OSNews

hi..

I use ubuntu and while its not perfect atm its a huge plus for the linux community because its committed to ease of use. Xandros is nice but I dont like their supermount as it only works from within xandros file manager, - which for users comfortable with their windows like env. is prob. fine and desireable.

I like review here of linpsire 5 but I wont use it because CNR is forced due to apt basically being borked in all distros other than pure debian ( and who doesn't like availability of thousands of binaries at your touch ), although cnr does clearly have other pros on its side. If linspire addressed the 'apt' issue, it might get my attention but for now ubuntu ( supermount just works as does my digital camera detection which prompts me right away to copy pics to the HD ) reigns supreme as one of the easiest to use OS's. It being free is a HUGE plus because oss is very important to me.

I would like to say for record though that I apprecaite what CNR offers new linux users although its somehwhat hard to convince me that ubuntu's offering isn't close to 100% as good when you consider that out of box you get synaptic and access ( via; system; admin; synatic package manager ) to thousands of free apps.

I choose ubuntu although windows users coming to linux might be better served by a install system that can handle re-partitioning a windows drive.

until ubuntu has a better focus on ease of use for internet needs out of the box; -which they are working on-, then i can't yet reccommend it unless you dont really mind installing some internet browsing items manually . You should keep in mind that while with windows you can edit files via vindows explorer and such, that in ubuntu, and most distros you must provide a password to access some files with intent to alter them. This is smart as it keeps out unwanted users/hackers from causing mischief ( first they must get past your password of course ) but of course means a slight learning curve for new users coming from windows. The curve is easily worth the price of admission though and will reward the user with a stable, efficient system and a huge , pleasant community to get help from as they make the migration.

The end result of this all is I think ubuntu is better if you look at it from long term goal as long as you go into it not expecting things to be quite as easy as linspire or say xandros on some fronts like file management , but easily superior to them on other important areas like installing certain software and nice supermount functions that work everywhere. I dont know about linspire's new 'supermount' functionality but I do know xandros fell down on that area ( at least from a power user perspective afa no access TO that cd from a terminal as its apparantly 'tied' into XFM ) albeit for regular users its got a slight "minor" edge on xandros in that you just eject CD , instead of having to do it from an applet ( very very minor nit ) although possibly the code required to take care of it requries more overhead in xandros or possibly linspire . There are pros and cons as you can clearly see but overall when taken as a whole ( as I say i dont have linspire 5-0 so I can't say unequivocally ) I pesonally dont feel ( long time ubuntu user ) you can go wrong with ubuntu, coming from either windows or even another linux distro.

Sorry for length but I feel its relevant to explain why I think ubuntu is a good fit for alot of people. If linspire 'fixes' the apt situation, I might be a tad more inclined to rate it higher and reccommend it more. ( that based on linspire 4.5 and in new features I see no mention of that having been improved )

thx for reading
neighborlee