I see where Ubuntu is very popular judging from this post and other sources..I however have tried at one time or another just about all(OK Many) of them..Like another poster above, was a fan of the RPM class of Linux, and finally settled on Mandriva(KDE) as my favorite choice..Version 2010 on my desktop and 2009 on my laptop(Dell 8600)..I have tried and for a while, used the dual boot routine but after a bit, I decided to get a hard drive removable rack and the race was on..Since then I have tried at various times Red Hat(now Fedora),Suse,Debian,Mint,Mepis,
Slackware,Sabayon,Puppy,and others ...I finally settled on Mandriva(KDE) as my choice but due to their financial hardship, I decided to look again..I have retried Ubuntu(Gnome)10.10, Ultimate Version 2.8(Gnome) ,and found them to be very capable..Of course they both use
.deb files instead of .rpm files..
One of my biggest gripes have been in the past was as most users know, was proprietary software ie: drivers and or programs..Many of us less capable users always seemed to have problems with newer hardware and software that was designed exclusively for Windows..
The Linux developer folks have come a long way indeed and at least in my case I would agree it is as easy to install as Windows..The main advantage is that Linux distributions have tons and tons of free software to offer..While free versions of Linux open source cannot include these proprietary drivers and software some offer you to agree to load this software on your own by clicking an "acceptance"..These include Flash,Nvidia Driver software and many of the video formats..
I rarely use windows now but do still own computers with XP,Vista,and Win7..Mostly because the family uses them and I usually try
to help out when a family member gets into trouble..I would estimate usage 90% Linux, and 10% windows..One big advantage is that Linux
for me is generally more secure than windows..I do not want to start a flame war because in many respects Win7 is just as robust as Linux..I think the bad guys go for windows because it is Number one worldwide..
Everyone has their own motive for trying something new but for me I think it was to keep this ageing brain active..I really now enjoy trying new things and it's challenges..
Jolphil
