Ubuntu 7.10

Ubuntu 7.10 "GustyGibbon" is coming out in a day. Do yourself a favor and download a copy and give it a try. I've been running Windows for I don't know how many years and have tried different flavors of Linux with no real success. I've made a living for several years selling and administering Windows based computers and networks and have always wondered why I'm being paid to essentially fight fires. There has to be a better way.

I downloaded the previous version of Ubuntu Linux (7.04 FeistyFawn) and haven't gone back. It is a pretty straight forward process and you can even run Ubuntu from the CD without installing it. You'll need download an ".iso" and burn it to a CD. If you aren't familiar with ISOs, check out this link.

On a side note:

You may be wondering why it's gone from 7.04 to 7.10. Ubuntu releases new versions every six months. So 7.04 is from April 2007 and appropriately 7.10 will be released in October of 2007 and so on.

If and when you decide to switch, you'll need to make a backup of all the data you want to keep and do an assessment of what you'll be missing. As nice as Ubuntu is, it's not Microsoft. I'm not saying that Microsoft is better. I'm just pointing out that you probably won't be able to bring your Microsoft dependencies with you. Quickbooks is one thing that stands out. There is a lot of comparable (free) software in Ubuntu, but honestly some of it comes with a learning curve. Hopefully, you can get past this in your pursuit of OS Nirvana.

Just out of curiosity, I'd like to know what your company uses at work in terms of technology. I ran my last company almost purely on open source software and think it could work for a lot of other businesses. Hmmm...