Ubuntu 7.04 install

from JoeUser Forums

I traded away one of my Pentium III computers for an office chair this week (don't laugh -- it's a nice chair!). I had one planned to give away, but I was having all kinds of trouble with the O/S. I found myself short a Windows 2K pro disk (the native O/S on this particular computer), and was not wanting to wait around another day to see if the hard drive had physical problems or just bad sectors.

Then it dawned on me I had not yet tried installing my copy of Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn) yet. I have had success with, and enjoyed 6.06, and ordered FF some time ago, so I figured it was time to give it a go.

Here are the system specs:

Pentium III 1 GHz processor, 40GB HD, 512mb RAM.

I loaded the O/S and was immediately impressed with the quickness of the installation. I didn't time it, but it couldn't have taken more than ten minutes to do a complete installation.

With the operating system installed, I went to check the system configuration to see what drivers needed installing. To my surprise, all drivers were properly installed, including the network adapter. With 6.06, I had to install a few drivers, but very few. This was as clean as if it were built for Linux.

Now the big test. With 6.06, I had needed to use easyubuntu to get the audio codecs to use rhythmbox music player. A VERY simple process, mind you, but a necessary one on the older O/S. So I installed a CD to give it a go. The player instantly recognized the CD, and ripping it and playing it was equally simple.

The interface for Ubuntu 7.04 is very familiar. All of the paths are basically carryovers from 6.06, and many of the utilities have a look that has one feeling right at home. Yes, there's a bit of a learning curve, but no more (and, in my opinion, probably less) than Windows XP to Windows Vista.

Summary: in the world of open source, the goal has long been to make an operating system that's "so easy, Grandma can use it". From my early experience with 7.04 and the easy "out of the box" installation that has one going from  start to surfing in under an hour, I would have to say that Feisty Fawn  has met, and possibly surpassed, that goal. While Linux is unlikely to unseat Windows anytime soon, Feisty Fawn is a very viable choice for the user who wants the up to date features of a newer operating system without the price tag or system requirements of Windows Vista. If Edgy Eft was Linux's "coming out" party, Feisty Fawn is it's debutante's ball. Feisty Fawn is a fully functional operating system, with all of the ability to compete with the big boys.

11,428 views 18 replies
Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top

I played very, very little with Ubuntu recently, but my experience was much the same as yours Gid.  But then again, my experience with Red Hat Enterprise (or Advanced Server, or whatever name they slap on it) has been similar, as has my experience with Fedora.

Nice, smooth, stable operating systems that have become pretty much ready to use right out of the box.

Bill G. and company better, seriously, be checking in their rear view mirrors as they are being passed by the guys that are of the belief that slow and steady can win the race.

Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top

I agree with you Gid.  Ubuntu (or Kubuntu if you prefer) has become a very stable, very viable option as a stable, full featured operating system.  In many ways, I think it is superior to a default Windows install, at least comparing an out-of-the-box Windows XP to Ubuntu 7.04 (I don't have experience with Vista, so I can't tell you).

Out of the box, Ubuntu has the following:A (better, in my opinion) web browser in Firefox, a (better than Outlook Express) email client in Evolution, a full fledged image editor with The GIMP (not the worthless Paint), and a full fledged Office suite (um, Wordpad?).

I fully believe that, if someone just installed it and set it up, the average computer user could easily spend all their time using Ubuntu, without ever missing a beat.  I would imagine there are many other distros that could say the same.  I have been very impressed with Ubuntu this time around.

SoundPackager - Customize the Windows sound scheme
Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top
I have been very impressed with Ubuntu this time around.


Me, too. Of course, I remain impressed with 6.06 as well. Yes, I had a few glitches, but they were so easily resolved, they're basically negligible.

I am very seriously considering moving to Linux full time. At this moment, I have my XP machine to use as a standby, but with the stability of Ubuntu, I may be moving further and further away from the Redmond crowd. I still need to play with Xandros a little bit (yes, it costs, but with cost comes additional support), and am looking at playing with DSL on some older machines.
Reply #4 from JoeUser Forums Top

Me, too. Of course, I remain impressed with 6.06 as well. Yes, I had a few glitches, but they were so easily resolved, they're basically negligible.

Due to hardware issues with my Acer laptop (6.06 didn't play nicely with the wireless card per reports) I never bothered with it.  The previous version I had used was 5.whatever/Edgy Efty.

Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Indeed. I'm been using Kubuntu 7.04 for a while now. Very stable and easy to use.

