I’m sure you’ve heard it before how people made the switch to Vista and end up hating it.  Well I’m one of those people.  I was never a real big fan of Windows, but it was there and it worked… until Vista came along that is.

Some of the problems that I had with Vista included but not limited to the computer lags, network connection problems and just being a big resource hog.  Keep in mind that my computer is isn’t too shabby: 3.4 GHZ Pentium D with 3 GB of memory.

Rather than run the risk of downgrading by to XP and not be supported by Microsoft in the future, I went out looking for alternatives.  I have noticed that Dell had been offering Ubuntu with some of their systems.  So I decided to give it a try with Ubuntu 8.10 Desktop.

I downloaded the software from their website for free and burned it onto a CD.  The Ubuntu software allows you to test out the operation system on your computer to make sure all your hardware is compatible before you install it.

Since installing Ubuntu, I haven’t looked back since.  I don’t get to use the traditional Microsoft Office applications but Open Office is just fine with me.  I can connect to shares on a Windows network with no problem.  Similar to how you would do so on a Mac.

Additional software can be downloaded for free through the add/remove programs tool.  You check off the apps that you want and apply it to your system.  Similar to downloading an app onto your iphone except you don’t have to put in your credit card information.

Recently, I upgraded to the newest version Ubuntu 9.04.  The whole process, with the exception of maybe the last 10 minutes, took place in the background while I was working on my computer.

Just a warning though, if you do not like change you should or set on your Window ways you may want to test out the operating system before you install it on your computer.  The option is available when you boot your computer with the CD in the tray.