In the battle of the
desktop operating systems
(OS), there are only three dominant players left - Windows, Mac and
Linux. At some point, Windows was cast as the platform for the common
man, Mac as the one for the artist, and
Linux as the geek's playground.
Linux found favour in powering servers, supercomputers, large
businesses and even stock exchanges. And Google even used it as the
platform to build its popular
Android mobile operating system. But in the desktop and notebook space, it still failed to gain traction.
There's an image associated with Linux that can be frightening for a
normal user, invoking pictures of command lines and terminal windows.
But over the past 20 years, some massive steps have been taken to make
the OS more accessible.
The Linux desktop
Linux comes in more flavours today than what you would find in an ice
cream shop. Each flavour, called a 'distribution' or 'distro', is
designed for a different set of users. Some of the most popular ones are
Ubuntu, Fedora, Mint, OpenSUSE, Debian and CentOS.
Each distro
has its own unique, intuitive and easy to use interface, designed
following rigourous user testing. Developers have carefully studied what
steps people take for common day-to-day tasks and have made significant
improvements to simplify as well as speed up the user experience.
Still, behind all the eyecandy lies the same stability and flexibility
that makes Linux the OS of choice for companies like Google, Amazon and
eBay.
Distros use different interfaces, giving a broad variety
in look and feel. Popular ones are Unity, Gnome or KDE, which work best
if your system has 512MB RAM or higher. If you are running an older PC
or desire faster speeds, interfaces like LXDE or Xfce are the way to go.
Each distro is open source and the applications are developed by a
community of enthusiasts. This usually translates into a plethora of
unique features and add-ons that make computing much easier. For
example, if you have thousands of MP3 files on your hard drive, an
application called Nautilus - a file explorer - lets you hold your mouse
over the file for a few seconds to automatically play the track.
Similarly, those who love instant messengers and use multiple ones -
Yahoo
Messenger, ICQ, Windows Live or Google Talk - might sometimes be
stormed by a flurry of messages popping up together. In Linux, if you
receive five messages, they all sit in the message queue. The first one
shows up in the notification area, fades out, and the next one fades in.
The Empathy Instant Messaging client supports all the popular chat
applications, including Facebook chat, so you need only one program to
connect to all your favourite chat services.
Apps: work & play
Initially, Linux users face a major problem in finding software for
each distro, as well as installing it. But all that has changed
recently. One of the things that mobile users enjoy most is the ability
to discover and install applications from their phone's app store.
Similarly, Linux desktops also have app stores, such as the
Ubuntu
Software Center and Deepin Software Center, which offer thousands of
free and paid software for gaming, education, productivity and
development.
But will Linux be fine for your usual computing
needs? On the work front, it's up to speed. For all office applications
such as word processors, spreadsheets and presentations, most distros
come with an office suite pre-loaded, such as LibreOffice, OpenOffice,
or Calligra (or you can download them if not pre-installed). These can
easily open most MS-Office files, be it one made in the latest MS Office
2010 or older versions. They can also save files to the same formats,
as well as others such as PDF - perfect if you want to send an invoice
to someone without allowing them to edit it.
The only thing
missing
is an email suite to take on the powerful Microsoft Outlook. But
Mozilla's Thunderbird supports Linux and is more than capable of
executing anything you would have done in Outlook.
There's no
shortage of games available either. Popular titles such as Battle for
Wesnoth or OpenArena will let you while away some time. And hey, what's a
computer without Solitaire? The world's favourite digital card game and
its twin FreeCell are both available on Linux, as well as Tux Math - a
fun game to keep your mathematical skills sharp.
You can play
music in the wide variety of music players available, and also edit your
tracks using Audacity. There's also the ability to edit videos with
Shotwell, and the famous VLC player can play most audio or video files.
And of course, the Gimp image editor will make you never miss Photoshop
again.
In most cases, if you think you need a program for
something, then chances are that it's available for Linux - and now it's
easier then ever before to find it.
Secure and updated One of the major attractions to Linux and open source is that the software has no viruses, eliminating the
headache of your PC going down every few months, or of buying expensive antivirus software.
"There are about 60,000 viruses known for Windows, 40 or so for the
Macintosh, about 5 for commercial Unix versions and perhaps 40 for
Linux. Two-three of the Macintosh viruses were widespread enough to be
of importance. None of the Unix or Linux viruses became widespread -
most were confined to the laboratory," write Dr. Nic Peeling and Dr
Julian Satchell in their report titled Analysis of the Impact of Open
Source Software.
Linux also doesn't slow down over time; it
runs at the same speed as when it was first installed. And what's
perhaps more important is that its applications theoretically won't hang
your whole system. If some program misbehaves, only that application
hangs without affecting other things.
Linux also gets rid of
those constant pop-ups asking you to update a program or install drivers
every time you run it. The system manages all updates centrally, so you
only have one application that prompts you for the upgrade. And it's
customizable enough that you can make it automatic, ask for a
notification without a pop-up, and even turn it off entirely. It makes
for a clutter-free and uninterrupted computer experience.
A
major concern for computer users is the support for hardware. If you
have used Linux in the past, it might have had trouble detecting your
printer or a third-party device.
Today, however, most of the
devices work well without installing any drivers, as Linux now supports
3,000 printers, 1,000 digital cameras and 200 web cams. In fact, you can
even sync your iPod/iPhone music with the Rhythmbox media player
without installing iTunes.
Take the leap
If you are now ready to try Linux on your computer, you don't need to
uninstall your existing operating system. You can easily dual-boot Linux
with Windows or Mac. What's more, Linux also has the ability to run as a
full OS directly off a CD or a pen drive, letting you try it out before
installing it. Be warned, though, the speeds would be a little slower
than what you get if you were to install it on your hard disk.
The best part, of course, is that Linux is free. And this cost is
usually passed on to the consumer, as PCs running Linux from Dell and
Wipro cost about Rs. 3,000 lesser than the same model bundled with
Windows. Considering the benefits, it might be worthwhile to give Linux a
chance...
From Times of India.
May 13, 2012
