So lately I have found myself rather broke and having no way to complete the upgrades I so desire for my computer. Also being poor has led me cancel my TV service through AT&T Uverse. So I’ve been having to find ways to entertain myself with only the hardware I have and that in which I can scrape up for free by offering to dispose of old computers and parts for my customers at work.
To get to the point, I recently acquired several of such computers and yesterday managed to construct a fairly decent machine. It’s only a P4 3.06GHz single core with a gig and a half of ram but I’m simply looking to put together multimedia box that can sit behind my TV and be remotely controlled. That way my wife and I can once again enjoy Netflix Instant movies streamed straight to our VGA enabled TV. With the loss of my TV service, my TV hasn’t been getting much use at all. Also the livingroom is obviously a much more comfortable environment to watch movies in on a regular basis.
So because I am broke, I am obviously trying to do this for free. I have no money to spend on hardware or software for this project. I ended up with a P4 3.0GHz, 1.5GB of Ram, 80GB hard drive, Geforce 6200, and a Sound Blaster Live 5.1. I also managed to squeeze in a DVD drive I scrounged up from another dead computer. The case does have a Windows XP Pro COA on it so I could legally install XP Pro if I wanted to. However staying in the spirit of free and trying to come up with something more interesting, I decided to give Linux one more try. I’ve made some rather disastrous attempts in the past to install Linux on various boxes. I’d never really been able to get it up and running before now.
I decided to go with the latest Ubuntu build. It seemed like a reasonable option as it is totally freeware and some major computer manufacturers have started selling some of their computers with it as an alternative to Windows OS’s allowing the user to save a couple hundred dollars. I figured if this was the Linux that people thought was marketable it would be good enough for me to try. Other than what I just mentioned, I really didn’t have any Linux experience to speak of other than seeing it a few times at LAN parties and the one failed attempt at installing Red Hat o so many years ago.
With all of my experimenting I decided to try out a couple different options. First I downloaded Ubuntu and burned the ISO to a CD and installed it onto my little junker box. Second I ended up finding and playing with some software called VMware. I am always hearing about virtual machines but that was also something I have not experienced on my own. I discovered that this VMware Player software that is also available for free download as long as you register your life away. It turned out to be an incredibly easy to use interface for setting up virtual machines. After much fussing and tweaking I even managed to use it to boot up a beta copy of Google’s upcoming Chrome OS. The version I had was kinda buggy and slow but it was nice to be able to see first hand what it is Google is up to. I have to say despite it being a Beta, I was not impressed. It’s going to turn computers into those crappy e-ppliances that came out and failed in the late 90′s.
I ended up with a vmware Ubuntu install on my main rig and a full on Ubuntu install on my junker/Linux box. I must say it was the easiest time I’ve ever had installing an OS. Once the ISO was burned (all done with free software available to anyone) the installer and set up was very simple. I was rather impressed with how quickly I had this OS I had never even seen before downloaded, installed, and running on not just one box, but a virtual machine as well. Unfortunately, my good impressions stopped there.
Nothing against the layout but Ubuntu if you’ve never seen it before is set up very much like Mac OS. It has a toolbar across the top with very simplified menus for launching programs and customizing settings. I’ve found that the settings customizations are incredibly limited. Also while it is awesome that Ubuntu installs with Sun OpenOffice, a totally free productivity software suite, the caliber of some of the other programs included is rather lacking. There is a kind of cool online App center where you can download more programs but the selection is rather small and the quality is more of the same. And while internet browsing and general usage seems to be pretty flawless (though tricky to grasp the new interface at times), the internet capabilities are rather limited. Netflix Instant movies will not play on a Ubuntu box. Also my iPod shows up as a removable hard drive, but there is no iTunes support so I couldn’t use it to soley support my iPod’s many functions.
All in all I’m not done testing and playing, however I am going to have to revert my junker box to Windows XP after all so it can support the functions that I have intended for it. I want to be able to watch Netflix instant movies on it as well as have access to my itunes library for movies and music. If I were putting together a very simple computer for my son to do homework on, I can see Ubuntu as a wonder alternative to a Windows OS in terms of keeping him out of trouble with the virus and spyware issues that arise. However for much more than that I’m afraid it’s not the most useful or friendly OS.
I will keep my hopes up and my eyes open. Perhaps someday I’ll run across another release of Linux to try or perhaps Ubuntu will grow and evolve. Until then I’m going to have to declare that Microsoft remains king in this arena. For out of the box functionality, I have not found anything that beats out my Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit. I suppose Windows 7 could be better but I haven’t had an out of the box experience with it yet except for my wife’s netbook which is running Windows 7 Starter. And while XP used to hold that title for me, it’s become not so great straight out of the box but given enough time on the internet it can become wonderfully functional in a short amount of time.
The bottom line? I don’t think Chrome and Linux are going to threaten Microsoft’s hold on the PC OS market anytime soon. Yes they are interesting and to a point useful alternatives. However they are just lacking in some of the more complex aspects of computer operating systems that people like me have taken for granted and hate living without. I’ll keep looking though, trying to find the most useful, easiest to use products at the lowest or no cost.
