Ubuntu - First Impressions

I downloaded the latest ISO image of Ubuntu a few days ago, and tonight I finally got around to burning it to a CD so I could actually use it.

For those of you that don't know, Ubuntu is a Linux distribution focusing on usability. I guess the aim is to tempt people across from their Windows PCs by giving them something that's as simple to use but free and more secure.

Anyway, my limited Linux exposure was about 6 or 7 years ago with Red Hat and SUSE, and although they were relatively easy to get to grips with I didn't think they were ready for the masses.

Fast forward a few years to Ubuntu, and you get an OS that you don't even need to install if you only want to try it out. With LiveCD you just run the entire thing from CD so you can try before you commit to installing it. Old news to some people I know, but the whole "try before you buy" thing is certainly impressive when you're talking about something as complex as an operating system.

So that's what I've been doing tonight, playing with the LiveCD version to see what it's like. I'm impressed enough to want to install it put it that way. I've got a second hard drive and intend to dual boot Ubuntu and XP, the documentation looks pretty straightforward, but I'll write more when the time comes.