Testing Ubuntu 6.10 - Edgy Efy

09:03.48 - Sunday 28th January 2007   (Link to This Entry)

Just for something to do I decided to install a flavour of Linux onto a spare HD to see how far they've come in respect of drivers, advanced hardware and the like. Originally I went for Fedora Core 6 but the fact that the package/update manager would bomb out on me didn't bode well.

Ubuntu 64 was next up but I had problems with Java and related programs, so I sighed, fired up Azureus once again and downloaded the 32-Bit version instead. Latest release is 6.10, Edgy Eft, and that's what I'm currently evaluating.

Not everything was smooth sailing. My Logitech DiNovo Bluetooth mouse and keyboard would disconnect every time Ubuntu got to the login screen. A quick search around the Internet and it turns out that using the Synaptic Package Manager to remove 'bluez-utils' solves the problem.

Next up was the screen resolution. Having suffered enough with the built-in updates I simply downloaded Alberto Milone's ''Envy'' script and ran that instead - all drivers were downloaded and installed with no fuss. Huzzah! I have yet to see how Ubuntu handles a dual monitor setup since I am currently limited to a single screen (we're rearranging the house here), but it should be OK.

Quanta+ looks like it will be an acceptable replacement for Dreamweaver, and OpenOffice handles my all-important company spreadsheets without too much hassle. I can connect to the networked storage (Bufallo LinkStation) without problems and Evolution looks like an acceptable replacement for Outlook. So far, bar a few niggles, everything is going fine.

One thing I am not looking forward to is using The Gimp in place of Photoshop, and that's entirely because I don't want to learn another package. I fully intend to keep all my legit Windows software though, and install Win2k on another partition so that I can dual boot. With all my actual data on another drive accessible from both machines, this gives me the best of both worlds.

So it looks like Ubuntu can handle all the requirements I have to continue my business as well as my fund and games. I will be doing some more testing in the coming week and if all goes well, I should be reformatting and dual-booting sometime next weekend.

Some other things I should test:

• Dual-Booting
• Card Reader
• Printer and Scanner
• Joypad (shut up!)

There isn't an awful lot I use regularly, so I should be OK.

Dual Booting Ubuntu with Windows

17:47.25 - Sunday 28th January 2007   (Link to This Entry)

Tested this and it all works fine. I had Ubuntu dual-booting with Win2k and decided to try it out with Vista RC2 as well. Got it working in the end but Jeebus, 10GB install for Vista Ultimate?

The machine creaks and groans it's way to the desktop in well under 10 minutes and feels like a sloth on Valium while using it. This is because I only (only?) gave it a 10GB partition, mind. On a decent HD it boots just fine, but even so...