Switching to Linux

For the past three years or so I’ve been trying out different flavors of Linux. The only version I actually got to work properly was Ubuntu 7.10 on an older desktop computer. Up until today, any time I tried installing Ubuntu on any laptop I’ve had has been either lackluster, with crucial things like wifi or dual monitors not working, to complete failure.

Today I downloaded the latest release of the Ubuntu Linux operating system, version 9.10. It was only released a couple days ago and searching around on the web I had found several horror stories about it not being compatible, upgraded borking people’s previously working versions, etc. But I took a chance on it anyway.

My main computer for the past 10 months has been a Toshiba Satellite L300-03C, with 3GB RAM, 250GB hard drive, 15.4″ screen, 256M video card and the other standard stuff that comes with it. Windows Vista Home Ultimate came pre-installed on it when I bought it and I’ve updated it religiously with all the updates. That laptop has all my stuff on it… work, personal, etc. so I didn’t want to dump the hard drive. I also didn’t want to do a dual OS system because I did that in the past and it was a hassle getting rid of the Linux files and Grub bootloader when it didn’t work and I had to free up space.

So I had a 120GB SATA drive kicking around in a USB hard drive enclosure. The drive was salvaged from another laptop I had that I scrapped because of a motherboard failure. Bingo!

I downloaded the Ubuntu 9.10 iso, burnt it to a DVD using the handy iso converter software that came with the laptop. So now I had a live DVD I could boot into Ubuntu from. I flipped over the Toshiba laptop, swapped out the drive with Vista on it for the 120GB and proceeded to format it and installed Ubuntu. 15 minutes later I was a Linux user.

Now for the real test. In order for me to be able to do what I want for my work and personal stuff, I need these things to work: wifi and an extended desktop so I can use my 23″ Acer H233H as a second display plugged into the laptop. I have never been able to get both working on Ubuntu Linux before and I simply cannot live without both.

So I cracked my knuckles and went into the Display menu in Ubuntu under System > Preferences > Display. I plugged in the video cable for the big monitor, turned it on and in the display menu clicked for it to automatically detect the monitor.

It worked. I moved the two monitor positions around a little to match my configuration on my desk and applied the changes. Boy, was I impressed. It was actually a lot easier than setting up dual monitors with an extended desktop on Vista.

Next came the wifi. It was on – the little light on the front of the laptop said so anyway, but that had happened before with previous versions of Ubuntu, so I was skeptical. I set up my router which until now was still in a box from my move three weeks ago. I typed in the WEP key (password) for the router and waited, and waited. It was already working and connected to the internet. Doh!

So I have all my main programs installed that I used on Vista, like Skype, FileZilla, Thunderbird, OpenOffice which came preinstalled, etc. and they all work faster and better than they did on Vista. Speakers, headset, mic, trackpad, ethernet, SD card reader… everything works perfectly. Oh, and the laptop is running way colder than before.

On Vista, the fan was always on at half- speed and whenever playing a youtube movie or with a couple normal programs running it would run at full speed. The hard drive light constantly flickered even after letting the computer sit idle for a while. What was it doing?

Anyway, the palm rests are cool to the touch as I type this and the fan is running, but it’s so low I can barely hear it. The hard drive light only comes on when saving something now, or when opening a program like OpenOffice.

So far, I’m impressed with Ubuntu Linux 9.10. Really impressed. But this is only day-1. I haven’t really used it for work yet and over time I’ll probably find things I miss about Windows Vista.

So the 250GB Hard drive with Vista on it is getting mounted in my portable USB hard drive enclosure. Vista will stay on it and I’ll be able to swap it back into the laptop at any time. But for now, I’m going to plug it into a USB port and transfer all my work and personal files across to this platform. Once that’s done I’ll have made the switch to Ubuntu.

I’m going to give it three months then swap the drives and boot up Vista for old times sake. Then, as long as everything goes well between now and then, I’m going to reformat that drive and use it for storage.

Now, who knows how to remove all traces of a burnt-on Windows Vista sticker from an aluminum laptop palm rest?