Mandy and I are getting ready to go to a LAN party tonight. In preparation for the party I am installing Windows XP on an additional hard drive on my main Ubuntu computer. For all of those who say that running windows is easier than linux: Compare and installation of Ubuntu Gutsy and Windows XP. Without a doubt Ubuntu is the clear winner.
I got a new laptop at work and I was not enjoying my experience. The machine had Windows Vista Business installed, which I have had some luck with in the past. Not this time. The XPS M 1210 did not like Vista, but it seems to like Feisty Fawn, ubuntu.
Today is Microsoft’s “big day.” After over 5 years they are releasing their new desktop operating system. Vista is much more of an evolutionary than revolutionary upgrade. I have been using the Business Edition of Vista since mid November, and aside from the Aero eycandy interface change and relocation of many settings I don’t really see too much that is new. In the meantime the Linux folk have continued to improve the eye candy offerings on that platform as well. This morning I installed Beryl on my Ubuntu desktop and it looks pretty good. I used compiz / xgl a while ago and it was pretty but buggy. Beryl, which is a fork of the compiz project, seems to be a much more tight and slick project.
Who wins this eyecandy war. I would have to give to the Beryl folk, as it seems like a much more natural fit. One should note that OS X has had fun visual effects for years.
I really want to upgrade the server at home. I am currently running Fedora Core 4. It is kind of strange that an operating system that is 18 months old would be dated, but in the fast pace world of Linux it is. I think I am going to wait for RedHat Enterprise Linux 5 to be released and then repackaged as Centos 5 before I change the server at home. I guess everything works ok on my current server, I am just anxious to have the latest, greatest software.
On a different note I am publishing this blog entry through Office 2007. While I am no fan of Office or Microsoft in general, this blog publishing feature is pretty cool. I am sure the new Microsoft software will provide all sorts of new “features.”
I just completed a new installation of Ubuntu Drapper Drake (Flight 5). I am very happy with the minor customizations in the new version. In particular, I installed Compiz with XGL which adds a some good eye candy to Ubuntu. Linux is cool.
This year will be a ladmark year in the world of computing. Earlier this week Apple announced a new version of the MacMini that has a dual core intel cpu. While it is not possible to run Windows XP (thank’s to Mactel’s new EFI), it is becoming increasing possible to run x86 linux on the new macs. Add to all that goodness, Windows Vista will be coming out this year. While I am generally suspicious of Microsoft by default, I am excited to see the first update to Microsoft’s desktop OS in nearly five years.
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