Ubuntu 12.10: Out-of-the-box ready, faster than Windows 7

Ubuntu 12.10 boots out of the box with no upfront costs

How much software must you buy to get a computer running on day one? A home installation of Ubuntu 12.10 answers bluntly: screen, keyboard, printer and e-book reader worked immediately, and the system came with music player, video player and text editor included. All this, as noted when describing the experiment, without needing to steal anything. The only failure was a minor error that fixed itself, without restarts and without affecting desktop performance, appearing after accidentally installing the 32-bit version. The same small errors plagued the 32-bit edition of Windows Seven.

The direct comparison with Windows 7 does not fare badly. Closing, opening and suspending were faster, even though the system was installed on the oldest and slowest hard drive available. Moreover, the interface is intuitive: things appear right away.

What comes standard in Ubuntu and what is the real cost?

The official download does not require payment. It offers a voluntary donation when downloading the system, and those who made it dedicated $2 to PC environment development. Their own valuation of that amount, with underlying economic complaints, was that it seemed like a lot of money. Advertising supporting the project is limited to the Ubuntu Store and Amazon, in small doses and unobtrusively.

In the application center, there is free software for almost everything, including creating and deleting partitions, with an interface less flashy than Windows but the same function. Player, office suite and browser are included in the package without license or pirated downloads.

Are drivers needed for cameras, printers or graphics cards?

The classic argument against Linux is the absence of drivers on the manufacturer's CD. Collected experience nuances almost all of this. A compact camera connected via USB behaves like a storage unit: open the folder and there are the photos, just like in Windows. Printers from certain brands also do not cause trouble.

The weak point is graphics. A laptop with an Nvidia chip required downloading the driver from the manufacturer's website and installing it via commands, searching online in between, because there was no way to do it visually. On another machine, with a derived distribution, it was enough to activate the official driver from the driver manager. Wireless connection is mentioned as a recurring source of headaches.

Can an old computer handle a Linux installation?

It depends on the desktop. A machine with Pentium 4 at 2.66 GHz and 256 MB RAM still runs a trimmed-down Windows XP and is a clear candidate for a lightweight environment. For a five- or six-year-old netbook, the recommendation is low-resource distributions, offering a notable improvement in fluidity compared to the previous installation.

The circulating classification is simple: decent machines, a classic-finish desktop; normal machines, lighter alternative versions; prehistoric machines, minimal distributions. Warning: the Unity version consumes RAM and is no longer the same experience on older machines.

Why many people return to Windows keeping the partition intact

Here lies the crux of the matter. Free office alternatives work for writing, including spell check, which is what is truly needed. But some describe them as painful and non-dynamic, and others admit the interface looks straight out of the 80s.

The real problem is specific software: music programs, applications managing mobile backups, executable files and DVD movies that do not always read. The most repeated solution is not to delete Windows, but to leave it on a second partition as a safety net.

The labyrinth of distributions: what to choose based on your hardware

Fragmentation is read as an advantage or a curse, depending on who you ask. With so many versions, each profile finds its own; the price is that you need to research before installing. An XP-style desktop fits well with a lightweight version, and a Windows 8-style desktop with Ubuntu.

Some renounce the classic ecosystem due to its dogmatism regarding non-free software, to the point of forcing additional repositories for hardware to work. On the other side are manufacturer-sponsored distributions, which solve graphical support without surprises, and custom-build projects, reserved for those unafraid of the terminal.

The uncomfortable result: several who took the step keep Windows installed just in case. The savings are real. Independence, for now, is negotiated at every boot.