Punch the keys

One of the most sort after items while looking at a new OS or a new computing device is the boot up speed. The faster you are able to get the machine up and running, the better. The new OS, Chrome OS, being developed by Google is especially keen on being the fastest to start up. I mean thats one of the most talked about items on their videos or posts.  The mantra being, get as quickly online as possible !  The demo they showed already had the machine up in 7 seconds and ready to login. Where as a "normal" system may take from 20 seconds upwards to boot up. I say normal, because the more you use a system, chances are, the slower the machine boots. The fastest boot times are probably the times where your system has just been formated clean and a fresh installation of the OS done. There may be tweaking options to keep the system from slowing down, but then again I am talking about the general case here. A couple of weeks back, I installed Ubuntu 10.10 on my home desktop and wa...

WOW! I had been trying to use Ubuntu or some version of Linux for some time now and have not been able to make the switch. And now, for the past few weeks, I have been running on Ubuntu at home. How did it happen? A lightening strike! No, No quite literally a lightening strike. Let me explain. Like many homes now days, we too, have a desktop and laptop. Both were running on Windows XP. A couple of months back, the performance of our laptop started to degradem and I thought it was time for a re-install. So I started off with the Windows installation, which I must say is pretty straightforward. Well, straight forward, provided the CD/DVD drive works. As in my case, the installation stopped half way through as the CD could not be read. This left me in a lurch. I now had a laptop but no OS installed on it. The windows re-install had aborted in the middle which left the system unusable. The alternatives at this point were to Contact the support center. Replace the DVD drive Try and bo...

While I was away... (I was out of touch for a long time from the linux world) there was another release of Ubuntu. It is named Intrepid Ibex . This version was released in October '08. Hope to be catching up with this soon. Or should I be sticking to Heron? Heron will be supported for longer. Hmm, if I don't find something seriously interesting in Ibex, I think I will just go with Heron. So whats Intrepid? –adjective resolutely fearless; dauntless: an intrepid explorer . and what's an Ibex? n.   pl. ibex or i·bex·es  Any of several wild goats of the genus Capra, especially C. ibex,native to mountainous regions of Eurasia and northern Africa and having long, ridged, backward-curving horns. -- definitions from dictionary.com You can find more about the Ubuntu releases at the Wikipedia link . 

On October 18th, the new release of ubuntu was made available. The new version is 7.10 and codenamed gutsy gibbon. I had been using the beta release from the begining of October and let me tell you it is an awesome experience. From the start itself I felt a visible change in speed. The applications and usage somehow felt very very fast. It detected my nVidia card and compiz is available with the package. What this means is that, excellent graphics are now availble right with the OS.

As I thought, I am back on Kubuntu :-( I really liked what I saw with SUSE 10.2 but, somehow I couldn't get my display drivers configured correctly. Incidentally, the work at office was also piling up so couldn't go into the issue. BUT, I promise myself to look into it as soon as I have time. In the meantime, I have loaded Kubuntu. Configured most of my applications as I wanted it. With Kubuntu, Firefox, evolution, gimp are not default as with ubuntu. But, installing these have been extremely simple. When I get time, I will be back to try out more with SUSE. I seem to line Kubuntu better than Ubuntu. Base difference of course, being KDE rather than the Gnome. I have also got Nvidia drivers and beryl running, which adds glitter to the interface. Updating the system for the first time from the repositories. This is taking a while.

In the recent times, I have been quite fascinated with Linux flavours. In college I had tried out installing RHEL (Red Hat Linux), Debian, FreeBSD etc to try them out. But eventually threw them out and settled with Windows. But off late, the ease of use of Ubuntu caught my attention and I installed it as a secondary Operating System(OS) in my home. My experience with Ubuntu so far has been very good. If not great. I must confess that I am not a power Linux user. So the Linux version, or any OS in fact, that I use should have a considerable amount of user interface for administration. And as little administration as possible. I can manage most configurations even if they warrant file editing. But need the help to be sufficiently detailed. A great part of Ubuntu is the installation. You get to try the OS even before the installation is done. The LiveCD concept really rocks! I was able to view documents, check mail, watch clips, well do just about anything without even installing the OS. ...