So I got bored yesterday and decided to give Ubuntu Linux a try. I first installed it on my main PC’s hard drive, which allowed me to dual-boot Ubuntu 11.04 alongside Windows 7 (I simply choose which OS I want to use at the boot menu stage). I then decided that Ubuntu would be better suited to use on my netbook, so today got it up and running on my Acer Aspire One using the same dual-boot method. Weirdly, my netbook actually has 40GB more hard drive space than my PC, which seems to be a nice size to run a secondary operating system in. 

In the screenshot above you can see my Ubuntu desktop on my netbook; my first impressions of the OS are actually pretty good. At first I thought that it was rather useless, but having investigated further into the operating system and into the Ubuntu/Linux community, I’ve found a lot of cool features of Ubuntu that Windows simply doesn’t do. One of the most powerful features of Ubuntu for me is the fact that you can access pretty much anything within the OS from a simple command line prompt; some of the basic ones I’ve learned, and the ability to install programs with a simple line of command code is fantastic. Ubuntu’s UI was strange at first; it seemed like a strange mix of Android, older versions of Windows, and Mac OSX. However, the UI is so easy to use and more intuitive than I thought it would be. 

Overall, I’m a big fan of Ubuntu. It boots up in seconds (a fantastic feature, especially on a netbook) and actually runs a little faster than Windows 7. It takes up relatively little space on the hard drive, and (for now) will serve as an excellent secondary OS. The majority of the time, I simply browse the web and listen to music on my netbook, and Ubuntu is the perfect OS for such simple usage. Of course, it has much greater potential than this, but I’ve plenty of time to discover some more of Ubuntu Linux’s more powerful and interesting features.