With Apple Shunning Netbook Space, Is Ubuntu Linux A Credible Alternative To OS X?
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
by Charles W. Moore
With Apple’s stonewall of the netbook space (evidently to be maintained pax Apple COO Tim Cook’s acerbic netbook-scorning comments last week), many heretofore loyal Apple laptop fans have found their eyes (and in many instances their system purchase cash) straying into non-Apple PC territory. notwithstanding Tim Cook’s and Steve Jobs’ supercilious dismissals, an awful lot of folks think netbooks are cool, and not only because they’re inexpensive.
There is a sizable cohort that wants small, ultra-portable, inexpensive computers, but are unwilling to put up with the compromises imposed by an iPhone or iPod touch - eg: tiny displays and touchscreen input. I don’t think many would seriously assert that a netbook is an adequate substitute for a full-featured notebook like a MacBook or MacBook Pro, if you need those machines’ power and deep feature sets, but that’s not the point, which is that for what they’re suited for and what they cost, netbooks make a a pretty attractive package.
In going netbook, some Mac OS fans have taken the “hackintosh” route, with unauthorized hacked installs of OS X on their new netbooks. That can reportedly work very well, especially on some netbook models like the MSI Wind, but it violates the Mac OS End User License Agreement (EULA), and while the likelihood of Apple taking legal action against individuals for ignoring the EULA, some folks are uncomfortable doing so, and others just don’t want to deal with the hassle of hacked installs.
However, another alternative for netbook aficionados who can’t stomach working in Windows XP is Linux, which has been quietly getting better and better in the personal computer space, and according to reports the latest, greatest Linux distro ever is Canonical’s Ubuntu 9.04 “Jaunty Jackalope”, which is declared to be now just as slick and nice to use as OS X and the as yet still in beta Windows7,
Released last Thursday in dedicated Netbook Remix, and Server editions, Ubuntu 9.04 is a free download that delivers a range of feature enhancements to improve the user experience such as shorter boot times, some as short as 25 seconds, faster access to a full computing environment on most desktop, laptop and netbook models, enhanced suspend-and-resume features also give users more time between charges along with immediate access after hibernation, and intelligent switching between Wi-Fi and 3G environments broadened to support more wireless devices and 3G cards, resulting in a smoother experience for most users.
Canonical’s COO Jane Silber commented that: “With every release, we see Ubuntu Desktop Edition make significant steps forward in appealing to mainstream computer users. With access to the latest office productivity suite, support for Skype and Adobe Flash, and faster boot times, we’re confident that Ubuntu 9.04 Desktop Edition will see more people join millions of others and make the switch to an open platform.”
As for productivity software, Ubuntu 9.04 features OpenOffice.org 3.0, providing users with a complete office suite that is entirely compatible with Microsoft Office files. New icons and artwork also appear in this release, part of the continual improvement of the Ubuntu user experience.
Linux, in short, offers the advantages of true Open Source software at its core and no cost to download or update. It all sounds great in theory, but in actual use, many have found that the user experience had serious deficiencies compared with the Mac OS or even Windows. I experimented with installing a couple of PowerPC Linux distros -- SuSE 7 and Yellow Dog Linux -- on my WallStreet PowerBook back in the early ‘00s, but frankly couldn’t imagine why anyone would opt for using them when the Mac OS -- even the classic Mac OS -- was available as an alternative. There were just too many angularities, hassles, compromises, and shortcomings involved.
However, that was then, and evidently the Linux experience has evolved to a degree where it’s now become a serious challenger to OS X and Windows 7 in smoothness and slickness, and arguably pulled ahead of Windows Vista and XP.
ZDNet.com.au’s Renai LeMay, who is experienced in Windows and the Mac OS as well as a former Linux and FreeBSD systems administrator, posted a fascinating report on Ubuntu 9.04 last weekend, giving it a rave review to the point of saying that he is starting to prefer using “Jaunty Jackalope” to either the similarly slick Windows 7 beta and Mac OS X Leopard operating systems, which also uses regularly, while he left Windows Vista, XP and even Debian “lying bruised and battered by the roadside some time ago,” and reporting that with Ubuntu 9.04 desktop Linux finally offers that “elusive slick and speedy feel you get from applications launching fast, windows moving around without jerkiness and everything simply being where it should be in the user interface,” as well as several more subtle interface improvements such as the logical move of shut down and reboot options to the far right of the menu; a slick new notifications system; seamless integration of the Nvidia accelerated drivers and cleaned-up options and package install systems.
I was also interested in LeMay’s observation that while in his opinion, Microsoft has brought its best to the table with Windows 7, he thinks Apple failed to do so with Leopard, which added a lot of new features, but also some unfortunate erratic behavior that muddied Mac OS X’s position as a user interface leader. I would have to concur with that. I switched to Leopard early on, and some of its features, especially Spaces and improved Spotlight and spell-checking, kept me from reverting to OS 10.4 on my 1.33 GHz Power PC 17” PowerBook, I paid the price in diminished performance. Renai LeMAy, who also uses a PPC PowerBook concurs, noting that Leopard runs sluggishly on his 1.5GHz G4 laptop with 1280MB of RAM,, whereas OS 10.4 “runs like a dream.” I’m still using Tiger on my 550 MHz G4 Pismo PowerBook, and haven’t even seriously considered installing Leopard on it, although I’m hoping for better things with OS 10.6 Snow Leopard on my new unibody Core 2 Duo MacBook.
However, as LeMay summarizes, noting “Microsoft’s remarkable rebirth with Windows 7 and the fact that Ubuntu is free, open source and runs on anything, you would have to wonder what sort of rabbit Steve Jobs will have to pull out of his hat with Snow Leopard to keep growing Mac OS X’s share.”
Meanwhile, it’s not quite accurate to say that Ubuntu runs on “anything,” at least satisfactorily. Victor Costan has posted a tutorial on installing Ubuntu on Mac minis , but cautions that version 9.04 is not ready for the new Mac mini (model MacMini3,1 with 5 USB ports) -- reporting that shutting down or rebooting doesn’t work, the system hangs after performing all the shutdown tasks, and has to be power-cycled manually (hold the power button for 4 seconds and release it to force it to power off, wireless doesn’t work right after installation, so Ethernet is needed, at least for bootstrapping, and while once the system gains Internet access, it offers to install a Broadcom STA wireless driver, the network performance is poor.
However, for non-Apple PCs, your minimum hardware spec. for running Ubuntu 9.04 with decent performance is:
700 MHz x86 processor
384 MB of system memory (RAM)
8 GB of disk space
Graphics card capable of 1024x768 resolution
Sound card
For netbooks with supported graphics cards, using Ubuntu Netbook Remix is an interesting option, incorporating an interface adapter for smaller screens, and a selection of applications aimed at netbook users. Because the launcher uses OpenGL, your graphics card needs to be fully supported under Ubuntu in order to run smoothly.
Supported graphics cards
ATI cards (R6xx/R7xx may require the proprietary fglrx driver)
Recent Intel cards (i915 or better, except GMA 500 / Poulsbo / SCH)
NVidia cards with the proprietary NVidia driver
Recommended minimum requirements for the Netbook Remix are:
700 MHz x86 processor
384 MB of system memory (RAM)
6 GB of disk space
Graphics card capable of 800x600 resolution and 3D (OpenGL)
Sound card
Ubuntu 9.04 Desktop Edition is available by:
Visiting http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu for a free download
Visiting http://shop.canonical.com to purchase a CD.
Visiting http://shipit.ubuntu.com to request a free CD.
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