I had a go at installing Ubuntu on an old laptop the other day. I have to say, it was probably the easiest OS install I've ever done. The installation program set up a dual boot so I can still run W7 if I want, but Ubuntu was up and running very quickly without any hassle with drivers. Seriously, every single device that would have been a huge PITA with Windows (audio, wireless, Bluetooth, graphics etc) was all detected and working perfectly very quickly.

 

The range of apps available are reasonable for most situations. There are office equivalents (admittedly I've not tried them yet) for free. The only snag - and the only reason I haven't installed it on my son's laptop (he is sick of W8) is that I can't seem to get iTunes to install on it, even using PlayOnLinux.

 

The user interface, particularly with installing new apps via the terminal, is a bit geek-centric (even for me) but I can imagine this avenue developing rapidly over the next few years.

Its not possible to get iTunes running on any version of Linux unless running full windows in a VM.

 

Openoffice is a good alternative but file compatibility is going to be the biggest issue, even If it opens an MS Word document the conversion can sometimes be ropey.

 

Older laptop hardware does not fair so well with Ubuntu, only the latest wireless chipsets are supported so if you have an older one then its no go. If Linux does not have drivers already, its very difficult to load 3rd party ones, assuming there are any at all.

Ubuntu is great when it works, but when it doesn't it's a real nightmare to sort...

 

Drivers can be an issue as mannyo said, I've also found that with some of the HP models you have to do some serious bios tweaking to get wifi to enable, even with the drivers.

 

For free, it's great but I'm still a Windows man for the foreseeable...

As above really.

 

Yes it's very easy to set-up and use and a pretty good OS.

 

I use Windows mainly then have Ubuntu running in VMware for the odd bit of fettling that needs linux (raspberry pi and ext partitions for example).

 

Phil

Ubuntu is great when it works, but when it doesn't it's a real nightmare to sort...

 

 

I give you.... the Broadcom wifi chipset of horror :clap:

 

I like Linux and I like Ubuntu but until they make it a preinstall no one but enthusiasts will make the switch.

I play with Linux to keep my knowledge up but it's just that bit too hard to do things to use every day. Driver for scanners etc can be really hard to sort out.

Edited 7 August, 201411 yr by Aspman

I've been using Ubuntu as a desktop OS since it came out in 2004, and before that it was Debian (which Ubuntu is based on). I did manage to buy a laptop from Dell preloaded with Ubuntu when they had a brief foray into Linux - that's still going seven years later, though on an older Ubuntu LTS release. I suppose it's what you get used to, as I find Windows more frustrating; particularly when I bought a Windows 8 laptop. I have an Ubuntu virtual machine (using VirtualBox) on there which I do most stuff in, and dip back into Windows just for watching videos (using XBMC) or stuff like the BlackVue dashcam software. My main desktop system is Linux, both at home & work (though there I have a Windows 7 virtual machine for the inevitable Windows only software I have to run at times) and I can't see that changing any time soon.

 

It's interesting to see scanners mentioned, as I still have, and use regularly, an Epson GT7000 SCSI attached scanner bought in '97. That was before I had started using Linux, and it turned out to be one of the best supported scanners in Linux. I stick with HP printers, partly because that's what I'm used to at work, but mainly as they are well supported in Linux. 

It's early days for me and Linux, but I'm happy to keep going to make a more rounded opinion of it.

For older hardware with less memory Ubuntu has a very useful feature called zram. Basically it is an analogue of compressed memory in the latest Mac OS X Mavericks, but zram has been available since Ubuntu 12.04 LTS. Just make sure zram-config package is installed.

I have 2GB on this old Dell laptop, so I hope that's plenty?

If you use Google Chrome or Chromium and open many tabs, zram will be useful even with 16 gigs of RAM

Linux is great and very much the present in many parts of the industry.

 

Epson GT7000 SCSI attached scanner bought in '97

 

 

Awesome scanner, I still own one - it is the main reason I still have a PC running WinXP, that and some old games I enjoy that are too old to play in anything but 98SE compatibility mode!!!

I give you.... the Broadcom wifi chipset of horror :clap:

I like Linux and I like Ubuntu but until they make it a preinstall no one but enthusiasts will make the switch.

I play with Linux to keep my knowledge up but it's just that bit too hard to do things to use every day. Driver for scanners etc can be really hard to sort out.

Once I got the wireless to work using the right driver in Ubuntu I actually got better performance than in Windows 7 on the same machine (dual booting).

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

I have recently installed Ubuntu on my old works laptop, which must be at least 10years old. Perfect install. Absolutely no problems.

Similar on a not quite so old Lenovo. That had the ThinkPad stuff on it, so a complete wipe and reinstall worked wonders.

I'm sure there are things which are a real pain if there are no drivers, but for most folk who rarely go anywhere near the boundaries of their machine its great. Read/write, communicate, spreadsheets, presentations have all been perfectly simple. I have used open office for ages, but have started using Libre Office which seems fine too. I rarely get to the limits either.

I did use it at home producing documents for work which was all winxp then, never a problem.

The little installs like Puppy linux and DSLinux work extremely well. They boot off a CD/CDr/DVD/DVDr or a pendrive. They don't need or use a hard disc, but can be configured to work from there should you wish.

Plug in, switch on, boot, use, save as appropriate, switch off. Remove boot media and that is the only record of your presence. Should you need stealth.

Once I got the wireless to work using the right driver in Ubuntu I actually got better performance than in Windows 7 on the same machine (dual booting).

