Linux: A Powerful Alternative

A friend of mine in college introduced me to Kubuntu. Kubuntu is basically Ubuntu with the K Desktop Environment (KDE) instead of GNOME.

After playing with that version, I decided to give Ubuntu a try and decided I liked it better. (Especially now. KDE 4 is horrible. Even Linus Torvalds hates it.)

Since then, I have learned to play with the insides of the operating system to customize it to my liking.

As a computer geek, I love playing with pre released versions of software. Linux is amazing because it’s free and open-source. Anyone can download and modify it and use it on as many computers as they like.

One of the benefits of this model is being able to download and play with pre released versions of the operating system.

Ubuntu 9.04 offers users some extremely cutting edge features of the Linux world. You can have Ubuntu mimic the look and feel of Apple’s Mac OS, Windows XP / Vista or other less known systems. Linux is - by FAR - the most user-customizable operating system on the planet. You can customize every aspect of the system - from appearance to the very code of the operating itself.

Linux truly has the best of both worlds - Mac OS and Windows. It takes the good parts of both and puts them together into a fun, powerful OS that is just as powerful - and possibly more so in some ways - than nearly any other OS.

Whether you’re just starting out with Linux or are a long-time power user, I highly recommend Ubuntu. Still, that’s just my personal preference. There are literally hundreds of Linux distributions available.

So have at it!

To download Ubuntu, check out http://www.ubuntu.com