Ramblings

I just installed Win XP Pro on a friend's computer the other day. It was such a pain in the ass to get up and running that I realized that installing Ubuntu is far more user-friendly. I like having hardware drivers work out of the box for the most common stuff like NVIDIA or ATI video cards, Realtek audio, Intel wireless, or even the freaking ethernet jack. I had terrible flashbacks of college when I couldn't get my ethernet to work after reformatting, and didn't have the ability to download the drivers I needed since my only computer couldn't get online. All in all, it took maybe 5 hours to get everything working properly, including the reformat. I shudder to think what it would take to clean install Vista.

I'm not going to try to convince too many people to switch to Ubuntu, but if you're on the fence about buying a Mac, you should probably give Ubuntu a try. You'll run into the same issues with getting used to how a few things are different from what you're used to, but you'll be pretty happy when it's all said and done. And you don't have to pay Apple's ridiculous markup on hardware. I can put together a Dell Ubuntu laptop (Inspiron 1525N) comparable to the $1099 Macbook for about $800. Well, the Dell would have 2GB RAM instead of 1GB like the Mac, and a 15.4" screen instead of 13.3". And the ability to right click/middle click with one hand. But the extra $300 buys you smugness and a pretty Apple logo. There are other ways to get that kind of street cred, anyway - I have an In-N-Out sticker on my laptop, and it is glorious.

I've gotten 2 people to switch to Ubuntu in the last 2 weeks, and will probably get a few more as people get fed up with Vista. I even saw Ubuntu running the POS computers where I get my oil changed.

If the version of Ubuntu that comes out in April is as stable and user-friendly as I hope, I'll start actually recommending at least a dual-boot setup to ordinary Windows users.

And thanks for your patience with my nerd-speak.