Since I have been a Microsoft developer for the last 12 years, I haven’t paid much attention to Linux or the open-source community. I have been unhappy with Vista for a little while and I wanted to expand my technology knowledge so I installed Ubuntu on my Vista laptop, which makes it a dual-boot laptop now.

I have been very impressed with Ubuntu. It has been very fast in comparison to Vista or XP. Ubuntu starts up or re-boots in a minute compared to a 5 minute start-up for Vista on my laptop. I love I can start my laptop and I don’t have to go get a cup of coffee while I wait for it to start.

I love the Synaptic Package Manager that contains a ton of applications to install. I have installed a number of applications this way, which makes it quick and easy. I have everything installed that I need with the exception of Visual Studio. I even have a Linux version of Internet Explorer installed, which I need for a web application that I use for my business and it only runs in IE.

One minor flaw that I see with Ubuntu (or the open source community in general) is the installation process is sometimes not very easy. I think this is one major reason non-technical people are not willing to give Linux a try.

Ubuntu has a great community forum and my experience in the forum has been very positive thus far. I would encourage all new Ubuntu users to use this forum to get their questions answered quickly and accurately.

In my support of Ubuntu, I will soon be ordering a Dell laptop with Ubuntu. The price of my laptop is much cheaper than if I got the same laptop with Windows. This allows me to spend more money on upgrades such as memory and more hard-drive space.