//beconfused

Finally I got some time away from my work and I decided to explore something new. I decided to install Ubuntu. I am familiar with Windows and the Mac but I haven’t really touched Ubuntu. So I shrink my Windows Vista partition by 60 GB and throw in Ubuntu to dual-boot.

Ubuntu is a Linux-based operating system, it is free and open-sourced. I downloaded the CD image, burned it and restarted my computer. I was greeted with an Ubuntu startup screen which is really good so far.

I should add that prior to the installation, I did not read much documents except for one that tells me that it’s possible to dual boot Windows Vista and Ubuntu. So this Ubuntu thingy is totally fresh for me.

It didn’t take long to go into the Ubuntu screen, I am plesantly surprised that you can immediately start to use Ubuntu without installing it into your harddisk, it’s something really cool although that really isn’t what I want. I continued through the installations, selecting the partitions and formating it. It requires a bit of experience, make sure you don’t format your Windows partition or you’ll go crying for several days.

The installation is straightforward. Upon restarting, the Ubuntu screen prompted me to eject the CD too, that’s quite thoughtful. Once I loaded the Ubuntu screen, I eagarly explored everything I can click. I installed all the updates, download more programs and installed more updates.

Ubuntu manages to install the right drivers for every device I have. I thought my Microsoft keyboard volume buttons wouldn’t work but it did! The only button that didn’t work is the Windows button.

What I like about Ubuntu:

1. I love the automatic updates feature. It’s quick and easy to use and updates all your software at once. The downside to it is that Ubuntu don’t always have the latest program files in their repository unfortunately. But it’s much better than Windows Update that doesn’t update a whole lot of other non-Microsoft applications. That’s how auto-updates should be.
2. Ubuntu felt faster and has a decent interface. It’s definately better than Solaris but not as good as the Windows and Mac interface in my opinion.
3. Ubuntu did right which sorting the applications menu in Internet, Programming and Games and blah blah. Windows tend to use the software publisher’s name which is nonsense. I can’t remember who publish what sometimes. That is why in Windows Vista, there is this little search thing to help you. But seriously Windows should just throw away the idea of installing based on application publishers.
4. I really like that Ubuntu buddle OpenOffice, Firefox and a bunch of other cool tools. You can go to Add/Remove Applications to should what you want. It can be sorted by priority and there is this rating that you can follow. I installed almost all the 5-star programs to try. I mean it’s 5 stars, it should be pretty good.

What I don’t like about Ubuntu:

1. There ought to be a much easier way of installing themes, learn a thing or two from Mozilla Firefox. Installing themes is just too user-unfriendly in Ubuntu.
2. It’s not easy to install programs that you download from somewhere other than the Ubuntu repository. I am all for the idea of setup wizards actually. It’s easy to use and quite customizable.
3. Somehow… I could get my display driver to use 1440 x 900 pixel desktop. I have to use 1280 x 800 instead which kinda upsets me for the past hour.
4. And the fonts aren’t as pretty as the ones found in Windows or Mac. There isn’t much to choose from too. I would prefer a more familiar-looking font to ease my transition towards Ubuntu.
5. I really missed things like iTunes, Windows Live Messenger, Photoshop and Microsoft Office 2007. My friend is telling me that I can use Wine to get those back but it’s okay I guess. I intend to use Ubuntu for development and testing. [GIMP is not Photoshop, stop promoting it as a Photoshop alternative. It's so insulting for Photoshop.]

After my two-hour try out, I think Ubuntu is good. Not great, just good. There are a couple of times when you’ll really need command prompt to proceed, that’s not really the human way that Ubuntu keep advertising. Eventually I would love to see Ubuntu installers being made, easier installation of themes and my favorite 1440 x 900 screen resolution.

If you have Windows and you’re feeling adverturous, do give Ubuntu a try, you may just be pleasantly surprised. But don’t be all ready to throw away your Windows, Windows still win in many areas, in particularly embracing the human way of installing and uninstalling programs.

The fact that Ubuntu is free must not be used as an excuse why it can’t be better than Windows or Mac. If so, Ubuntu’s no-cost deal would backfire and discourage innovation and competition. Ubuntu must challenge the paid operating systems to become better. Perhaps another 10 years, Ubuntu would be the standard operating system. Perhaps… Many perhaps.

