Until very recently computer operating systems have been dominated by Microsoft. There has been no strong competitor to rival them.
This is changing.
In 1991 a student at The University of Helsinki developed an operating system as part of a student project. His name was Linus Torvalds and the basic core system he developed is known as Linux.
Linux has been freely distributed and the source code has been available for development by companies and competent individuals alike. It's stable and inherently virus resistant architecture is used throughout the internet and the main search engines are all based on Linux.
Because Linux is freely available it has been the tool for individuals of great competence but has not always been as user friendly as Microsoft Windows users might be comfortable with.
This is all changing.
With the advent of Linux Ubuntu there is at last a system freely available and much more user friendly. New developments are available every six months each building on the previous distribution (distro) and the latest, Ubuntu 8.04 (released in April 2008) is an operating system that is a real competitor to Microsoft. Other distros are also catching up too (for some other distros visit The Linux Shop).
This distro includes not only an operating system that is easy to use but it also has drivers for many modern peripherals such as scanners, printers, cameras, flash pens, CD/DVD burners and an office suite compatible with the latest version of Microsoft Office.
I can now offer Ubuntu as an alternative operating system to Windows either as a stand alone operating system or running in dual boot with Windows (choose your operating system at boot). As a stand alone system it offers good basic experience to users who requirements are internet access, e-mail, word processing, spread sheets, presentations and games - and considerably more.
This also means that computers running Ubuntu as a stand alone system don't necessarily need to be as powerful as systems running the latest versions of Windows. Apart from my building costs customers can have the advantage of a free operating system and cheaper hardware, all reflected in prices. You will also be joining a world wide community sharing their insights into an operating system that will be claiming a greater proportion of the market than before. What does Ubuntu mean?
Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'Humanity to others', or 'I am what I am because of who we all are'. The Ubuntu distribution brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the software world. |
