I’ve been contemplating this moment for a very long time. I was a Windows Vista fanboy for a very long time before Vista was released. It was when it was released that I became displeased. Vista essentially was a new-looking OS still based on 32-bit. There is a 64-bit version available but they are both on two different discs unlike Mac OS X Leopard which will be on one disk. I was greatly annoyed by the fact that I built an expensive 64-bit machine to run Vista and yet there were two versions of it. Having seen what happened to the 64-bit version of Windows XP, I was a little worried to attempt to try Vista on my machine. I have not used it natively on my machine, I’ve only used it through Virtual PC 2007.
I don’t find it that impressive as many have come to say. Even hearing that Windows Mobile 6 devices (such as my upgraded T-Mobile Dash) was not supported for some time under Vista was another shocker for me. While these are subtleties, these are what Microsoft is known for.

So, I decided that this time around, I won’t upgrade to Windows Vista but to try Linux. I want to get the full potential out of my machine with a stable, virus-free, crash-free, 64-bit operating system. I think the one I’ve come to like from what I’ve seen and read is Ubuntu. I have used the Live CD on my machine but could not do much due to the lack of manipulation you can do with the Live CD. Does anyone out there use Ubuntu or Linux that could give me some suggestions in switching.

Some of the things I already know that will be useful is WINE and VMware to run Windows XP for those exclusive applications. I still need applications for:

-TV capture (VirtualDub in Linux ?)
-Remote Desktop (like the one in Windows where it restricts use to one user)
-ActiveSync replacement (SynCE I think may work but not sure)
-Office Replacement (other than OpenOffice)
-Macromedia Fireworks MX 2004 (doesn’t seem to run under Ubuntu)
-Filesystems that defragments automatically
-Any other suggestions that would be helpful.

Some people may be wondering why don’t I just stick with Windows XP. While I’ve been using XP for sometime, my copy has become unstable in that Firefox or other applications will crash and cause the “explorer.exe” to crash leaving me with just my background for a few minutes until I can restart explorer and get back into my PC. This happens way too often and is a bad sign for the future.

Please let me know if you have any suggestions. As for the Windows fanboys and fangirls, please don’t flame my post for this. I know a lot of people like to get on sides but when it comes to stability, I have to make a decision. I’ve dealt with Windows and been a Windows fan for most of my life. If Microsoft can’t fix the problems with Windows, I need to find another solution. I’ve tried Mac OS X and feel it has more look than compatibility. I also have a PowerPC laptop so its basically been left in the dust. If I can get Ubuntu or another Linux distro to work for me well, I may also install it on my laptop to rid myself of compatibility issues at least when it comes to the OS not the architecture.

Thanks all,
JAmerican