stripped-down AJAX-based version, but last time I checked it didn't include features such as spellcheck and word count - two must-have features in my book. I'll have another look  (I created my loin before it was locked down to Telstra customers in Australia) but considering I'm already a keen user of Google services, it will take something impressive to lure me away.

This series of blog posts is supposedly The Road to Ubuntu, but I haven't talked much about the OS. Why? Because it's irrelevant. Once I got my SOE up and running smoothly in Leopard, it didn't take long to forget I was on a Mac (except I'm one of those heathens who still wants a right-click mouse button). Thankfully I've spent the last 12 months reducing my dependence on Windows by switching across to multi-platform applications like Firefox, Thunderbird, FileZilla and Audacity. This gives me the freedom to jump between platforms with minimal pain, it was just the text editor and backup regime that were the main hurdles. The more apps I can move online, the easier it is to switch. Unfortunately I haven't weaned myself off Outlook as my calendar, but we'll save that for another post.

I haven't completely given up on Ubuntu's Gutsy Gibbon, but it's up against some pretty stiff competition with Leopard. Of course Ubuntu will run on my ThinkPad T60, whereas Leopard requires dropping around $AU2K on a new computer. I've calculated I spend at least 30 minutes each day fighting with Windows XP when you include waiting time and the odd reboot when everything goes pear-shaped. As such, a Mac Book would eventually pay for itself even before you take into account any other productivity gains (the widescreen display is great).

My journey away from Windows has reached a fork in the road and the Apple of temptation is calling to me. I'm just in search of something that works, so can you blame me? If Linux lovers are going to flame me, try to keep the religious fervour to a minimum and at least try to offer practical reasons why I should choose Ubuntu over Mac.

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