Upgrading from Windows to Ubuntu Linux

My name is Drew and I'm officially a Linux convert.

I had this realization this morning. I've got all the Windows programs I currently use working in Ubuntu 7.10, whether it be through Wine or VirtualBox.

When the time comes for me to install other apps, whether they be games like World of Warcraft, or apps like Visual Studio 2008, I'm 100% positive that I'll succeed then, too.

Let me back up a bit. My Sony VAIO laptop came with Vista Business on it. Now contrary to those great Apple ads bashing Vista, my experience with that OS has been almost completely positive. I love the interface, everything runs, and my 3D games run about 90% what they did under XP Pro.

So why would I leave Vista for Ubuntu? Quite simply, I can do everything I used to do in Windows, and more, but on a FREE, open source OS that runs more quickly, more efficiently, is totally customizable, has a massive support base of active users and developers, and I can run multiple virtual machines loaded with any OS on top of the lean Ubuntu OS.

I've been toying with Ubuntu over the last couple months while dual booting with Vista, and lately the only reason I've booted into Vista was to convert my WMVs to MP3 and run some programs I thought would only work in Windows, like Out of the Park Baseball 2007.

However, as of this morning, I have learned that there is nothing I can't run in linux using Wine or VirtualBox.

Wine is a Windows compatibility layer that allows me to run windows apps directly within Ubuntu. I've got OOTP2007 running from an icon on my desktop, and it runs FASTER than it did in Vista, and is 100% functional. I also came upon a great reference for getting World of Warcraft running in Wine, so if I ever resubscribe to WoW, I'll have no problems there either.

VirtualBox is a free product from InnoTek which allows you to run virtual computers on top of Ubuntu Linux. I've got one virtual machine (VM) configured now, which runs Windows XP Pro. When I boot that up, I get a window (fullscreen optional) that contains exactly what you'd see if you booted into XP. The performance is fantastic, and I use it to run the latest version of iTunes, which doesn't seem to run in Wine yet.


I'll be installing Visual Studio 2008 at some point, and I don't expect problems there either.

One thing I love about running Ubuntu is that it just feels clean. It's not bloated, slow, and it boots up every time. Another thing is that the interface is clean and minimalistic. While I love Vista's interface, on my 13" laptop screen, all the bells and whistles seem to get in the way.

The Ubuntu interface is just more intuitive to me, and that may be because I'm a developer and open source software is designed and developed by developers, not teams of corporate marketers and designers. Plus, the idea of open source software appeals to me on many levels, and I'm happy to be "off the corporate teat", as it were.

I'm still dual booting, but now my linux partition dwarfs my windows one, and right now, I have no reason to boot into Vista at all.