For Mother’s Day, my oldest son, 17, spent the better portion of the day installing Ubuntu on my computer. He says that it’s way better, and offers virus and spyware protection that I supposedly don’t get with Windows Vista and Firefox alone (I also run Spybot regularly). In short, “it’s awesome”. Well, I hate it. I hate the fonts, I hate the appearance of it, I hate that there are alot of Firefox extensions and add-ons that don’t work with it, and I hate that it took away all my bookmarks and he doesn’t know how to put them back. I hate the background choices, and it seems slower than before but that could be my imagination.
For those who know about such things- do I really need Ubuntu? Is it really way better? Aren’t Vista and Firefox protecting me well enough?
You don’t need it. A Vista installation with automatic updates enabled and firewall enabled will get the job done. Add in a freeware virus scanner for kicks too.
Two affirmations- good enough for me! I’ve been trying to figure out how to uninstall it and go back to how it was… unfortunately, it seems he uninstalled Vista. He did put it on CD, but since he is now at work and then to his dad’s, it will be up to me to reinstall it, and I know f***-all about computers. Yikes. Wish me luck!
Umm, there’s no polite way to say this but these two points say it all. We can point you in the right direction to raise your knowledge and skill level with your computer. The other part is family and I’m not going there, other than to say he meant well. If he really thinks you need Ubuntu, find a spare computer where he can install Ubuntu server. Use it as a file server for storing files.
Oh. Well, I was kind of hoping that I could just pop the CD(s?) in and a little while later, everything would be back to exactly how it was Sunday morning. No?
Sounds like the kind of akward, well-meaning but poorly thought out kind of thing I would do when I was 17. I can only cringe for the both of you :). Happy Mother’s Day!
Oh, yeah… he finally returned my calls. I’m screwed. He’ll have to come over and reinstall Vista, using a pirated version with my key which hopefully is around here somewhere. I did make backup files when I got the computer a little over a year ago- hope that’ll help.
Well, he was able to tell me over the phone how to get my bookmarks back, so I imported them. The appearance thing he claims can be changed from hundreds of choices. He also says I can change to a far more user-friendly version of Ubuntu. Or he can reinstall Vista and it’ll be pretty much the same as it was. He did save my bookmarks, music, and photos when he changed it, so I didn’t really lose things- I just don’t really like it.
Should I keep it and modify it to my liking, or change back to Vista? What are the actual benefits of one over the other?
My suggestion would be to reinstall Vista and then, if there is enough free disk, install Ubuntu in a dual-boot configuration (where you’ll be able to choose which OS to boot into when you start the computer). Then you’ll be able to explore Ubuntu while maintaining the safety net until such time as you’re ready to take the plunge (if ever).
My understanding is that dual-boot is not difficult and is quite well documented — but I’m the sort of paranoid who doesn’t want the two to communicate except via shared folders, so I’ve always used separate machines.
He did do that before installing it, but the pages were huge and he couldn’t resize them, so I had to try to judge how I would like it in an absurdly big font, which was unfair of him and I’ve let him know that. Ironically, one of the things I don’t like about this system is the teeny tiny font now. I guess I can change that, but Ubuntu is just ugly. One of the things I liked about Vista was it’s so pretty. I know that sounds stupid, but it was just… soothing. This is harsh and utilitarian.
Well, if that’s your biggest roadblock . . . you really can change all that. I guarantee you can make it just as or more soothing than Vista, and it sounds like it would mean a lot to your son if you kept it.
And just to clarify, he just did it for me because he thought it would be better for me, not because he wanted to use it. We don’t share computers- he’s a gamer and a geek and my computer is way too simple and “slow” (it’s blazingly fast to me) for him to deign to use. He builds his computers.
I guess this weekend I’ll look around and see how I can change it to how I like it- even though he doesn’t use it, I think that it would mean a lot to him to see me use it. He has this thing about me trusting him when it comes to things like this that I don’t know anything about, so maybe I’ll just give him this one. One thing I hate, though, is change, and it’s hard for me to adapt to something different, which is why I was initially so resistant to it. Is there any reason why I shouldn’t go with Ubuntu, if I can fix it up to my preferences?
Sorry, one more thing- do I really not have any connection to Windows anymore? That is weird. I feel a sense of loss. Can I really not watch the instant stuff on Netflix anymore? These are things I need to know about.
If you’ve ever been on your computer and thought “wow, this is too user friendly. If only I had spent the past 4 hours fighting it and still not be able to do what I really wanted it to do.” Or you have some kind of penchant for ugly - then no, you don’t really need Ubuntu.
Depends on what you are using your computer for. Browsing the internet, watching movies, listening to music, writing letters, spread sheets, etc, works just fine with Ubuntu. Better than windows in some cases, and it will defenitely be faster than windows in any case.
What Ubuntu (and linux in general) has problems with is games, and some special applications.
if you, for example, are connecting to your bank via the internet (internet bank, is that what it’s called?) to pay bills and stuff, you will often need a special program to connect to the bank. This program will likely not be available for Linux.
If you want to create music, with for example Propellerheads Reason, you better stay with windows.
And, as I said, games will be a problem, but as your computer is quite slow, I’m guessing you are not too much into gaming anyway?
What is “instant stuff on Netflix”? If Netflix is a website, it is probably some flash, or java thing you are watching, in which case Ubuntu will probably do the job just fine.
All the things you mention can be fixed pretty easily. If he had been an experienced installer, he would have done them when he installed it.
But now you can simply call him anytime anything on your computer doesn’t work the way you want, of if you just decide you want something changed – he’ll have to be responsible for making it work just the way you want, because he’s the one who changed the OS on you. Having an on-call computer tech is nice, especially when you don’t have to pay him by the hour!
