Why Switch to Linux
If you've been following my articles, you obviously know that I'm a big supporter of Linux Operating Systems. Well, recently, I've been getting a questions from a lot of people about upgrading their hardware for various reasons. Well, based on their usage, most of the time, I recommend switching to Linux instead of upgrading. I think this is beneficial now, more than ever. In this article, I'll explain the pros and cons, and let you decide what's best for yourself. After all, you're the one who's going to be using it; not me.
Structuring This Article
Okay, so essentially, this article is discuss to compare Ubuntu alone, not any other distributions (aka distros) of Linux. Why? Because that's the one that I use most of the time. I'll be throwing in comparisons to both Windows and Mac, allowing you to get a better idea of whether it's for you or not. Finally, I'd like to break down users into 4 categories:
Note: I'm using Ubuntu Studio, not the general Ubuntu distro. There's not any difference in functionality between the 2, but the graphic appeal of the interface is given more importance in Ubuntu Studio than regular Ubuntu.
- Casual Users
- Gamers
- Artists
- Developers
Note: I'm using Ubuntu Studio, not the general Ubuntu distro. There's not any difference in functionality between the 2, but the graphic appeal of the interface is given more importance in Ubuntu Studio than regular Ubuntu.
Essential Comparisons
First of all, let's discuss the basic stuff: ease of installation, boot up time, performance and interface.
UBUNTU
Ease of installation:
Rather straight forward, not too confusing. It is more complicated than installing windows, but the advantage is that you can run ubuntu off a pendrive, which is something unique to linux. Boot up time:
Probably the fastest of the 3. It takes about 15 sec on my desktop. Windows 7 takes 1-1:15 minutes on the same computer. It's also worth noting that I have more softwares installed on Windows. |
WINDOWS
Ease of installation:
Easier than Linux, not much to talk about. Just follow the on screen instructions, and you're good to go. Boot up time:
By far the worst start up times I have ever seen. Without a doubt the slowest of the 3. Now, you can make it faster, with appropriate maintenance, but such a thing isn't needed in Linux. |
MAC OS
Ease of installation:
Honestly, you don't really ever install Mac Os, you just get it preinstalled, and update whenever needed... Boot up time:
Okay, this falls somewhere in between both of the others. Fine at first, but if you don't take care of what you install, or if your usage is intense, startup can be just as slow as a Windows PC. |
Performance
Ubuntu is such a light weight OS that it easily overthrows the competition on low end configurations. If you take a look at Microsoft, Windows 7 Ultimate occupies about 1GB of RAM just for the OS. So even if you're not running any software, Windows idles at 1GB RAM consumption. I believe MacOSX Lion idles around 700MB. Ubuntu on the other hand, is REALLY low. The netbook editions has a minimum requirement of 380MB Ram. The desktop edition claims 500MB as a requirement, but runs rather well even below that.
Keep in mind that from the specs you read above, running Windows 8.1 on those specs will create a huge lag even for simple usage, like browsing. On the contrary, Ubuntu runs comfortable with the mentioned requirements. OS X Lion.....well, if you're not going the hackintosh way, then you'll end up with pretty good performance any way.
All of this is fine for low end specs, but what about the mid-high end market? The truth is, I don't know. I've never used Ubuntu for any high end tasks. If you need information on that, you'll have to read up on your required usage elsewhere.
Interface
Believe it or not, the interface is basically half way between windows and mac. I see elements of both. Right off the bat, you notice that the task bar is on the top of the screen, and the bottom has an application launching panel. Very much like mac! Linux was also the first OS to introduce the concept of virtual desktops which was later adopted by apple, and is said to release as a feature in Windows 10. For those who don't know, this basically lets u have multiple desktops, each one running it's own set of programs. So, you can have your browser on one, file manager in one, and maybe a music player on another. Once you get used to working with workspaces, you'll never go back!
The system manager in Ubuntu are much like the system preferences on a mac. Again, Windows' control panel has a unique interface to it.
The file manager is rather similar across all 3 OSs, but when it comes to shortcuts, Ubuntu follows the EXACT SAME shortcuts as windows.
