Bye bye windows, almost.

I’ve recently got an ASUS EEE PC 1000 that came with a linux distro instead of Windows. Now, I’m not very techy when it comes to Linux so I thought it was going to be a steep learning curve and I’d get too frustrated with it.

The linux version that came with the netbook was Xandros, and was for netbooks and their small screens. It worked fine and I was impressed at just how usable it was. I will admit that I haven’t mastered the terminal yet, but thankfully you can do a lot without resorting to the command line interface.

It wasn’t long before I started looking at what other distros were available. Ubuntu looked like a good choice, and a version of it called Easy Peasy (sorry, but that’s a rubbish name) which was specifically for the ASUS EEE PC. So I gave that a go. Again it all worked and installed without a hitch.

Then I heard that Ubuntu had released 9.04 Jaunty Jacolope (great name) and a version for netbooks. Now Easy Peasy is a derivitive of Ubuntu with a few tweaks, but I wanted to get as close to the main stream Ubuntu as I could, so it got installed. Piece of cake, and worked without any issues.

I was beginning to become a fan of Ubuntu despite still not really knowing all the ins and outs of running linux.

I then thought that it could bring my knackered Acer laptop back to life after I’d stuck it in a cupboard after it became far too slow with windows on it. So today I downloaded the iso from ubuntu.com and wiped my windows laptop and got ubuntu up and running. I’m using it now and it’s great. So I now have a laptop again. The netbook is great of course, but the screen just isn’t big enough for development work. So I can now sit on my sofa with my feet up and do the things I need to do on my other web sites, including redesigning and rebranding my photography forum which is long overdue.

So that got me thinking, and gave me the idea for this post, just what do I need windows for? Can I get rid of windows on my desktop computer too?

So let’s think.

Email and web browsing. Well I run all my email through a google apps account, so it’s all online. So all I need is a web browser, and ubuntu comes with firefox, so no issues there.

Web development. Well all I really need is a text editor, so again no issues. I’ve found Bluefish to be pretty decent for ubuntu so that sorts that out. But hang on, what about graphics. Now, this is where I start to hit problems. I use Adobe Photoshop to produce graphics for my web sites, and it’s not available for linux. Bugger. But there is a decent graphics program for linux called GIMP (great name) which will do everything I need it to, just not quite in the same way as photoshop, so a little learning is needed, but that’s not a major issue.

Right, this next one is a problem. Microsoft SQL Server. I need this for when I work at home as it’s the database that powers the web sites I work on for my day job. With my current knowledge of linux, this is a problem. I believe there is a windows emulator where I could run SQL Server, but I don’t know how well that would fit in with the dev environment I need. So some research needed there.

Perhaps the main sticking point for me Adobe Lightroom. I am really into photography and I use this excellent piece of software to manage and work on my photos. I can’t do without it. I have seen similar software for linux but I haven’t really tried it and I’m sure it’s not going to be as good as Lightroom is.

Thinking more about it, it is only SQL Server and Adobe Lightroom that I need windows for. So if anyone knows a solution for those two, then I can finally get rid of windows all together which will be great!

Why do I hate windows so much. Well without being too rude, it’s a pain in the arse, clunky and all the software costs lots. Linux is now a viable alternative. The interface is very similar to windows so using it is very simple. Some things are done slightly differently. The file system is a lot more secure, no bad thing, there are loads of good, free applications for it which cover just about anything you need to do on a computer and best of all, it’s free. No stupid licensing, serial numbers or ways for microsoft to keep tabs on you.

So as soon as I can find a solution for the two sticking points, it will be bye bye windows and I shall drink many cups of tea to celebrate when that day comes.

Do you want to know another good thing about linux. By downloading the iso and putting it on a cd, you can run ubuntu on your windows machine without actually installing it. So you can try it and see what you think while keeping windows as it is. How good is that. Imagine running windows without having to install it…. I don’t think so.

That is all.