Ubuntu 14.04 desktop review

I have been running Linux on and off for a long time now (albeit with a brief dalliance with Apple and an even briefer one with Windows 8). I find Linux fast, stable and really easy to use. 

In the past, at various times I have used Manjaro, Zipslack, Wary Puppy, Crunchbang, Debian, Mageia, Fedora and Ubuntu. I have a preference towards the Debian forks, and since the Unity bar came out, Ubuntu has been my favourite.

Now before I get crucified by the uber-nerd brigade getting hairy chested about Arch, I like the unity bar. It's very productive. It suits my way of working. I like the way it looks, too. It inspires me. End of argument!

So when the latest version of Ubuntu came out yesterday (Trusty Tahr), I decided to upgrade right away. First impression is that very little has changed. Canonical have ambitions to deliver smart phones and greater integration of Ubuntu across all platforms. So I have lowered my short term expectations, on the expectation of much more later on :-)

The first thing you really notice is they have upped the design quality. Everything is brighter, sharper and a little - dare I say it - slicker. Unity appears to be delivering search results quicker, and the controversial Amazon search is now an opt-in function, rather than automatically on. Here are some more features I have noticed.

• The lock screen now has the same look and feel as the rest of the unity interface, which is a welcome addition that looks great.
• Sound volume can be boosted much higher - a useful feature if you are plugging your laptop into different sound systems.
• Application menus can be put in the window, on the dock or in the HUD menu in unity.
• Windows can be resized in real time without that annoying box.
• There is increased graphic support, including NVIDIA, Optimus and HiDP. 
•  The unity icons can be made much smaller than before.
• Windows do not have any borders.
• The guest session gives you a warning about being a temporary session on opening.

"Cut to the chase, Rich. Is it worth upgrading?"

My mother's laptop is still quite happily running Ubuntu 12.04, which will be supported until 2017. There are no big changes to functionality with the 'Trusty Tahr'... no 'must-have' features. Ubuntu has chosen a path of evolution, rather than revolution. Certainly, it is an improvement from the previous releases. But I'm enthusiastic about 15.04, which I expect big things from. I would count 14.04 as being a bit like Apple's change from Leopard to Snow Leopard. It's a small change, waiting on the anticipation of big things to come.

How I gave Windows 8 a chance

As my Apple Mac recently gave up the ghost (a combination of some very heavy use on my part, and diminishing returns on hardware performance), have bought a new desktop. It's a very nice Acer, that I know I'm going to be happy with!!!

Interestingly enough, it came packaged with the latest version of windows - the much maligned Windows 8.

Now I'm a fair man. I'll give anyone a chance. I got annoyed with Windows XP due to virus and reliability issues, so I moved to Apple, and I was happy for a while. I then kicked out IOS Lion and replaced it with the Linux-based operating system called Ubuntu. Since XP, Microsoft has released Windows 7, which I currently use at work, and I'm quite happy with that. So I decided to give Windows 8 the benefit of the doubt.

So here are my observations:

The whole experience of running windows has been significantly simplified. To me, windows 8 is a reaction to Apple. They are trying to achieve the same level of gloss and slickness that the guys at Cupertino are so good at. And generally, they achieve it. But there is still quite a lag. It's smooth, but not fast.

The metro bar has clearly been designed for the new generation of tablet computers. But I'm afraid it's just not good enough for power users who want to be really slick between applications on a desktop. There are too many times where the UI just doesn't give you the opportunity to see how you can do something straight away. I became quickly frustrated with it, and within 45 minutes had decided to get the latest linux distro and wipe windows 8 altogether. 

I'm sure windows 8 is excellent for the up and coming generation of tablet computers, but I find it clumsy and resource hungry on a desktop computer. It made a brand new computer run slower than my 8 year old Apple Mac ever did. And that's just not good enough for an experienced user who wants a dense and powerful information experience.

So I'm back to Linux, which positively flies on this computer with plenty of power to spare. As the support for XP has been withdrawn, why not look into Linux as a replacement for XP? Get your requirements and head to the link below to see if you can find a distribution that is good for you. My suggestions are either Zorin, Ubuntu or Mint.

Find a list of all linux distributions here.