Ubuntu 7.04 PC Edition [Old Version] :: Education by Design Store

Customer Reviews

Ubuntu beats Windows

2007-10-06
Ubuntu does what you need a computer to do. When installing it is easiest to
use a drive on the primary slave position. After that Ubuntu will find just about everything already installed in your computer.. Linux has a full line of open source applications to do what ever job you need to do.. My install went very smoothly and easily. Using broadband networks is plug and play. The programs have some names that might throw you off but the transition is easy. Don't let the word "linux" scare you anymore. Ubuntu takes the fear out and puts in usablilty. After installing look up a application called Automatix and install it. This makes tweaking your system and downloading other applications much easier. You will also find the forums more than helpfull and very friendly. Make sure to use them for easier problem solving.. Ubuntu also has the stability that Microsoft dreams about. Last but surely not least.. You can't beat the price.

Awesome for FREE, still needs work

2007-10-05
I'll keep this short. Ive now installed Ubuntu on 4 computers.

-My very first install I had some problems with installation, but that was becuase my new computer was burning CDs too fast, for my old computer to read. After finally solving that problem, The install went great and I now have that PIII-700mhtz system in my garage and use it when I need to input my workouts info, or look up a howto video, or whatever I need while im out in the garage.

-The second install, on a similar old laptop (PIII-900mhtz) went flawlessly and use that in the house as a backup computer. Could be used to watch online movies, tv shows, etc while cooking.

-The third install I did of Ubuntu also went flawlessly on a newer P4-3.0 ghtz laptop. It found all my drivers, accessories, etc. This is my work computer at home for designing websites and artwork.

-The fourth install I did was my main computer at work. A new system, very fast dual CPU with 4gb of RAM. Ive been told by many people 4gb is overkill on a windows computer becuase windows cannot theoretically read more than 3 gb. In windows on this computer, in the "start> control panel> system" it shows I only have 3.2gb of memory! Ubuntu and Linux does not have these theoretical limitations. I have 4gb of RAM and Ubuntu uses 4gb of ram!!! How nice is that! I did encounter some errors while using Ubuntu on this new computer. It took me a good afternoon to get the new 512mb Nvidia video card recognized properly in Ubuntu. I also still do not have sound on that computer becuase the sound card (made by Creative) is so new, there are no linux drivers for it.

All in all, I love Ubuntu. I love the free spirit of it all. I am still learning all I can. Its a long process, but as one Ubuntu forum member told me... its the journey that makes it worthwhile, not the destination. Very true.

As a 30-ish year old website designer, graphic designer, internet freak... It will take me some time to switch from XP to Ubuntu, trying to learn the new software, install windows software (yes you can use windows software on Ubuntu) and a general feeling of ease within Ubuntu. It will take time. I wont switch over in one week. In a month. Maybe not in 6 months. But I know I will make the switch. Windows has the mark of the beast and I see it on their ugly faces. (if you know the singer who sung that last phrase I'll send you a free sticker! my email is dave at shirtees dawt net)

Hopefully the new release of Ubuntu coming soon in mid OCT 07 (I think v7.10) will fix some kinks people have, make it easy to read/write NTFS file systems like Windows is, and offer even more eye candy :) Its a drug I tell you! A drug! Ubuntu Eye Candy has won me over!

ubuntu linux

2007-09-28
It took several attempts to install. I think this was probably because of an ageing laptop. It's an old KDS valient. Once installed though it performs great. The only thing I haven't been able to configure is sound. Great internet and can play mpegs with a plug in. No complaints. Appreciated that they sent a dvd and later a cd.

Experienced Computer User Impression

2007-09-24
Through school and work I have been exposed to the three major variations of operating systems: Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. I played with Gentoo for a bit but the amount of time it takes to install everything by compilation was too much and getting a working desktop. I then tried to play with Fedora but was pushed away after having everything break after an update. I used vista Business that I got through academic alliance at my school and had no major problems with it. I was looking for a change from Microsoft and an OS that was as easy for me to use.

I then tried Ubuntu even though I had to used the safe graphics mode(it has an issue with some nvidia cards I have the 6800). Fixing the glitch wasn't hard since all I had to do when it loaded into the boot screen was choose safe graphics mode. Aside from that the installation was anything but feisty and much more like a fawn. In less than an hour I had it installed and configured. Less experienced users might take longer but it's well worth it.

Open office works great and can easily export word documents as long as you don't make them fancier than necessary. It may have differences from Office but there are common menu schemes between them and I had no trouble doing what I did in MS Office in Open Office.

Totem will play just about everything and will ask you if you want to install the necessary support for some formats.

For some site that offer real player or windows media player you can still access their video since there is a version of Real Player that will work with Firefox.

Rythmbox will play just about all files and if there isn't immediate support but support available it will prompt you if to download and install if there is support without much work.

