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The advantages of Linux (Specifically Ubuntu) over Windows to the average user

This article talks about a variety of ways that Linux has advantages over Windows and a few things that Windows still has advantage over Linux. I am comparing it with Windows 7 and Vista, since they are both updated operating systems. Windows XP is not considered an “updated” operating system, and due to timeframe differences it can not be easily compared to Linux.

Focus:

• Office
  • Running MS-Office under WINE
  • Running OpenOffice natively
• Internet Use
  • Increasingly supported WiFi
  • Web Browser
  • Virus “Protection”
  • Email Clients
  • Instant Messenger
• Capabilities
  • Web Server
  • Remote Desktop Abilities
  • System Compatibility
    • Resources used/required
• Games
  • Increasing game support for programs run under WINE and PlayOnLinux (POL)
  • Built-in games
• Security
  • More on Virus Protection
  • More on Firewall
  • OS Updates
• Price for what you get

Office

When it comes to your office applications, Linux is actually pretty well “in there” for you. You have a few options when it comes to office suits. You can use Microsoft Office in Linux while running it under a program called WINE (WINE is not an emulator). WINE is a compatibility-layer for Linux that allows for 32bit Windows executables to be run “natively” under Linux. It provides the nessasary system files to run Windows programs.
MS-Office with WINE can not run:

• Outlook
• Microsoft Access
• Excel (mixed reviews on how well it works)
• Publisher (can start up, and somewhat create, but some files will not open)

Some other extra features of programs like Word may also not work, but Word itself and PowerPoint work at a basic level if you really need to use these programs.

OpenOffice provides all of the features of MS-Office (some more advanced and improved, some not as much). I highly recomend trying it, even if you are in Windows. www.openoffice.org

If you only need a word processor, and you do not like OpenOffice, I also recomend trying out AbiWord. http://www.abisource.com/ AbiWord used to be a higher choice of Linux users, and often came with many distributions until OpenOffice surpassed it’s featureset and capibilities.

Both AbiWord and OpenOffice are completely free, neither require registration (though OpenOffice apperciates users who register at least once). Both are actively worked on, and are frequently updated. In Ubuntu, OpenOffice will be updated along with system updates, so you don’t have to worry about installing these sorts of updates.

Internet Use

WiFi

Not all that long ago (2007-ish) Linux had very little native WiFi support. Most laptops and computers that had WiFi needed to have advanced configuration to get WiFi to work correctly under Linux. Most descent distributions of Linux (namely Ubuntu) now support most WiFi chipsets without a problem, right out of the box. Sometimes you will have to download restricted drivers, which may require that you “plug in” your computer directly to a router.

Internet Browsers

Ubuntu, and many distributions of Linux, comes with FireFox. FireFox is an open-source, very secure, and free web browser used by many Linux and Windows users. It holds a very heavy marketshare of the web browsers, and has many features and addons/plugins.

Some Linux uesrs will install Internet Explorer under WINE, or WINE-Doors. This has very little use, however, unless you visit a website that absolutely requires that you are running Internet Explorer.

Virus Protection

FireFox, in specific, is very impervious when it comes to security leaks and viruses. This is another reason why it is so popular.

Linux itself is currently considered “virus-proof” as well. Very few viruses have been written for it, and that is where its “protection” mainly comes from. Do consider, however, that having WINE installed, if you accidently download a program that looks valid and turns out to be a virus (also called a Trojan, in reference to the Trojan Horse), it can cause problems inside WINE. Fortunately, WINE is a somewhat closed environment, and it shouldn’t affect the rest of the system.

Email Clients

By default, Ubuntu comes with Evolution as a mail client. I personally recommend Thunderbird (t-bird) with the Lightning extension installed for use under both Windows and Linux. Evolution works fine as a default client for basic email use.
Windows 7 will not have a default email client (such as Outlook Express, or “Windows Mail”). Both Windows Vista and XP had built-in mail clients that worked descently. Windows 7 will recommend that users use a program called Windows Live Mail, which works okay but it is a little slow.

Both Evolution and T-Bird with Lightning Extension installed are basically duplicates of the Microsoft Outlook program, with the exception of being able to synchronize with your phone (they can sync with your Google Calendar, however).

The ability to sync with a Windows Mobile device is a major disadvantage of Linux. Apparently (though I have not tested it), PalmOS is a device that can sync with Linux without much problem.

Windows Mobile can sync with Linux if you go through the hoops to install off-the-wall software to enable synchronization, however it is not worth the time and effort (in my opinion).

Instant Messenger

By default, Ubuntu comes with a instant messenger client called Pidgin. It supports all major instant messenger protocols. To specify just a few:

MSN, Yahoo, AOL, ICQ, and Jabber. MySpaceIM is still being worked on.

If you decide that you do not like Pidgin, and you happen to be an MSN uesr, there is a program called aMSN.

aMSN is a “clone” of MSN Messenger. It’s certainly not exactly the same, but it functions just as a messenger program should. It supports all the major features of MSN Messenger as well, including voice clips and descent file transfer. (Pidgin does not transfer files well with MSN).

Capabilities

Linux makes an excellent web server, FTP server, SSH Server, and MySQL server. Setting up these types of servers is more for advanced users, but by far, Linux supports all of these the best.

Windows 7 has introduced built-in ISS (Internet Information Services) which is what Windows Server 2003 and Server 2008 use for managing web servers. It’s fairly simple to set up, all you need to do is make a site to go with it, forward your ports, and configure your power options to make sure your computer stays on. This feature can be installed under “Turn Windows Features On or Off”

Better, and more reliable web servers are run under Linux using Apache2.

