Dell to upgrade its Ubuntu OS

On our last post we discussed operating system security and how Linux is much better at handling user permissions and its complexities. Well Dell also thinks that Ubuntu/Linux is more safe to use than Windows for regular home user and business users alike.

This page http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/ubuntu?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=anavml shows you what you can and can’t do with Ubuntu and it also gives you a comparison between Windows and Ubuntu. Looking at the comparison it looks like your average home user can use Ubuntu with no problems. So why aren’t more of you using the system.

Lets see we can think of several reasons:

• Windows Specific software requirements
• Don’t know about Ubuntu
• PC accessories incompatibilities such as web cams, microphones, scanners, wireless routers or digital cameras
• PC hardware not supported

All of these reasons are invalid with the exception of two. Unless you require Windows specific software then you have an excuse not to switch over or use it in a virtualized environment such as VMWare (http://www.vmware.com/) or Virtual Box (http://www.virtualbox.org/).

With Ubuntu you can use your PC accessories as they have drivers available for them in fact on most of those items we mentioned above you can just plug them in and they work. Unless the item has just been released within the past 48hrs then we say you might have an issue due to the fact that the developers have not had a chance to implement the driver into the operating system or is a very obscure product. But we say is pretty safe to say that your accessories will work say about 80% of the time out of the box.

As far as PC hardware is concern Ubuntu works with most market hardware in fact the darn thing works on a MAC and that is truly an accomplishment; try installing Windows on a MAC hardware and your in for a world of hurt as Windows drivers are not available for MAC hardware components.

Now we think is pretty safe to say that the reason as to why most people don’t try Ubuntu besides the Windows only software requirement is because they don’t know about it. Well if this is the case head on over to the Ubuntu web site (http://www.ubuntu.com) and see what it has to offer. We think that if Dell which is the third largest PC manufacturer in world offers it then it means that is pretty good. Looking at those Dell comparison it makes no sense for home or even business users to spend a ton of money on software for Windows when they can get the operating system and its 20,000 plus catalog of software for free right from the OS it self. This means no need to run out and get and install cd/dvd or download software from some obscure site. We have been using it for a couple of years now and we recommend it to our clients all the time as it is safer and more reliable than Windows.

Google Chrome Web Browser Version 6

The new version of Google Chrome web browser has been released (http://www.google.com/chrome/intl/en/more/index.html). This new version uses the WebKit engine (http://webkit.org/) to render its HTML/CSS and JavaScript pages. It also boosts support for lots of CSS3 features such as the ones found here (http://tinyurl.com/35lupzz) plus lots of HTML5 features as well. The browser also lets you import your Fire Fox bookmarks and it allows you to sync your bookmarks across PCs which have the Google Chrome browser already installed(very cool feature).

Speed

The one thing that has really impressed us about the browser is its speed. We have tested the browser across several operating system such as Windows(XP,7), Mac OSX and Ubuntu 10.04 and it is fast. Very quick to start up and loading the actual web sites. The only other web browser out there that is faster than Google Chrome is Opera 10.10(http://www.opera.com/browser/). This new version also features a faster JavaScript engine which makes JavaScript driven applications to perform much faster.

Security

In terms of security the browser is very solid just like Fire Fox 3.x(http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/personal.html). It actually warns you if you have stumbled into a web site which could harm your PC. This however does not mean you should throw away your anti-virus software specially if you are on a Windows PC(regardless of the version your are running).

Extensions

In this area just like Fire Fox the browser shines as it already has tons of extensions for you to choose from and they work extremely well. You can also find most extensions which are available for Fire Fox such as Feedly or Pixlr Grabber. In terms of developing extensions Chrome makes it easy to do so, you can take a look at this article here (http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/write-chrome-extension/).

Conclusion

In our opinion if you have not tried Google Chrome you should for three reasons.

1. Faster web browsing experience
2. Better security
3. Lots of extensions to choose from.

If you are currently running Internet Explorer (6,7 or 8 ) and you don’t necessarily need it for any specific web applications then we say dump it like your life depends on it as it lacks support for various CSS 2.1, CSS 3 and HTML 5 features which are rapidly being deployed to new web sites. On this merit alone Internet Explorer should be dropped like a bad habit (not to mention security issues).

If you are running the latest version of Opera or Fire Fox then you should be OK as both of these browsers keep adding more CSS 3/HTML 5 functionalities. But if your adventurous then give Google Chrome a shot you just might like it. Take a look at some of the capabilities of Google Chrome here http://www.chromeexperiments.com/ and you can download it here http://www.google.com/chrome?hl=en.