hi there,

"If a dyed-in-the-wool Windows user like me can make the switch, anyone can"

Only because you're a power user and developer. Not all "dyed-in-the-wool Windows " users have that capability or the willingness to debug and fix issues.

You might wanna say, any power user can ?

thank you,

BR,
~A

I will be very interested in your Ubuntu Linux experiences. I am considering dual-booting my laptop with Windows XP Pro and Ubuntu Gutsy, so I will follow your blog entries as they appear. Don't let the Windows fanatics or the Ubuntu "fan-boys" sway your opinions -- I'd like an honest, objective evaluation of the Ubuntu experience from a long-time Windows user. There are many of us who fit (more or less) your user profile.

Sorry primak, nobody fits this M$ sucker user profile. I'm sure he'll come up tomorrow with stupid reasons (as usual) on why Ubuntu is not like his mighty Vista!

This is a joke. You have obviously spent much more time with windows than linux. You expect be just as proficient as you are with windows after 30 days. Also, you are stuck in a microsoft controlled system. This would be a much better trial if you programmed in java on an oracle database. Both java and oracle run in both windows and linux.

"specific and non-negotiable" - must run windows apps that interact with other windows software as well as windows does.

Hmm. You trash ubuntu over the course of five articles, then confess to have merely dabbled in it and propose an unbiased review. This does your credibility no favours. Then you set up a suboptimal drive configuration and declare your intention to run a virtualised MS development environment. Hardly a fair test- you know the limitations of virtualisation, as well as those microsoft imposes on those who attempt to emulate their libraries, as well as I do.

FYI - I use both windows xp and linux (I have no choice at work - they won't let me develop on mono). I find windows software bloated, buggy and overpriced, and often find myself wondering why so many "power users" flock to Microsoft's defence.

The list of poor applications and features is long: the security/web standards nightmare that is IE, the crippled dos shell, the build-breaking sourcesafe, the crash-happy mediaplayer, the registry (it's quite interesting how often I find non-technical users who know a fair bit about this little treat).

That's without going into the issue of vendor lock-in: microsoft's dominance of the marketplace seems to owe a great deal more to their lawyers and marketing teams than their ability to produce quality sofware, but even they haven't been able to polish the turd that is Vista. And XP was almost stable...

With Ubuntu, I can honestly say that each release shows a definite improvement over its predecessor and the current version knocks MS's efforts into a cocked hat. The fact that it has achieved its status without the resources that drive the development of Windows or Mac OS is nothing short of remarkable.

With a little luck, more "power users" of windows will begin to take notice of linux in whatever flavour (choice is the key here :). A great many will discover how little "power" windows really gave them. Besides, if non-technical users can cope with it (and they are), shouldn't they?

I await your conclusions with interest.

To be honest, I wouldn't recommend Ubuntu as the working operating system for a develop like yourself. If you're developing for Windows, using Windows-based development tools, you should be using Windows, period.

As was mentioned above, it would be an entirely different story for somebody who was working with cross-platform development tools and testing environment.

Here's my prediction of your 30-day experience: If your work is reliant on Windows apps, stick with Windows. Duh.

Isn't this a bit ambitious? Being a .NET developer of complex applications, running 64-bit instances, and so on?

Even though I hear decent things about WINE and the like, I doubt that Linux is going to satisfy you. Despite the fact that you are dual booting, it just seems like you are complicating your life for a very limited payoff.

My suggestion would be somewhat different. You are technical, and a developer, so approach it from your strengths. Start developing using *nix tools and libraries that are Windows compatible. I have some (limited) experience with this and it seems to work very well.

Stay in the Windows world and slowly introduce new concepts and utilities. You can get *nix shells, commands, API's, documentation, the whole range of stuff you want. I've been pleasantly surprised at the substantial functionality you can plug into Windows this way with relatively little effort. It also works on other OS's too.

Windows and Ubuntu are not equal nor will they ever be. I ran UNIX systems, NT servers, RedHat and Ubuntu servers as well as Linux and Windows desktops. I run Ubuntu on my Presario X1000 laptop exclusively. But I still use a separate Windows machine to use Skype with video. As long as there are multiple operating systems (UNIX, Linux, MAC, Windows x.x, etc.) there will always be some applications that only run and work well on specific platforms. To contrive a contest where some applications work and others do not is simplistic and silly. Linux people could build a huge list of applications that are a "must" and then slam Windows for not having them-- the Synaptic Package Manager on Ubuntu is a simple example of a package that has no Windows equivalent. Certainly there will always be a game that is OS specific-- but since I only use my computer as a work tool, Ubuntu works fine for me. And I am sure that Windows works fine for many other people-- as it should be. That said-- good luck on your test, but I expect to read only about your great disappointment.

Uh, what?

You say you are going to live in an ubuntu world, but your world is clearly based on microsoft technologies. And don't forget that microsoft products like office, .net and the like are designed by microsoft to only run on windows. It should be amazing if you are able to do this at all. It's not plausible to try and run windows software on linux and call it a linux experience. But, it may run under these emulators such as wine, miraculously enough. Why emulate visual studio when you can probably download a program that can do the same thing but was developed for linux?

>that runs as a service under Windows.ASP.NETThat runs atop windows...Visual Studio 2005<
That runs pretty slow on windows. Imagine the head-ache if you emulate it.

Good luck. I expect your report to be grossly biased.

Ridiculous !!

Is like asking why my Ferrari can run 200mph in Manhattan.

I you are involved in .NET 2.0, is your problem. Not even Ubuntu could save you.

The thing about Unix is that once you learn the basics (shell, ed, vi, sed, ...) you have a great amount of power which you can use GUI or no GUI. It takes time and effort to learn those basics, but once learned, the time invested will have been very worthwhile and eventually you will very likely feel that you have more and better control over a typical Unix system than you do over a typical Windows system.

Good luck on your one month test. Cheers,

Marnix

EXCELLENT!!!

I love the fact that you're taking this journey. There are MANY Windows users that have always wanted to try making the jump into a Linux environment, but haven't been able to. Your experience will be very informative for many of us who would like to take the same path.

Being a long-time MS user (since DOS 2.x), with the occasional 'dabble' in Linux and UNIX, I too have found it difficult to switch over to Linux. Every time I try, I run into technical challenges. Any seasoned Linux user would find these challenges extremely basic, but simply not knowing some of the basics makes the environment extremely difficult to jump into. When I run into trouble, I usually turn to newsgroups for help first. My issues are usually so 'beginner-ish' that I'm sure tons of posts are already out there with the answer. What I find often kind of disgusts me though. I find that when 'basic' questions are posted, a lot of the responses from the Linux community are snobish or demoralizing. It's kind of like "are you stupid or something? How could you ask such a stupid simple question?" This type of attitude shuns people like me away from what could be a wonderful journey. Some of the posts above are case-in-point -- A Windows user wants to try Linux for 30 days to demonstrate that it could be done and instead of cheering him on, there are posts bashing him for trying! Come on!

Don't get me wrong -- there are A LOT of very friendly and helpful Linux users out there whom would love to help out a newbie. I truely appreciate their help -- I just wish everyone was like that.

PAVE THE WAY FOR US, MY FRIEND!

Absolutely silly. Whatever the outcome it should be discounted. An MS centric developer using Linux. How about using a hammer to as a screwdriver.