The Experiment (part 2)

Yes, my experiment into using various distributions of Linux is still going. My laptop now solely uses Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) as its OS, and I must say I was pleasantly surprised by how simple it was to pick up. I'm still very much a novice at using it as I still rely nearly entirely on the GUI to do things for me. The only terminal command I really know and feel comfortable using is

sudo apt-get install (package name)

to install packages. OK, I can also delete my / directory, but that doesn't count. I can do pretty much everything that I want to do with it though. If I want to really learn to use the CLI I'll use a different distro.

There's a story behind how my laptop came to solely run Ubuntu; one in which it went through 4 operating systems in one weekend. It began when I decided that I was sick of Windows XP and installed Windows 7 on it instead. However, it wanted the CPU to run at its maximum clock speed all the time which killed the battery life faster than an injection of cyanide, and I had to do a lot of faffing about with Windows XP drivers just to get the wireless adapter to work. For those who don't know computer-speak, here's the English translation: Windows 7 = battery went flat fast.

The next day I tried Ubuntu 9.04 on it, which was an unmitigated disaster. It did not like the integrated "graphics" at all (graphics in quotations because the day Intel make a good IGP [integrated graphics processor] is the day I burn all my AMD systems). So much so in fact that it wouldn't even load the GUI at some points.

I got rid of that very quickly and put Ubuntu 9.10RC on it instead, which I was extremely impressed with. The wireless adapter worked perfectly out of the box, as did the IGP, the function keys on the keyboard and the best part was that the CPU wasn't begging for mercy under the weight of Windows.

I apologise for all the computer-speak but that's inevitable when I start talking about computers. I guess these things happen when you crap on about the things you love.