From time-to-time many business, and home users alike may consider moving to a Linux platform, but they tend to stop, as they may still consider Linux to be an immature operating system (O/S), to be only used by whiz-kids. It may also be considered that Linux represents technological challenges that are too much to overcome, as it will prove to be difficult to both maintain and run. However, nothing could be further from the truth.

Ubuntu Linux may just be one distribution that changes this perception, to bring Linux into the grasp of the computing masses, both at home, and within the business environment. The Ubuntu version we evaluated was 8.04 running on a Dell 1525. Installation was extremely simple, and our system was up and running in no time, and more importantly without a single hitch.

The first thing we noticed was the speed of the system coming to life, offering its log-in page quicker than my Windows Vista Ultimate, or XP Systems. Logging on to Ubuntu then loads the GNOME Desktop, which provides the interface to the world of your local Linux install. The first must do task was configuring the WiFi 802.11g interface, and wired network connection, which proved to be a very simple operation, and in a very short time the system was connected to the Internet via both air and wire.

When exploring the GNOME Desktop the user will notice menu bars at both the top and bottom of the screen - it is from here the entire system may be driven. As a simple example, the bottom menu bar drives the windows etc, and hosts the Trash Bin. The top bar in the basic install presents Applications, Places, and System, as well as icons to provide quick access to applications, and utilities such as Firefox, Battery Life indicator, and Network Connections status.

Once up and running I could see that Ubuntu had made itself at home on the network and was showing all of its neighboring partner systems, populating them into the browser area. The other great feature about Ubuntu 8.04 is the hosted offering of tools, utilities, which are accessed from the System tab (top bar) providing access to useful stuff like Network Tools, Bluetooth. From the Applications Menu, access to a range of productive and fun features are enjoyed, ranging from Office Applications, Graphics Tools, and of course Games. Also here for the security conscious, the encryption tool PgP is provided free of cost, and so encryption keys may be easily generated to secure all of that content you are intending to generate.

Once the system was in full operational mode, it was now important to update its profile and hosted applications. This was a simple matter of clicking on the System > Administration > Update Manager, search for what was available, and then select, and install to place the Ubuntu system, and resident applications in a fully up-to-date state with the latest patches and fixes (very important for any system).

When it comes to the area of Office Productivity, this is provided by an installation of OpenOffice.org version 2.4 providing the usual stuff – Word Processing, Spreadsheet, Presentations, and Database. Again this loaded extremely quickly, and the great feature here is it can be driven by the same tried and tested commands available under Windows, like F7 (Spell Check), Ctrl X (Cut), and Ctrl V (Paste) and so on, so from the user perspective, they empowered very quickly. The evaluation also considered inter-system compatibility, and ported over Microsoft Office productions out of Office 2007 Presentations, and Word, and they loaded without any problem whatsoever, and were presented to meet expectations (see Note 1). Also provided is a zero cost Office to PDF application which allows the user to port any produced document into PDF format (a buy in feature with MS Office) – and one important fact I did forget to mention is, OpenOffice is also free.

When it comes to security, we would never wish to say that Linux was more secure than Windows. However simple fact of life is, it is less targeted than the Windows O/S, and Applications, and is at this time more resilient to virus infections. However nevertheless one should still ensure that this, and for that matter any other system and application, remains up-to-date with vendor patches and fixes to give a high level of confidence in that the security profile in intact and current.

Ubuntu is also now provided as an O/S install option by a number of hardware providers on Laptop, Workstation, and Server products, for example Dell - which not only saves the end user the install time, but given Ubuntu is also free, it also keeps the overall cost down of the purchase. Add this to the savings made by the provision of the zero cost Office Applications, and tools, and when you do the math, you will find a considerable saving have been made!

Note 1: Whilst OpenOffice is compatible with Microsoft Word, basic features (which in fact covers a very wide range of office productivity and functionality) some of the more advanced features found in Office 2007 and onward are not currently supported - e.g. XML features. However, with the exception of Power Users, for we mortals, this should not pose any significant issue.