Usage
CASUAL USERS: If you use your computer for music, movies, browsing, and other forms of casual entertainment, then there's really not much necessity for you to stick to windows. Honestly, you can use any OS these days. So why not try linux? All media apps these days are available for Ubuntu. You can use your favorite browser, along with any social networking app you need. For media, you have VLC. Not a fan? There are quite a few substitutes. If you need to edit documents, you don't have MS Office, but there's a Linux alternative called Libre Office. If that doesn't work out, you can always use google docs.
GAMERS: If you're a hard core gamer, you can't switch to anything, and you know it. There's truly no OS that compares to windows for gaming. Not only are there a huge plethora of games, but it's also the most flexible OS ever. I'll talk more about this later on, but for now, just know that if you absolutely have to game, then you have to hang on to Windows, but why not consider using something else for other tasks?
ARTISTS: Now this is an interesting section. Being an artist myself, I can provide a bit more information to this category of users. Whether or not you can use Ubuntu depends entirely on which applications you need to use. The Foundry releases all of their software for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Autodesk releases certain software; for example, you can use Maya, but not 3DS Max. Sadly, Adobe and Corel haven't released any of their software for Linux, so you might want to get used to GIMP. On the bright side, most open source multimedia apps are available, and many come preinstalled in Ubuntu Studio, including the famous Blender.
DEVELOPER: OMG! Linux has the maximum number of open source developing tools EVER, including the all powerful Eclipse. If you're a developer, the only time you CAN'T use Linux for work is if you're developing on an OS specific application (like XCode) or language (like VBScript). Apart from that, enormous options for developers.
GAMERS: If you're a hard core gamer, you can't switch to anything, and you know it. There's truly no OS that compares to windows for gaming. Not only are there a huge plethora of games, but it's also the most flexible OS ever. I'll talk more about this later on, but for now, just know that if you absolutely have to game, then you have to hang on to Windows, but why not consider using something else for other tasks?
ARTISTS: Now this is an interesting section. Being an artist myself, I can provide a bit more information to this category of users. Whether or not you can use Ubuntu depends entirely on which applications you need to use. The Foundry releases all of their software for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Autodesk releases certain software; for example, you can use Maya, but not 3DS Max. Sadly, Adobe and Corel haven't released any of their software for Linux, so you might want to get used to GIMP. On the bright side, most open source multimedia apps are available, and many come preinstalled in Ubuntu Studio, including the famous Blender.
DEVELOPER: OMG! Linux has the maximum number of open source developing tools EVER, including the all powerful Eclipse. If you're a developer, the only time you CAN'T use Linux for work is if you're developing on an OS specific application (like XCode) or language (like VBScript). Apart from that, enormous options for developers.
KEEP IN MIND
- You don't have to install Ubuntu to try it out. It can run straight off of a pen drive. So you can test before you commit.
- Many applications aren't developed to the level of completion as Windows apps. For example, there's a music player called Arduous. It's a good piece of software, but if you're using a different window and want to switch to it, you have to click on it's title bar. If you click anywhere else in the window, it just won't respond!
- VLC works fine as a player, but for some reason takes over 30s to appear. Once open, it loads new files quickly, but that's a huge wait. This could just be a problem on my system.....Learn to expect the unexpected.
- There's a software called Wine which claims to let you run windows software on linux. Sometimes it works, most often it doesn't. There's a list of compatible software online. Personally, I tried to run Photoshop, with no luck, but then again, I didn't try for very long.
- DRIVERS!! You can't assume that drivers will be readily available for any device you want to hook up to your computer. You have to double check with the manufacturer. This is mostly a deal breaker if you modify your PC often. If you're just going to connect external storage devices, there's nothing to worry about. In fact, most bluetooth/wifi receivers work out of the box these days!
- GParted is the most advanced partitioning tool I've seen, and it comes preinstalled in all modern distros of linux. For more information about this tool, read my previous articles
- You don't have to use Linux alone. You can always dual boot with windows and decide which OS to use based on your needs. You could use Linux for general casual stuff and switch to Windows whenever required.
- Remember, Linux is an open source OS, which means it's created and maintained by people like you and me, not by a company. It's obviously not going to be as complete and polished as other OSs. Learn to look past that when using it