Quit Wasting Your Money on Windows and Apple and Just Run Linux - it's FREE!

I was a complete beginner when I began playing around with Ubuntu Linux over twelve years ago. I started with Version 6.06.1 (Dapper Drake) and currently run the newest Long Term Support version, 20.04 LTS.  It's installed on what started as an old computer running on my home network.

For those of you running older systems I suggest downloading long term support version 10.04.4 that uses the gnome interface.  You'll find that it doesn't get the support that the newer versions do but it's a complete and basically trouble free version for older hardware. It's much less demanding than the current versions.

I've upgraded that "old" computer a bit since I first threw it together. Linux does not require state of the art processors and gobs of ram.  I believe Ubuntu will run just fine with 512 MB. 

If I find myself needing Windows for a specific Windows only application, I boot into Windows XP using Oracle Virtualbox right from within Ubuntu. This is the most perfect computer I've ever owned. Ubuntu 18.04 is a great version of Linux. There are other flavors of Linux available other than Ubuntu. I've tried a lot of them and always come back to Ubuntu myself. Others distros are favored by some people however. There are a number of choices out there. I assemble all of our desktop machines myself. The specs of my personaL Ubuntu desktop computer are as follows:

• Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3L motherboard FSB 1333 MHz
• Intel Core 2 Duo 3 GHz CPU E8400
• 500 GB Samsung 860 EVO V-Nand SSD Boot Drive
• 2 - 250 GB Seagate SATA 7200 rpm storage drives
• EVGA Geforce GT 240 1 GB DDR3 Nvidia Video Card
• 8 GB G.Skill PC2-8500 DDR2-1066 Dual Channel Ram
• Onboard 10/100/1000 NIC
• Lite On CD/DVD RW Combo Drive
• Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse
• 22" Acer X223W Widescreen LCD monitor
• Klipsch speakers
• Networked HP5p and HP Office Jet Pro 6970 printers
• Cooler Master Centurion 5 case
• Thermaltake Purepower 500W power supply
• Networked with a Ubuntu Linux server running Ubuntu Server 18.04 Version

M

y Linux system runs flawlessly and requires no tinkering what-so-ever, although I do play with some visual effects like icons, and backgrounds.  It NEVER CRASHES under any circumstances. For the most part, it does everything that my Windows system does with a lot less attention. No defragging necessary, no viruses, and very quick for what has become "old" hardware. Below is screenshot of my desktop.  The dock on the left is called the Unity dock and contains my most used applications.  You can click the image to see a larger version.

Ubuntu Software Center

Ubuntu now includes the Software Center. It's now easy for anyone to install programs from the Ubuntu repositories. Just search the categories and click to install. Couldn't be easier!

Office Application

Ubuntu has a free suite of applications called Libre Office that comes with it that has all the features of Microsoft Office but is absolutely free! There's even a free version available for Windows! See the screenshot below for more details.

Oracle Virtualbox

Oracle Virtualbox is a program that allows you to run other operating systems on your system within what is called a virtual box.  I am currently running Windows XP Pro. This website is done with Microsoft Expression Web 4.  I am able to do updates to this site from Linux running Windows in a virtual box. For more on Oracle Virtualbox please follow this link. There is a version of Virtualbox supplied by Ubuntu in their repositories but I've found the newer version directly from Oracle to be superior.  Just make sure you get the version that matches your Ubuntu release..

Ubuntu Brainstorm

Brainstorm is a new site where everyone can submit and vote on ideas for Ubuntu. It's inspired by Dell's Ideastorm. By default, you see the ideas submitted by the community sorted by popularity. Each idea is accompanied by arrows so you can vote it up or down (you have to log in first). You can only click once per idea. So this is an easy way to submit ideas and see what people are really wanting.

OpenDNS

OpenDNS is a service providing free, fast name servers. By default, most users are using the name server of their ISP. These name servers can be slow. I wholeheartedly recommended using OpenDNS to speed up your internet. Not just for Linux but for any operating system. The service also provides phishing blocking. Complete installation instructions provided at OpenDNS.