Ubuntu

I've been looking for someway to help my in-laws out with their computer for some time now. They have WinXP that was installed several years ago. It really needs to be reinstalled but they don't have any legal way of reinstalling it. While I was pondering their predicament, I read a blog post about Ubuntu. Ubuntu is a Linux-based operating system that focuses on usability. In other words, it is free and easy to use.

I installed it on my desktop to dual boot with my WinXP just to get my feet wet with the OS. The install disk for Ubuntu is actually a live CD and allows you to play with Ubuntu before committing to installing it. The install process was very painless. If you are going to dual boot your system (like I did), I would re-partition your harddrive in the original OS before trying to install Ubuntu (I had a few issues when I tried to get Ubuntu to do it).

The applications and features that come with Ubuntu out of the box would be all that my in-laws would need to replace Windows XP. It also has a very good look and feel that most "simple" users would have no problems getting around in.

Here are some of the things that they constantly use in Windows XP that I have been able to find an equivalent in Ubuntu:

• Internet Browsing (FireFox)
• CD/DVD burning (built-in to the file explorer)
• Pull images off of a camera (built-in to the file explorer)
• Photo Manager/Editor (FSpot)
• Microsoft Office (OpenOffice)

Overall, I've been very impressed with Ubuntu. I'm not quite ready to get rid of my WinXP partition yet but I'm more than willing to force my in-laws to go 100% Ubuntu.