.. because Gutsy Gibbon has arrived.

You may be wondering what the hell I'm talking about so I'll tell you. Gutsy is the latest version of Ubuntu (pronounced oo-boon-too) Linux, 7.10. This version of Linux is perfect - in my opinion - for the home PC. Ubuntu comes with everything built in and just works. I'm currently running Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop 10.1 from Novell on my home PC but will be upgrading this to Gutsy over the next week.

There must be something significant about October as both Apple and Ubuntu released new versions of their operating systems. Microsoft released about a million patches for Vista, but I'm not sure that counts.

What I like about Ubuntu is it's Live CD. You can download, burn to a disk and boot from it to try out the OS before committing to it... read 'Installing'. This way you can take as long as you like coming to grips with just how wonderful it is, before ditching that hapless water buffalo you're probably running now.

as an aside...
If you're interested in changing OS's (and why wouldn't you be) there is another option. Because M$ software really only works on an M$ operating system (there are some exceptions) you will need to find the better alternatives to the programs you've been using. This is a lot easier than you might think. Download the OpenDisc from www.theopendisc.com. This disc image has swags of OpenSource software that rivals the M$ stuff. OpenOffice.org is one example, this is a very powerful open source office suite that works just like Microsoft Office.. and it's FREE! Once you have your OpenDisc software, install it on your Windows OS and give it a go. You'll be very surprised just how good it is...and it's FREE! Once you're happy that you'll be completely productive in a non-windows world, tearing out the OS is no longer a trial. All the software you've just looked at is available for Linux - YAY!

Anyhooo, back to Gutsy Gibbon. Initially you may think this new version 'looks' very much like the previous one - Feisty Fawn, and you'd be right. But it's what's under the hood that has seen the most changes. There are lots of nice things, but the two big ones for my money are...

* NTFS writing - you can now write directly to a windows NTFS file system

* AppArmor - fire-walling your applications..not just your PC.

For those in the know, AppArmor is an initiative from the OpenSuse project (read NOVELL!!!!!)

Go check out Gutsy.. and remember, IT'S FREE!!!!

The Ubuntu Promise

* Ubuntu will always be free of charge, including enterprise releases and security updates.
* Ubuntu comes with full commercial support from Canonical and hundreds of companies around the world.
* Ubuntu includes the very best translations and accessibility infrastructure that the free software community has to offer.
* Ubuntu CDs contain only free software applications; we encourage you to use free and open source software, improve it and pass it on.

Tags: Linux