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

I have managed to get the Broadcom stuff to work but it was an utter **** to sort out. I agree that a well setup linux machine will fly along and be rock solid but it can be an awful lot of work to anything new on it unless you're loading it from a repository using the package manager.

 

That's when Linux falls down at home as an everyday desktop, you walk in with a new bit of kit and you're not going to just whip out the CD or download the drivers, you've got a task ahead of you to get it to work and fingers cross that someone has written a driver for your new thing.

 

As a server OS or as a static desktop tool it works. I enjoy the tinkering you can do with Linux and it makes me suspicious of the newer OS that are very closed (android, win8, iOS). I even enjoy the old school control of using the command line.

 

Still I quite fancy setting up a little linux media box for the telly.

Edited 7 August, 201411 yr by Aspman

I recently installed Windows 2012 on a Virtual machine running under Ubuntu.  It took longer getting that up and running and then having to define roles for the server (SMTP, File Sharing, Hosting, etc) than it did to get the original full Ubuntu installed and working.

 

In fact - it took a few attempts.

 

Ubuntu is pretty good for most things, I think the online store is a bit pants when it comes to finding decent software (but it's an absolute doddle to install things from it).

 

I have installed Edubuntu on my sons desktop and he loves it - he's already reconfigured the UI and installed his own games and stuff - although he finds configuring some apps a little tricky.

 

If a 9 yr old can install apps and reconfigure it without breaking it - It has to be pretty robust.

I use Libre Office - Open Office is hardly ever updated these days as the company that developed it tries to kill it off. Libre Office is actually a fork from the people that did the original; OO and got the boot during the attempted shut-down of the project. If you have used OO you will find LO a very familiar place, and with the UK government officially mandating .odt as the new file standard for government documents, it should become very popular among people not willing to give M$ huge wads of cash.

I use Libre Office - Open Office is hardly ever updated these days as the company that developed it tries to kill it off. Libre Office is actually a fork from the people that did the original; OO and got the boot during the attempted shut-down of the project. If you have used OO you will find LO a very familiar place, and with the UK government officially mandating .odt as the new file standard for government documents, it should become very popular among people not willing to give M$ huge wads of cash.

Libre Office has been the default office package in Ubuntu for more than 2 years.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 UK government officially mandating .odt as the new file standard for government documents, it should become very popular among people not willing to give M$ huge wads of cash.

 

I saw that. Can't see it making much of a difference really. Too much inertia to move away from MS Office.

I've been trying to get OOO and then Libra Office rolled out in a few places to save money but it's never happened.

I saw that. Can't see it making much of a difference really. Too much inertia to move away from MS Office.

I've been trying to get OOO and then Libra Office rolled out in a few places to save money but it's never happened.

I use quite a few excel spreadsheets and the like at work produced by regulators which won't work in LO/OOO so we are stuck with using MS.

The regulators have admitted they used excel as it was the easiest laziest way to do it and some are horrible cludges that try and make excel do stuff it was never designed for.

Also we have other software which only works properly with XP and there is zero chance it will get updated by the government.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

Also we have other software which only works properly with XP and there is zero chance it will get updated by the government.

 

 

Cabinet Office won't let you get away with XP for much longer even with the extended support program. Unless you work with the NHS, then you can do what you like.

 

We've killed off the last of the XP stock and will move the few that remain into a DMZ and users will need to remote to them.

Edited 8 August, 201411 yr by Aspman

Cabinet Office won't let you get away with XP for much longer even with the extended support program. Unless you work with the NHS, then you can do what you like.

We've killed off the last of the XP stock and will move the few that remain into a DMZ and users will need to remote to them.

This is software produced under contract for the government which hasn't been updated since 2009. We are required to use it as the regulator has deemed all other options non compliant. Helpfully they updated their documentation to point put it doesn't work properly with newer versions of windows but haven't done anything about it.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

I use quite a few excel spreadsheets and the like at work produced by regulators which won't work in LO/OOO so we are stuck with using MS.

The regulators have admitted they used excel as it was the easiest laziest way to do it and some are horrible cludges that try and make excel do stuff it was never designed for.

Also we have other software which only works properly with XP and there is zero chance it will get updated by the government.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

99% of all M$ Office documents I have tried - open fine with L.O., the problems seem to occur with weird formats some government departments seem to use instead of the default Office formats. The ONLY way we can get certain Education Department documents to open is to use L.O.'s "Web preview" option; L.O. produces overlaid garbage, and Fire Fox wont open it on its own - but weirdly DOES open it perfectly when L.O. sends it.

 

M$ seem to have broken .rtf format as well, as NOTHING we can find will correctly open a .rtf document made with the latest versions of Office EXCEPT the latest version of Office!!!!

99% of all M$ Office documents I have tried - open fine with L.O., the problems seem to occur with weird formats some government departments seem to use instead of the default Office formats. The ONLY way we can get certain Education Department documents to open is to use L.O.'s "Web preview" option; L.O. produces overlaid garbage, and Fire Fox wont open it on its own - but weirdly DOES open it perfectly when L.O. sends it.

M$ seem to have broken .rtf format as well, as NOTHING we can find will correctly open a .rtf document made with the latest versions of Office EXCEPT the latest version of Office!!!!

It's macros that have given me problems.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

I have been using Libre Office for a number of years at home and MS Office at work - never had an issue with either really..

 

The only real difference I did notice between the 2 is the price tag.