Comments on: Ubuntu 9.04: What's New for Desktop Users?

By: Maxime

Maxime — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 21:08:41 +0000

I wonder why Ubuntu can do things and distros like Opensuse and Fedora cannot or will not. In all fairness, I do prefer Opensuse but there is always hassle thus am I using Ubuntu today. (But this more because I like the personage of Mark Shuttleworth). Ubuntu is great and probably can be used for all purposes in the mainstream. I foresee that Ubuntu can become like Mac, meaning the whole package: computer (laptop) with operation system. And instead of buying a Mac one can buy an Ubuntu. Would be great!

By: MCSE who uses Ubuntu

MCSE who uses Ubuntu — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 18:01:12 +0000

Too many mainstream apps still do not work or are not at all compatible with Ubuntu. I am pleasantly pleased with the GUI and the tools that come with it but cannot run this in my corporate enviroment due to compatibility issues. I also like Windows installer packages and would like to see a similar installer type for Linux. You cannot beat the price of Ubuntu but it suffers in those areas I mentioned. Keep building a great product and maybe in 3 or 4 more generations, it will be suitable for Enterprise use

By: Allen

Allen — Mon, 04 May 2009 02:11:57 +0000

To Arcticmagnolia,

Install thunar file manager, through the package manager. It has an awesome bulk renaming tool, built into it.

I am using Ubuntu 9.04 / Xp / Vista and Linux Mint. I Loved PCLinuxOS 2007, but I always seem to come back to Ubuntu. Linux in general is incredible. Sometimes not as easy as Windows, but way safer, and so much more customizable.

P.s. I usually change the default theme right away (I like the Mac Look). But The brown theme is a refreshing change from the blues & greens of so many other distros.

Thank You To All Linux Distributions For There Hard Work!!

By: Tulga

Tulga — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 13:03:32 +0000

I haven’t used 9.04 yet, but downloading , thank you UBUNTU

By: arcticmagnolia

arcticmagnolia — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:46:59 +0000

Scotty Bones said: “If you have a problem installing Google Earth, take it up with Google. It is how ever in the Repos, so there is no need to download it from the Google website.” Even though the repo-way is nice it does not necessary work for all (I have Intrepid and done this and that and it still crashes) but as it is said, this is Google’s problem mainly.

What I really don’t understand is the bickering about color themes etc. What is important than color (& you can easily change themes . . . ) is the performance and usability. I think Ubuntu delivers these quite nicely.

I like Ubuntu & have gotten used to it. My problems usually lie in the applications (not being stable or not finding a version for your just installed version) .. and it takes time to get all the media and sound settings done correctly (+get mic working). I have made some concessions with some features when working on Ubuntu but I still believe that it is a good alternative to e.g. Windows.

Oh, one thing though, does anyone know have they managed to improve the renaming of multiple files and folders? There is an app for it but it would save a lot of time and nerves to be able to rename tons of files “naturally” through the file browser!

By: Jim

Jim — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 17:03:05 +0000

All of you who keep harping on Evolution not working well with Exchange… well you’re right Evolution pretty much sucks. Sorry – but it does. THAT SAID – just run Wine or Crossover and go with Outlook. It works just fine even up to version 2007. I am using Outlook 2003 on my Linux box at work on our exchange server and it works beautifully. In fact I find it hilarious that most of Office works better on Linux than my XP partition. Start time on Word and Excel is literally as fast as Windows is at opening notepad.

This poses the question: So Linux can run Windows apps… when do you see Microsoft supporting Linux? Ain’t going to happen. Go open source.

By: J S

J S — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 14:29:18 +0000

The brown theme argument… Ubuntu should ship with brown/orange, but make it easy to switch to blue or green or black.

I find a blue theme more relaxing, many others do too. I used Kubuntu for several years just because of the default colors. Sure you can change them, many people do (I do frequently as well), but most people do not. If the theme selection is not ‘right on top’ and easy to get to then people will load LiveCD and say “don’t like the brown” and go on.

There is marketing strength in leading with the brown/orange theme – it’s different than competitors. If you’re designing a new coffee house brand, you don’t pick green since Starbucks already has that color mapped out in consumers heads.

But do make it easy to switch color themes (and then users can tweak the icons, boarder colors, etc separately).

By: Kobi

Kobi — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 08:54:10 +0000

I can’t understand many of the comments here.
I have 11 employees and we work so hard to earn meney, then when buy a PC or laptop, I’m paying about $300 for OS and another $300 for office etc.
What about registry tools, anti virus, personal firewall and so much more?
I switched some of my PCs and laptops from XP Pro and Vista business to Linux and I want to thank Ubuntu for what they do for us.
It works great and all my guys love the traditional brown…
OpenOffice gives us everything we need and the new 9.04 runs better than any Windows I know.
Scotty Bones (32) said “It sounds like you need to re-adjust from doing things the windows way” and Roger said “Ubuntu is not perfect, but hey, out-of-the-box is much better than windows xp”.
And I, as a new user saying: THANK YOU UBUNTU.

By: Roger

Roger — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 19:24:45 +0000

Windows XP (the most used version of Windows) does not support RAID, any drivers, printers, codecs, or any resolution bigger than 800×600 and I am talking about out of the box. It does not recognize modems, graphic cards, monitors, printers, wireless or any nonbasic device. You have to find the damn disk that came with your computer, and even then most of the times, you have to deal with complicated menus or diferent executables for the same thing or find it by yourself on the internet.

Comparing Paint against GIMP or wordpad against openoffice and you are done comparing out-of-the-box functionality.

Ubuntu is not perfect, but hey, out-of-the-box is much better than windows xp (cannot talk much about Vista since it takes ages to do anything in my laptop)

By: MJ

MJ — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 00:00:45 +0000

@Scotty Bones

Actually, Vista Home Premium and Ultimate DO support DVD playback out-of-the-box… But hey, who wants them?

By: Scotty Bones

Scotty Bones — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:48:20 +0000

I’m getting sick of saying this, so here it is one more time just for your benefit. (@ captkit & WindowsFan)

WINDOWS DOES NOT SUPPORT DVD PLAYBACK OUT-OF-THE-BOX. This functionality is installed by the OEM’s.
There is no need to use the command line to install this support either, just open up your package manager, Synaptic, and install the ubuntu-restricted-extras.

If you have a problem installing Google Earth, take it up with Google. It is how ever in the Repos, so there is no need to download it from the Google website.

It sounds like you need to re-adjust from doing things the windows way. There is no need to download from web sites, that’s what the package managers are for.

By: Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 15:05:00 +0000

WindowsFan: It’s hard to argue with you. Linux (and Ubuntu) still have some nagging challenges. We’ll never hype Ubuntu as the “perfect” alternative to Windows, MacOS X or other Linux distributions. But we will track Ubuntu’s progress — responsibly — on WorksWithU.

Keep us honest. Let us know when our content misses the mark. And let us know if you ever make the leap to Ubuntu.

Best,

Joe Panettieri
Editorial Director
WorksWithU