The Ubuntu Experiment

[Lorenzo Taylor]

Windows XP doesn't crash? That's the first time I've ever heard of that
one. :) As a person who works on computers of all kinds, including those
running Ubuntu and other Linux-based OS's and Windows 2000 and XP, I can
tell you that XP definitely crashes. It gets spyware that even the best
antispyware programs can't fully clear off. Performance degrades over
time as you use it even if you turn it off whether you get spyware
and/or viruses or not. Not to mention the fact that Microsoft
conveniently eliminated the blue screen of death so that XP just
suddenly reboots for no apparent reason and any work you did prior to
the reboot is lost. This is a problem I used to have at least 3 times a
week when I used XP. And it doesn't seem to matter if you use pro or
home, since the only major difference is the applications included with
the OS, for example the second-rate web server that is included only
with the professional version.  Does XP crash with all hands lost? Most
definitely it does. Regular backups are a requirement rather than a nice
thing to do when running any version of Windows.

On the other hand, using and working with Ubuntu has been a real
pleasure for me. Regular backups are still a very good thing to do, but
the only time I had a major loss was when my original Western Digital
hard drive failed. I have had the same 200GB Seagate drive running now
for the last 4 years almost constantly without any loss of files. I
reinstall Ubuntu periodically, but only because I like living on the
edge and testing the latest and greatest advances and innovations. I
actually have a separate hard drive for the main system and for /home,
so I don't lose anything if I want to test the installer or install an
upgraded version from the live CD rather than via apt. I have seen no
spyware or viruses since working with Linux in 2003. And very rarely
does my system crash to the point where I can't at least save my work as
soon as I notice that there may be a problem. And the last time Linux
rebooted on me was back in late 2003 when I ran Red Hat 9 and the kernel
panicked because there was a bug in the driver for my sound card which
caused a reboot fairly frequently.

So stability and performance is definitely a major selling point for
Ubuntu. I would recommend it over Windows in a heartbeat.

Live long and prosper,
Lorenzo
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