Recently I got fed up with windows constant problems and crashes. I have (had) an XP install on this machine and after only a few months I had more problems than I care to have, and they were weird, annoying problems with no clear fix. Of course windows usually fix is, wipe the drive and reinstall the OS. While this works, I hate it. It takes time and I customize every aspect of my system, so this takes a lot of time to reproduce each time.
Given that ive been a windows guy my whole life, starting with 3.1 the thought of switching to another OS, is freighting. Or at least it was.
And so I began an install of Ubuntu Edgy, it was a LiveCD so I expected to play with the new OS while it installed. Unfortunately I got some weird error and the cd wouldnt load, this was a compatibility problem with my motherboard (Asus m2n32sli), after googling the error I found an easy fix. All I had to do was update the BIOS, which took care of the boot problem and a few others :)
Upon booting into the liveCD I found it ran quite nice considering it wasnt installed and all running from memory and CD. So I installed, and well...it couldnt have been easier. Point and click the whole way. Faster than installing windows, and it seemed like less work too.
Upon rebooting into my new Ubuntu installation I was greated with gnome, and my learning began. Everything worked out of the box, but not quite how I wanted. The only things I needed to fix (and they were only cause im picky) was some mouse settings (scroll wheel, back button) and my video drivers. My only real problem in linux so far has been video drivers. I unfortunately have an ATI card and I spent way, way too much time trying to make this work.
Fastforward around 2 months, I have no installed Kubuntu Feisty and it went really well also. I have learned that linux is not windows (good one to keep in mind), ive learned many things are easier in linux, some are harder. But all in all kubuntu, ubuntu, etc, seem to be a great alternative OS.
We shall call this part 1. If I ever feel like it I will write part 2 :)
