The Benefits of Ubuntu

For years now Linux Distros have been slowly creeping into the mainstream populace’s awareness through word of mouth. Linux Distros were, in large part, used by hardcore programmers, system administrators, and those interested in keeping their computers secure. However, even now Wal-Mart is selling computer at reduced prices with a free Linux Distro installed. This particular Distribution of the Linux Operating System is known as gOS or (Green Operating System)

Nevertheless, even Linux Distros are not created equally and recently I have compared Ubuntu with gOS and I had some very different results with the two Distros. I started with the installation of these two Operating Systems and found that gOS would not install correctly on my laptop or my desktop. There seemed to be an issue with drivers and networking and gOS seemed to be very particular when it comes to hardware. I could have searched the Internet for drivers, but then that would be a lot of work and I am trying to do this as a layman.

Ubuntu, on the other hand, installed correctly and loaded all drivers needed for me to do a bit of computing and even my network was up and running without any special instructions from me. As a matter of fact, the install went just as well as Windows, but much faster. Install of Ubuntu took about twenty minutes, whereas Windows takes about two hours with all updates and service packs from Microsoft, yeesh. Now, there are many Linux Distros and they do work, but Ubuntu has all of the features you could want as well as, many you may never even use.

As a computer service man I will often recommend using Ubuntu to my customers. This generally happens when it is not possible to recover Windows and they do not have the disk for re-installing the OS, which happens all too often. Ubuntu is 100% free and is open source which mean it is always being updated and features are constantly being added. No more waiting for Microsoft to sell you the next latest and greatest OS, Vista anybody? Now you can have a safe and secure computing environment that is updated on a regular basis and it cost you nothing at all.

Because Ubuntu is a Linux Distro, there are hardly any viruses written for it. This is because Windows has the “Lion’s share” of the market and if this changes I am sure that we will see many more Linux based viruses, but not yet. Nevertheless, adware, and spyware are still rampant and as the Mozilla based browsers have ramped up, so have the writers of such code. However, open source equals constant updating to combat the spread of malware, spyware, and adware. After all, this is why we changed to a Linux Distro in the first place, right?

Ubuntu is simply one of the best and most stable Linux Distros available today and even rivals the paid for Linux Operating Systems, such as RedHat. You simply cannot go wrong with the Ubuntu Operating System whether you reason for switching is security, or cost.