First impressions

Well, I'm finally sitting pretty in my nice fresh Ubuntu install! And only a couple of weeks behind schedule too. So, what are the first impressions?

Well the first point of contact is the installation procedure, and if I'm honest it was a mixed bag. The previously mentioned problems with partitioning remain unresolved, which is certainly an issue if you want to dual-boot. There are other options available for creating the necessary partitions, so it isn't a deal-breaker, but certainly an annoyance. The rest of the process is utterly painless, however, and differentiates itself nicely from Windows by only requiring user input at the beginning. This meant that I could just leave the laptop in a corner while I got on with other things, but it also means that I have little or no idea how long the process actually took; at a guess it was no more than an hour.

Initially booting on to the desktop is a very satisfactory experience altogether. The startup certainly seems quicker than Vista, although I've yet to actually time it. I also quite like the sound on startup, for what little it's worth, although I'll undoubtedly disable that in the near future for stealthy library-startups.

One place where Ubuntu has a clear advantage over Windows is in the variety of programs available immediately after the install. Openoffice is in place, as is Firefox, GIMP, Evolution mail client, pidgin internet messenger, f-spot phot manager and a whole host of other bits and pieces. Whether or not you want these things installed from the off is obviously a personal preference, but I certainly appreciate not having to spend an hour or two installing software after a fresh install of windows.

I'll go into further details about the various features at a later date, but first some issues I've run into. Most significant is the fact that I can't set my resolution to anything but 640x480, 800x600 and 1280x720. I have got some ideas on how to get that sorted, but various things I've tried so far have absolutely failed to work. My wireless connection was a little dodgy initially as well, but has been fine ever since.

Playing MP3 files necessitated downloading some codecs which required me to accept that I was legally allowed to download them --- what? I claimed I was, but frankly I've no idea. So shhh...

Anyway, now that I've taken the plunge expect updates thick and fast. Right now I'm off to sort out my monitor. New year's resolution 1440x900 anyone?