I got an old computer from work (HP Compaq d530 base model) and was told to experiment with Linux on it. I brought it home, connected a fairly good monitor to it, some leftover speakers, and started her up. Downloaded the Ubuntu install CD, and after several failed attempts (had to use an older
version 6.0.4 and then upgrade using my download) was running Ubuntu 8.0.4 Hardy Heron on my computer.For many reasons, I became bored and busy, and did not pay much attention to my new Linuxbox. After a few weeks, finally got around to working with the terminal (very very lite work, still very perplexed) and skinning it to look like a Mac. The problem with the computer was that it was so incredibly mind-numbingly slow. Like molasses squared. It would freeze, the programs would take 5 minutes to load, it was horrible.
It was like that for most of the summer. I finally decided to do some real work on it when I figured that I could take it to college to write papers with, granted that it would perform at stable speeds.
So we went out to Best Buy, picked up some RAM and I installed it. Reboot, and reinstall Ubuntu (just to wipe all the crap and start from scratch). Now, introducing the Linuxbox 2.0, open for business!
I've been spending the past few days enjoying it, and learning a lot more than I knew before about Linux.
Here's the features I installed and my opinion on them.
Ubuntu OS - I thought the interface at the start was a little clunky and a tad kid-friendly (with the big buttons and orange color scheme), but since delving into the customization, I've grown to love the ease and vast multitude of options available to you. Solutions are relatively easy to find, and there's always cool things to discover. The Terminal functionality is intimidating, but practice has made me appreciate the integration and simplicity of it, hope to use that more and more.
Rhythmbox - A good music player, imported my songs from the external hard drive easily enough, and I haven't tried out the Podcast and Radio functions, but hope they are as simple and easy to use. Recognized my iPod (have yet to sync or add anything, we'll see if that is as easy).
Amarok - A superior music player, much better than Rhythmbox. I hear it's also on Windows, which i think makes it a very good alternative to iTunes. iPod recognition was not as easy as in Rhythmbox, but easy to figure out nonetheless. Music library compilation was soooo much quicker than the built-in player, and the interface is a lot smoother and cooler too. Album art was a cinch, and it even found pictures for albums that I hadn't found yet, which I thought was really cool (although, it did sometimes make mistakes, but those were only in albums that I didn't mind having correct art for; every time there was a mistake, the art Amarok found was too hilarious to take away. A great great feature). The logo is cool, and I'm keeping this in my dock.
Avant Window Navigator - A Macintosh-esque dock for programs and launchers. The download was simple the second time around, with my speeded up system, and I've had relatively few problems with it. I really can't get the launchers to work, and it kinda glitches in that I open a program and it doesn't open. Looks pretty cool, but the interface is confusing (not very clear about what options do exactly what, or what places I'm changing color in. A tad nicer than the ugly panels tho.
I will post up screenshots of my desktop, plus a full list of what my settings/themes are soon.Pidgin - A very very nice IM client that combines AIM, Yahoo, WindowsMessenger, and many other IM services into one interface. I like Pidgin, it's simple and clean and doesn't have popups out the wazoo (Looking at you Yahoo!). I even went and uninstalled everything on my Windows machine and installed Pidgin, and it's working great. What I really wanted was an IM client that merged all my accounts into one buddy list and just let me talk to anybody I wanted, without worrying about different accounts or anything like that. Pidgin lets me do that very easily, and for that, I'm grateful. An excellent service, with beautiful simplicity. Pidgin gets a 10 out of 10!
Incredibly pumped for Intrepid Ibex. October 30th, WOOT!
God I'm hungry.
Incredibly pumped for Intrepid Ibex. October 30th, WOOT!
God I'm hungry.
