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Ubuntu 12.04 vs. Windows 8: Five points of comparison Summary: The leading Linux desktop and the number one desktop of all, Windows, are both undergoing radical transformations, but which will be the better for it? By Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols for Linux and Open Source | May 7, 2012 -- 09:28 GMT (02:28 PDT) Follow @sjvn Windows 8 Metro vs. Ubuntu 12.04 Unity2012 has already seen a major update of what's arguably the most important Linux desktop: Ubuntu 12.04 and we're also seeing the most radical update of Windows with Windows 8 Metro coming since Windows 95 replaced Windows 3.1. So,...

Canonical's decision to go with the Unity shell on GNOME may be a game changer for Ubuntu, but it doesn't come without risk. Mark Shuttleworth's declared aims are to unite design with free software. He hopes to blur the line between the web and the desktop, to create an intuitive Linux desktop that is a thing of beauty, and to make Ubuntu and free software popular among the kinds of user who have never heard of free software before.

Mark Shuttleworth, the founder of Ubuntu Linux, says Oracle's move is "going to be a significant setback for their relationship with the broader open source community." Before it was purchased by Oracle, Sun Microsystems enjoyed a strong relationship with the open source community, particularly for its Java programming language, which the company evolved over time to adapt to an open source framework. But last week Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) surprised the open source community with a patent infringement suit against Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), over the search giant's use of Java in Android, its open source mobile operating system. Datamation reports on...

I was looking at the Ubuntu and Lime linux threads, I would like to try using linux. Which is best for a complete noob such as myself? Lime seems to be easier? How do I go about getting it going after a download? Just wondering, heh. Thanks

28 June 2010 IS THAT A REAL TOR BRIDGE YOU'RE CONNECTING TO? Or is it a fake Tor bridge being run by the Dogs of Intelligence™?

Dell reckons Ubuntu offers more protection than Windows online as it convinces consumer PC shoppers they shouldn't be scared of Linux. In a statement flagged here by TheVarGuy.com, Dell picked on security as one of ten reasons why people should buy PCs running Canonical's Linux rather than Microsoft's operating system. According to Dell's site (here, and a PDF here (pdf) in case the page is moved): 6) Ubuntu is safer than Microsoft Windows: The vast majority of viruses and spyware written by hackers are not designed to target and attack Linux. Dell does not provide further details, but continues to...

Well, that is part one of our Ubuntu 10.04 LTS vs. Windows 7 testing. As much as we would have liked to see Ubuntu's Lucid Lynx handily beat Windows 7, this was not the case, but to some extent the opposite. Windows 7 in some of the tests possessed definitive leads over Ubuntu 10.04 LTS with the OpenGL performance when using the proprietary ATI/AMD and NVIDIA graphics drivers, which have largely shared code-bases between Windows and Linux. Ubuntu 10.04 LTS also had its leads in some areas while in many of the tests the differences between the two operating systems...

It seems that every time Ubuntu gets an update there's talk about how the new version will finally usher in the era of user-friendly Linux and turn the open-source operating system (OS) into a serious competitor to OS X and Windows. We've been running the latest version, 10.04 (code-named Lucid Lynx), since it first hit beta in mid-March. While we have a hard time seeing it replace Windows 7 anytime soon, the regular six-month intervals of serious improvements are finally paying off in an arguably consumer-ready OS. A Completely New Look *********************snip***************************** image at website***************************************************** The other major new feature...

Ubuntu is Linux for the rest of us. It is simple to install and use. Despite that, not that many users are on board with estimates of 1-2% of all computer users running various Linux operating systems. But with the release of Ubuntu 10.04, there might be a few reasons to give it a try. It is currently in beta, so you may not want to install it on your primary computer. The stable release will come on April 29 according to the Ubuntu web site. You can download a live DVD image to give it a try. A live...

02 February 2010 USING TOR WITH UBUNTU All the cool kids are doing it...

Microsoft to fund Linux development The next release of Ubuntu will scrap Google as the default search engine on its Firefox browser in favor of Yahoo!, thanks to a new revenue-sharing deal between Yahoo! and commercial Ubuntu backer Canonical. With regulators set to approve Yahoo!'s search pact with Microsoft, this means that Redmond will power the future of Firefox on Ubuntu, a combination with decidedly anti-Redmond connotations. The ultimate irony is that Microsoft will essentially be paying people to build a Linux distro. Canonical's Rick Spencer announced the Yahoo! revenue deal on Tuesday, with a post to the Ubuntu developer...

