Prettier than a Mac, cheaper than a PC
Posted in Technology by RB on June 12th, 2008 The latest version of Ubuntu Linux makes a huge claim. For starters, as always, it’s totally free. Free as in beer (who doesn’t like good, free beer?) and free as in speech (that is, you have total freedom to change the code and redistribute it for free). Upgrades are completely free, and if I decide that I want a different version of Linux, I’m free to try something else, you guessed it, for free.
The nice thing about a free OS is that it frees up money for other things, like killer hardware. I could go into all of what makes this machine so great, but let’s just say that the specs are more than good enough. I can watch a DVD while watching a youtube video AND pulling off all the nifty desktop tricks. Which brings me to…
Wow, does Linux now have some really killer tricks. No, pretty desktop tricks are really not that important. But they do make things nice. Honestly, that’s half of what made OSX so important for the Mac. Yes, the Mac just works, but it looks good doing it. And just as soon as I figure out how to record a video I’ll show here just how pretty it is. Let’s just say that I’ve got six different “desktops”, and I can rotate from one to another in all sorts of really cool ways. The videos I’ve seen online don’t do the compiz cube justice, partly because the quality is never high enough. I’m pretty jaded, but I find myself moving from one side of the cube (which is misnamed, since I’ve chosen something that has eight faces) to another just for laughs. Yeah, I’m a geek.
So, yes, I’m baiting my Mac friends. Don’t get me wrong, your machines are great. But so is mine, and it’s half the price with free upgrades for life and my choice of hardware. Oh yeah, and our commercials don’t exist, but if they did, they wouldn’t have the funnier guy representing the other guy’s product…
