Ubuntu Unity: the great divider

Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011

As you will have noticed if you’ve read our review of Ubuntu 11.04, the Linux distro has a dramatic new look. And despite bearing the name “Unity”, Ubuntu 11.04’s default user interface appears to have divided Ubuntu fans.

Even some of the most die-hard Ubuntu advocates amongst the PC Pro readership have expressed their disgust at the interface, which was first introduced in the now defunct Netbook Edition last year.

So what’s sparking the revolt?

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Windows 7 overtakes Windows XP on PC Pro

Monday, March 14th, 2011

Here’s something that’s crept up on us at PC Pro towers: Windows 7 has overtaken Windows XP as the operating system most used by visitors to our website (click graph to enlarge).

The graph above runs from January 2008 until the end of last month – Windows 7 actually surpassed XP for the first time in December, we just hadn’t noticed it before (we’ve been busy, OK?).

The growth of Windows 7 has been quite extraordinary. In a little over 18 months, it’s gone from nowhere to the most used operating system. Compare that to Windows Vista, which didn’t even come close to toppling Windows XP, never getting any higher than 27% of the PC Pro audience.

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How to upgrade in-place to Ubuntu 10.10

Monday, October 11th, 2010

If, like me, you fired up Ubuntu 10.04 this morning, and was disappointed to find that the operating system’s Update Manager wasn’t offering you the upgrade to the newly released Ubuntu 10.10, here’s why.

You have to make a wee change to your settings before Ubuntu will offer you the six-monthly releases.

Go to System | Administration | Update Manager and then click the Settings button at the bottom of the window. Enter your password and click the Updates tab. In the Release upgrade drop-down at the foot of the window, select Normal releases.

Close the menu and re-open the Update Manager and you should be presented with the option to download Ubuntu 10.10.

Richard Stallman: GNU do you think you are?

Friday, July 30th, 2010

About 10 years ago, when I was just a junior reporter in my first stint at PC Pro, I interviewed Richard Stallman, the self-styled “software freedom activist” and GNU Project founder.

To say the interview didn’t go smoothly would be like saying there’s a small spot of bother between Israel and Palestine. About 10 minutes into the interview I asked him a question about Linux. Big mistake.

“There’s no such thing as Linux,” Stallman shot back, before forcefully explaining that referring to it as anything other than GNU/Linux was a grave personal insult because it failed to recognise his work on the GNU project.

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Internet radio exec: don’t mention Linux!

Friday, September 18th, 2009

It might be used to run everything from PCs to power stations, but it seems some people are still a wee bit shy about using the (cough) L word.

Speaking at the launch of the touchscreen Pure Sensia digital radio, director of marketing Colin Crawford was pressed for specifics of the new device’s software. But after his CEO reminded him that the new radio was based on a Linux OS, Crawford remarked: “I don’t like the using the word ‘Linux’ on a radio.”

Why did the man in the sharp suit go queasy at the very mention of Linux? His reluctance may be borne out of perceived consumer antipathy towards versions of the open-source operating system. PC retailers have largely retreated from Linux-based netbooks following reports of consumer confusion and a marketing onslaught from Microsoft, which has persuaded manufacturers such as netbook pioneer Asus to drop Linux in favour of Windows XP.

Equally, it may be that Crawford simply doesn’t want to draw attention to the OS on a consumer device where, quite frankly, the flavour of the operating system is about as noteworthy as the colour of the screws they used to hold the thing together.

Either way,  don’t expect to see a penguin logo on the Sensia box in Currys.

The key to Linux’s mainstream success

Monday, March 30th, 2009

Our esteemed editor, Tim Danton, recently ran a thought piece wondering whether Linux would ever hit the mainstream, his ten cents worth clattering down on the side that says “probably not.”

His conclusion was an interesting one, principally because I haven’t heard it before. To paraphrase Tim, Linux will remain niche because open-source vendors don’t have the inclination to push it that extra mile, to front up for “the hassle-free” experience that users expect in their operating system. Not when they have a devoted, tech-savy user base already to hand.

It’s an intruiging point of view, but one predicated on a fallacy. If anything, Linux works the hardest for the hassle-free experience of any of the operating systems. Each alpha, beta and RC is passed through thousands of hands before it ever gets anywhere near an end user. Each line of code is mulled, every aspect of the operating system considered – by that I mean that unlike the revolutionary three years jumps of Windows or Apple’s OSes, Linux is in a constant state of evolution.

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Will Linux ever hit the mainstream?

Thursday, March 26th, 2009

Reading today’s story about the chief exec of Red Hat admitting he was unsure if Linux had a future on the desktop reminded me of a conversation I had just two days ago, at the Samsung European Congress in Vienna. The big news here was Samsung announcing three new netbooks (all running Windows XP, including the highly unusual Samsung N310), and after the big speech five of us UK tech journalists were offered the chance for a roundtable chat with a couple of Terribly Senior People from Samsung.

As is usual with Terribly Senior People, they were quite resistant to actually giving away any information that might be considered useful, but one thing came out loud and clear: initially Samsung did seriously consider a Linux netbook, but after speaking to retailers it won’t be dabbling with Linux any time soon. (more…)

The spec creeps slowly upwards

Thursday, January 22nd, 2009

It took mere hours for my baseline Vostro PC to be bettered, thanks in no small part to blog reader Tom A pointing me in the direction of Ebuyer’s pre-built PC section. There, for a penny-perfect £249.99 inc VAT and delivery, sat the Zoostorm Versatile Premium PC which now tops my shortlist.

The specs improve on the Vostro: (more…)

To Eee or Not to Eee?

Thursday, May 15th, 2008

I’m in something of a quandary. After seeing just how much work I can get done on the train – there’s an awful lot of time to be had in between businessman having fights with their portable bicycles and then hammering away on their Blackberries – I’ve decided to buy some sort of ultraportable laptop.

My motivation is that while I’d like to work on the train, getting anything done at the moment requires more effort than I’d like. Which, ideally, is no effort at all. At the moment, hammering out a review on the journey home involves lugging a (relatively) heavy laptop in an extra bag, with the respective power cables in case I decide to use it when I get home, too. I’d like to condense this down somewhat, and some sort of smaller, lighter laptop stands out, as I’d be able to slip it into my backpack with everything else.

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