Hacktolive.org announced today, December 29th, yet another version of their Ubuntu-based Linux distribution... with "super powers." Super OS 9.10 (formerly known as Super Ubuntu) includes patches, tools and technologies that are missing from a standard Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) default installation. Among the applications present in the brand-new Super OS 9.10 we can notice powerful web browsers such as Google Chrome and Opera; a version of the Mozilla Firefox web browser with the Moonlight and Flash plugins; the VLC player with support for DVD playback and most of today's video and audio formats; a Live USB creator; support for portable...

If there was one word that could get Open Source readers more passionate than Microsoft in 2009, it was Ubuntu. Ubuntu is not the most profitable Linux, and it’s not the distro with the biggest penetration of any major market. But partly due to its commercial arm Canonical, based officially on the Isle of Man but actually located in London, Canonical’s charismatic CEO, Mark Shuttleworth, and to its desktop ambitions, it is the Linux distro you most liked reading about. I was only dimly aware of this at the start of the year. But I learned. Ubuntu 9.04 to be...

2010…a new decade, and with it must come a new round of predictions, right? It’s a particularly interesting time to be a pundit, though. Not only is technology emerging at a blistering pace, but education itself is undergoing some serious transformations as we look towards global competition. I won’t even try to predict how Ed Tech will look in 2020. Ubiquitous WiFi was barely conceivable in 2000; we were just happy that we finally got to party like it was 1999. I can take a pretty good stab at the next couple of years though. Let me know what you...

A radical new day has dawned for the operating system. Today Google finally aired its long awaited Chrome Operating System. The operating system was detailed at a press conference starting at 1 p.m. EST, and the open source code was posted online just before the start of the presentation. The new operating system brings a dramatically different look and perspective to the market and just may give Microsoft and OS X some tough competition by reinventing a tired old wheel -- the operating system -- offering the first laptop/desktop OS built around the browser and web applications. A Google engineer...

Welcome to the third edition of Eva's Useful Guide to Ubuntu! This guide contains many tips to enhance and customize a fresh Ubuntu 9.10 "Karmic Koala" installation. I have been using various Linux distributions since 1998, and Ubuntu since its first release in 2004. During the last five years, I have accumulated some experience installing and maintaining Ubuntu systems. This guide was first meant to be my own reference, but I think it can be useful to anyone wanting to get the best of his Ubuntu box.   SummaryA. Media codecs, DVD support and more B. Use the Gnome Control...

For all you alternative OS folks out there, Ubuntu 9.10 is now out. Grab it if you want it, try it if you haven’t. If you are unfamiliar with Ubuntu, I highly recommend you give our 30 days with Linux article a look.

My logs show that only a paltry 3.6% of readers have reached Complete Enlightenment. The bad news is that 83.1% of you live a hellish existence and suffer regular torments and agony, much of it self-imposed. How I weep for you! (The remaining 13.3% are in Limbo, including the 2 jokers last month who logged on using a PlayStation 3.) There are many flavors of Linux, but I recommend Ubuntu—one of those trendy African words meaning “warm fuzzy”. Log on to the site to see pictures of multicultural people holding hands and grinning weirdly, just like the photos appearing on...

The beta release of Karmic Koala, the next version of Ubuntu Linux, just arrived on the net. Wondering what's new inside the open-source operating system? We took a tour and brought back these screenshots. Update: An earlier version of this post used screenshots from Ubuntu 9.10 Alpha 6, which, while feature-complete, did not include the artwork overhaul included in the 9.10 beta. We've re-toured Karmic Koala and replaced the screenshots, as well as added an item to note the changes. Apologies for any confusion—or disappointing design schemes.In general, Ubuntu 9.10, or Karmic Koala, doesn't have a whole ton of new-new...

Back on Friday we published Mac OS X 10.6 benchmarks and found it to offer some terrific performance improvements , but at the same time, there were a few notable regressions. Apple engineers have been working hard at pushing technologies like Grand Central Dispatch (GCD), OpenCL, full 64-bit support, and other changes to their OS X stack to bolster its performance capabilities and reduce the overall footprint. Now that we have tested Mac OS X 10.6, we are seeing how its performance compares to that of Ubuntu Linux. Ubuntu 9.10 "Karmic Koala" will be out in October and does have...