Windows XP Professional vs. Ubuntu GNU/Linux

In the not-too-distant past, my hard drive crashed, and that made me sad. It also made me happy, because it gave me an excuse to purchase a larger hard drive. I ended up buying a hard drive with enough space to install both Windows XP Professional and Ubuntu GNU/Linux (which I'll just call Ubuntu going forward).

All of this happened on my rather crappy Dell Inspiron 1150 laptop computer. (Dude, I'm never getting another Dell! Ya, like they care...)

Like most people, I expected the Windows install to be easy, and the Ubuntu install to be hard. To my surprise, the exact opposite happened:

Windows did not recognize my video.
Windows did not recognize my audio.
Windows did not recognize my touch pad (it worked, but none of the advanced features worked).
Windows did not recognize my internal modem.
Windows did not recognize my Ethernet port.

About the only thing that worked out-of-the-box was Windows making damn sure I had a valid serial number.

The last two problems could have been a big issue. Fortunately, I had a USB Flash Drive and another computer, so I could download all the appropriate drivers.

And that I did. Search for driver, download. Search for driver, download. Search for driver, download. Etc.

And then the really fun part. Install driver, reboot. Install driver, reboot. Install driver, reboot. Ah, Windows, how I hate thee sometimes.

After downloading a bunch of Windows patches and rebooting a few more times, I had a fully functional Windows install. A fresh Windows install is a wonderful thing. It boots fast, it uses less than 128 MB of RAM to boot to your desktop, and it runs fast. Too bad it never lasts more than a few weeks, or a few months at most. Why is it that every piece of software on the planet thinks it's so important that it has to install and start parts of itself during system start-up? Sigh.

After a few hours of installing Windows (and a few gray hairs), I installed Ubuntu. It went something like this:

Ubuntu automatically recognized and configured my video.
Ubuntu automatically recognized and configured my audio.
Ubuntu automatically recognized and configured my touch pad (including the advanced features).
Ubuntu automatically recognized and configured my internal modem.
Ubuntu automatically recognized and configured my Ethernet port.

Um...wow?

Not only that, but Ubuntu gives you a real system. That is, it installs a decent (but not overwhelming) array of productivity applications for you automatically. Right after an Ubuntu install, you hit the ground running. And installing more applications is just a few clicks away. It's fantastic.

People sometimes ask me, "Is Linux ready for the desktop yet?" From now on, I think I'll have to respond, "Yes, it is. Is Windows ready for the desktop yet?"