Remote Desktop

In Ubuntu, under System> Preferences> “Remote Desktop” you can enable a basic remote desktop program with a password.
In order to connect to this type of remote desktop, you must have a program called “UltraVNC Viewer” installed on your other computers. The VNC Viewer (remote desktop viewer) is installed on Ubuntu by default. (Applications> Internet> “Remote Viewer”). The “home” versions of Vista and Windows 7 do not support remote desktop connections through “Remote Desktop”. UltraVNC can be installed on Windows computers as well, and is very useful.

System Compatibility

Ubuntu is designed with many users in mind. Older computers can run Ubuntu, take a look at the requirements:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/SystemRequirements

Recommended minimum requirements

Ubuntu should run reasonably well on a computer with the following minimum hardware specification. However, features such as visual effects may not run smoothly.

• 700 MHz x86 processor
• 384 MB of system memory (RAM)
• 8 GB of disk space
• Graphics card capable of 1024×768 resolution
• Sound card (If you want sound)
  
• A network or Internet connection

Ubuntu is a great solution for users who have older computers, but who also want an updated operating system. Ubuntu is very good for kids computers as well.

My computer, personally, is a Dell with a 1.73GHz CoreDuo processor, with 2GB of RAM, and a nVidia GeForce GO 7300 graphics card with 256MB of shared (128MB dedicated) memory. Right now, while I am writing this very sentence, I am running FireFox with 7 tabs open, Thunderbird (Email with calendar), Pidgin (Instant Messenger), IRC (Chatzilla), and Rhythm Box (like Windows Media Player). I am currently using 505MB of System RAM, and am not actively utalizing any of my swap/page file. Both processors are running actively at right around 30%.

These are the specifications of my computer at this very moment, it changes contantly and varies from computer to computer.

Overall, Ubuntu does not use a whole lot of system resources when compared to other popular operating systems.

Games

Ubnutu comes with many built-in “office safe” games. Basic card games, chess, “four in a row”, and a few block-breaker style games.

As for other games, there is a progam called PlayOnLinux (PoL) which “helps” non-native games install on Linux. WINE is required for PoL to work properly. Check out Wine’s Appication Database, search for your favourite 3D games and see if they work with Linux. If the game mentions PoL, then PoL will be nessasary to install the programme.

Security

Virus Protection

It is important to say that Linux has no virus protection.

Some day, when Linux becomes more popular, it’s virus issues could be just as bad as those of Windows. Here is why:
Imagine that you are an evil computer hacker/virus programmer. Who are you going to target? The 80-90% of computer users who belong to Windows? Or the other minorities?

Obviously, to infect the most people, you are going to target Windows users, since it’s the most common executable platform.

This is where Linux’s virus “protection” comes from. It’s just not a target operating system. This is also the case for Macintosh and OS X.

A PC is safe to use when you have virus protection and spyware protection, and when you do frequent weekly scans. There are free virus protection programs such as Avast Home Edition and AVG Free Edition.

Firewall

As stated above, Linux is also a less hacked operating system. But, it does have a good firewall built in. Still, it is not advised that you leave ports open while there is no program associated with them, and also recomended that you do not DZM your computer. (You’ll know what DZM is when you run across it).

You should consider, however, that Windows 7 and Vista both include a very good basic firewall, just like Ubuntu.

OS Updates

Microsoft releases frequent security updates for Windows for free, as well as service packs. These updates will download on their own, and either install at a specific time or ask you when to install them.

Ubuntu is very similar, with the exception that Ubuntu will also update many of its built-in programs (such as FireFox, Thunderbird, Pidgin, and many of the other programs we have talked about) and, when a new version of Ubuntu comes out, it will ask you if you want to upgrade to that version, which is also free!

From what I have seen, Ubuntu updates are slightly more frequent than those of Windows, and are also often larger.

The Price

Ubuntu is Free.

Windows is not.

Using Ubuntu will save you a $150-something upgrade price. If you want to upgrade an older computer with a new operating system, try Linux. The price is worthwihle.

Try it before you comitt to it!

There are two ways to try Ubuntu:

1, download the installer CD, put the CD in your computer while you start up, and select “Try Ubuntu without Installing It”

2, Download Wubi http://wubi-installer.org/
Wubi will install Ubuntu under the Windows bootloader. When you start your computer, it will ask you which operating system you want to use. Later, if you decide that you do not like Ubuntu, you can simply go to Add/Remove Programs in Windows, and uninstall Ubuntu.

Thank you for reading,

This article was focused at Windows users, and I do in fact favour Ubuntu in it since I think it is fair to favour Ubuntu. In the end, it’s up to you. Windows is better for some users.

For example, I woulden’t recomend installing Ubuntu on your grandparents computer if you just got done teaching them how to check their email in Windows. The same goes for parent’s computers who are not very tech-savvy.

Copyright/Citation

You may NOT take this article and use it in any way on your website and call it your own. Furthermore, you may not edit this article into your own words.

You may include a excerpt of up to three paragraphs total on your website, with a citation BEFORE and AFTER the excerpt, linking back to this article exactly (not just the root website). Citation shold go as follows:

This excerpt came from:
“Advantages of Linux over Windows to the average user” – By Jesse Zylstra at www.zylstrablog.co.nr
http://66.172.101.250/wordpress/?p=133
(C) 2009 — Jesse Zylstra

You may edit the text to fit into your websites formatting, as long as it is visible and in the same order as listed above. Must be readable, 8pt font at the very least.

Normally I don’t make as much as a fuss about these sorts of things, but this article was more extensively written than my other articles.