My niece that's 14 years old uses Ubuntu 7.04 on her laptop too. I asked her and she was just fine with that OS. (I'm not sure what gender niece is, but if wrong gender, in least it's same type of relation.)
Reply #6 from JoeUser Forums Top
(I'm not sure what gender niece is, but if wrong gender, in least it's same type of relation.)


LOL...you got it right. Niece is female.

The only knocks I've ever heard of on 6.06 are wireless. I'm not a big fan of wireless anyway, except on laptops, so that doesn't affect me.

I will be getting a new laptop next month and am seriously leaning towards an Ubuntu laptop. I want to go through Dell, but there are not enough offerings yet.
Reply #7 from JoeUser Forums Top
I will be getting a new laptop next month and am seriously leaning towards an Ubuntu laptop. I want to go through Dell, but there are not enough offerings yet.


Give WUBI a try if you get the new one. I used it for a little bit on my old laptop, but I just finished the full install to Ubuntu 7.04. I tried 6.06 but gave up because I couldn't get the wireless to work for the life of me - but this time around, it picked it up just fine. But if you get a new laptop, you might as well keep Vista and play with it at least a bit.

Great muppety Odin, I'm up and running. Yay.
Reply #8 from JoeUser Forums Top
But if you get a new laptop, you might as well keep Vista and play with it at least a bit.


My understanding from those who have tried is that Ubuntu/Vista dual boots are a pain in the rectum. As for Vista, I don't want Vista Home, I want Ultimate, and actually can get that through the school...it doesn't make sense to buy a laptop just to dump the O/S.

I'm honestly getting tired of Windows, especially with the number of computers I have. I'm not sure I want my new laptop to be a Vista machine.
Reply #9 from JoeUser Forums Top
I'm honestly getting tired of Windows, especially with the number of computers I have.


I feel ya. But I love my dock! ObjectDock for the win!

Does anyone know of a Linux program that I can do that with?
Reply #10 from WinCustomize Forums Top
A mac

If your using 7.04 have you tried the new effects feature,similar to win fx,when dragging a window it wobbles or the real freaky one is being able to make a window rotate & show desktop (for some reason i can't make it rotate today...lol...)i'm ,still getting used to the wobble feature it's kinda unnerving more so in the top & bottom taskbars as you mouse over & all the menus wobble also ..lol.. you'll find the feature under...

System
Preferences
Desktop Effects

Not sure if the feature was on the cd or whether it was part of an update, did'nt know of the feature till yesterday when i decided a brown desktop looked rather gaye
Reply #11 from JoeUser Forums Top

Does anyone know of a Linux program that I can do that with?

Avant Window Manager.

Reply #12 from JoeUser Forums Top
I run Ubuntu 7.04 on my laptop with no problems at all. Adding Beryl enhances the desktop effects quite a bit.

For those having wireless issues, ndiswrapper solves that by "wrapping" the native Windows driver. Broadcom cards in particular need ndiswrapper to work properly as Broadcom refuses to support Linux.
Reply #13 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Gonna love Beryl.

You guys with wireless problems..

Use wicd. I'm serious. It's THE wireless manager to use. Check out my article about it.
Reply #14 from JoeUser Forums Top
Update: I loaded Ubuntu on a second machine and timed it.

I started at 3:47 pm yesterday with the install. The entire installation (formatting, partitioning, and everything) took less than half an hour. I was surfing the Internet by 4:15...fully functional in just under half an hour.

Not only is that darn near a LINUX record, the only WINDOWS O/S I've seen beat the install time was NT.
Reply #16 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Thanks.

I wonder why I forgot to add a link.
Reply #18 from WinCustomize Forums Top
After a bit of messing around with my hard-drives (Ubuntu 7.04 kept wanting to install on my Vista drive) I finally got the Feisty Fawn installed and up and running on the drive I had allocated for it.....yaaay!

Once I had sorted the drives issue Ubuntu took roughly 30 minutes to fully install. I must admit that, while it's different to what I am accustomed, what I expected as well, it is a rather nice OS and somewhat easier to navigate than some people had led me to believe.

Furthermore, I was automatically connected to the net during the install, and the basic drivers for my nVidia graphics card and Soundblaster Audigy 4 card were installed also.....meaning I was more or less fully functional right out of the box.

I was fairly tired last night and needed to sleep after finally getting it done, so I haven't been able to explore Ubuntu properly as yet, but from what I've seen it's looking good...and now I have a whole world of new apps/proggies for it to investigate as well.

Oh how I love new toys....but first I need a nap cos I only slept a bit over 3 hours and I keep nodding off in my chair.