Evolution has support for Microsoft Exchange and works better in the regard compared to Outlook. I could access my schools exchange server in exchange mode in outlook at school but not home. Even if I tried http in Outlook at home it would not connect. Evolution would let me connect from home but still has the annoying one exchange server rule(at least I can access it that way). The only downside is the more complicated means of finding and installing the plugin to minimize it to the tray and free up the task bar(it's possible but it won't be easy for a beginner.)

Despite the propaganda Firefox is just as secure as IE and perhaps more secure with the no script add on(it lets you prevent JavaScript from running and installing malicious software but makes it easy to enable it for a trusted site.)

Performance: The amount of performance will depend on your setup but overall it uses fewer resources than windows does(especially compared to vista.)

Most video games are still playable, especially World of Warcraft. It takes some tweaking but after installing wine(windows emulator that lets you run some windows applications) and enabling restricted graphics drivers(necessary for Nvidia 6800 and a few others) I was playing it with no problems. Eve-Online and Lord of the Rings Online don't really work under wine so if you're using Windows XP then you might want to stick with it.

CD/DVD Burning support is built in so you can easily back up files and flash/thumb drive support is also built in.

Overall for the price of this OS compared to others out there it's well worth it. Especially if you're a student or a parent buying it for your kid: if the school requires a word document they usually aren't complicated and you can save an Open Office document in Word format(more complicated documents don't transfer very well.)

/*Warning Geek Speak*/
It's useful even for computer science students. All of my C++ console applications transferred nicely and the only modification was to System("cls"); (I know it's not good programming practice) type calls. The only language you might have difficulty with is C# but there is some support out there for Linux based compilers. It's very for a Comp Sci person to setup most database servers that they might need like MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Oracle added Debian(Ubuntu is based on Debian and uses the same package manager) support for their Oracle-XE(stripped down free version for learning) database. This provides a much better platform for programming and also offers free advanced calculators and other learning tools. The added benefit of free compliers for students and degree holders looking to expand(I have an Bachelors in Information System and I liked the availability of the databases and the ease of installing net beans.) So if your strapped for cash, need an OS for learning a new programming language, and don't have the cash to buy a CD burner then this is an excellent purchase.

XP style interface but slower

2007-08-27
I'm a geek. I know my computers. I took Ubuntu and loaded it in a different disk drive used as master. I had XP loaded in a similar drive used as master. I switched the drives to go from one operating system to another for the simple reason that I wanted to benchmark each operating system. Although Ubuntu is free and is decently supported by the ubuntu site and lynux drivers, it was slower than XP. Specifically when I used java based applets.
If you're not a power user (like me) and don't want to pay gobs to Billy Gates, then get Ubuntu. Their support site is awesome and very good people are dedicated in the project, however, you still have to know more about computers than you would with XP.
Vista is hosed, take it from me, put up with the speed reduction than be thrown back to the dark ages with Vista. There is less support for Vista than Ubuntu. Go figure.

Great OS

2008-05-07
Dump Windows forever, now there is OSX and Ubuntu. Both these OS's are truly dependable and just simply work. Ubuntu in my book is second only to OSX.

Ubuntu is solid dependable easy-to-use

2008-04-02
I switched from Windows to Ubuntu several years ago and I haven't had ONE problem with viruses or pop-ups or spyware. It's easy. It's solid. It always works. I trust my computer. It has easy-to-understand graphical screens like Windows. It does e-mail. I can buy things over the Internet and not worry that my credit card number will be stolen. So I'm a happy camper. It does Skype. It's great for Internet surfing. I can write letters using OpenOffice free software. But it's not for everyone: some fancy Windows games & applications won't run on it. Still, I like the overall idea of putting ME in charge of my computer. With Windows, things happen inside which I can't control.

It just works.

2007-11-04
I've been using Ubuntu since version 6.06, and I love it! Some of the more useful features include:
1) Synaptic Package Manager - A central location in which I can find and install/remove just about any software. Windows has nothing like this!
2) Automatic updates, for all installed software. Not just what came preinstalled with the operating system.
3) Hardware support - With the exception of certain ATI graphics cards (and that's ATI's fault for writing bad drivers), Ubuntu's hardware support is the best I've seen. You plug something in, it works, end of story.
4) Clean, well-designed, and infinitely customizable interface. My Ubuntu looks *exactly* how I want it to look.

2 snaps and a twist!!!

2007-10-13
My computer is fast, responsive, and does what I ask it too every time. The software is free, and virii infections, spyware, trojans, and adware are almost non-existant. Outperforms the bloat of Windows anyday.

Love Ubuntu but pissed!

2007-10-10
I love Ubuntu, but I am pissed that they released 7.04 before working out the ATI driver problems- I can install 6.xx but not 7 because of my ati x1400. I dislike windows DRM so much that I will patiently wait until they fix the problem and buy it again. It was only $10.00 and it did work on my old desktop fine, but not my dell inspiron e1505 w/x1400.