Apple Safari is now on Windows! Currently it’s in public beta. Safari claims to have HTML, JavaScript and load performance better than Firefox, Internet Explorer and Opera. That’s like wow, I thought Opera is quick enough. I’ll give the public beta a try. It looks pretty cool too.

Get the Apple Safari 3 Public Beta here. It’s got everything a browser ought to have so I guess I have nothing to loose.

I wish Internet Explorer and Firefox learn something about speed. I’m a little upset over Internet Explorer’s execution of JavaScript, I always feel slow, indeed it may be due to bad coding.

Currently in beta, Windows Live Messenger 8.5 would sport a new interface. It looks much beta and cooler and has a more consistent Windows Live branding. Check out some of the screenshots that I included.

The Windows Live Messenger sign in window, version 8.0 on the left, 8.5 on the right. Windows Live Messenger 8.5 seems to have a lot more text that people don’t find useful to see. It’s probably the lawyers’ idea.

And of course, the main window. Similarly, 8.0 is on th left, 8.5 on the right. It’s all looking much cleaner and I love it when the interface designers removed the left and right border, it makes the application feel lighter.

Windows Live Messenger 8.0 is at the top and Windows Live Messenger 8.5 is at the bottom. The chat window has little changes, take a look at the Send and Search button. It’s looking better on 8.5. Previously on 8.0, it’s quite space wasting to put it on the right of the chat box.

During my installation, I was told to shut of Windows Explorer, I don’t have any Explorer windows open and in order to continue with the installation, I ended the Explorer.exe.

There really isn’t much changes. Everything works similarly, the interface change is much welcomed though.

You can read more at Inside Windows Live Messenger or get the Windows Live Messenger 8.5 beta here.

Despite abilities to shoot cob webs and looking nerdy in real life, Spider-man isn’t spared from office hours annoyances such as the Windows 98 blue screen of death (BSOD).

So you know what Green Globin use in his oh-so-secret lab, it’s not that advanced.

I bought my son this Mega Bloks set this evening:

Imagine my elation when I discovered that a clever designer managed to sneak a Win98 BSOD into the set!

read more | digg story

Despite a bunch of countering reports, Windows Vista is claimed by Bill Gates to be doing very well, with 40 million Windows Vista licenses sold in the first 100 days. Gates said an accelerating consumer shift to digital lifestyles had helped make the operating system the fastest-selling in history, and that premium editions have accounted for 78 percent of Vista sales. (Source)

(The new Windows Vista and Office 2007 box packaging.)

Most people are saying Windows Vista are not selling and I had a friend who claim that Windows XP is in demand more than Windows Vista. But all these seem to be untrue and probably just spread by some Microsoft-haters. I use Windows Vista and I can tell you the most common impression most people had is that it hangs more than Windows XP which is rather odd because Vista is not exactly hanging much for me. Once in a while, programs wouldn’t response but it’s similar to Windows XP.

An interesting thing to note is that Windows Vista Home Premium accounts for 78 percent of Vista sales, it really showed how much people want the Aero interface. Aero is the cooler desktop found only in Home Premium and more expensive Windows Vista editions. I wouldn’t have bought the Home Basic too just because it lacks the Aero interface. It ups the feel-good factor I guess. And I’m basically just paying more for the nice sliding effects, the cooler Win + Tab and the translucent windows. I do not intend to use Windows Media Centre at all by the way.

Windows Vista now has ths really cool tool to adjust the volume of individual applications. It allows me to lower the sound the Operating System actually makes and give my iTunes more priority in volume.

What’s more is that adjusting the overall volume would scale your volume in percentages. That’s something pretty cool. My only complain is the strange interface. I don’t know why the volume control is showing the Device button when I have only one device. And I don’t know how to rid the menu bar.

I love the new icon sets in Windows Vista, it’s clean and beautiful. But there are always some programs that would spoil it.

Adobe Gamma looks really ugly in the middle of the pretty icons. The other culprit is Quicktime which didn’t offer icons of the size I like. But, really, the most surprising culprit is Microsoft’s own product - Microsoft Office 2007 with the Mail icon. I thought they would have at the very least made their own product icons blend in more. Perhaps some work can be done here?

And it’s really time for Adobe Gamma to get a new icon!