Ubuntu 7.10 : more polished than Vista ! Review

I'm sorry I haven't posted about the release sooner, but I was busy ENJOYING my new Gutsy system ;).

The upgrade from Ubuntu 7.04 was painless, i just launched the update manager ( System-Administration-Update Manager ), checked for updates, and got notified that a new version of Ubuntu was available. I clicked the upgrade button, and Ubuntu did the rest. Although it did take some time to download the upgrade ( in my case a 897 Megabyte download ! ), mainly because the Ubuntu servers were under a lot of pressure, and because my connection is an ADSL 256Kbps connection, not a fiber optic cable ! All in all i was pleased with the upgrade process, it was as easy as an upgrade could get, now if you were from Windows XP to Vista you would have seen hell on earth. Here are a couple of screenshots of the Ubuntu upgrade process:



Indeed, the new Ubuntu is a very polished release, just like Mark Shuttleworth said it would be. The menus, the toolbars, the icons, the selection of applications, are all well thought of. You can clearly see that the Ubuntu team has made a good effort in paying attention to details. For the iconset is now more unified under the human/tango theme guideline, just look at this picture to see what I'm talking about:


The selection of pre-installed applications is impressive. OpenOffice 2.3, Pidgin 2.2.1, The GIMP 2.4, Thunderbird 2.0.0.6, and Rythmbox 0.11.2. As a matter of fact the Rythmbox application has undergone a major interface overhaul., the whole iconset - which honestly used to simply SUCK - has been modernized to mimic the other human/tango icons. But Rythmbox's iPod abilities are still far from perfect. Actually, get "Banshee", this particular music player is, I think, the best i have found on Linux, it actually works quite well with iPods. Here's a screenshot of Banshee:


Also the included movie player now has a new revamped set of visualizations, that also exists in rythmbox.

Another application got a complete interface overhaul, the instant messenger Pidgin ( formerly called Gaim ). It's now really easy, and pleasing for the eye, also integrated in the human/tango theme of Ubuntu. It's a great way to keep in touch with friends, and even though it's supposed to be a multi messenger, it offers features not found in any other instant messaging software. Here's a screenshot of me running Pidgin and chatting on the MSN network:


Also, the new OpenOffice version 2.3 has some nice improvements, especially in the charting system of Impress. And many new features have been implemented, like better page display in Writer, and new formulas in Calc.

Now let's talk about the most amazing feature in Ubuntu 7.10, which is, as some of you have guessed, Compiz-Fusion. To sum it all up, Compiz-Fusion is the most complete, awesome mind-blowing set of 3D visual effects ever added to an operating system. Of course, not all of it's wonderful effects are turned on by default, but it still gives you a WOW no other piece of software can ever give. Here are some pictures of what it can do, apart from the smooth standard window effects :



Although the cube effect isn't enabled by default, another virtual desktop switcher effect is the standard, also functioning on the mouse-rotate basis, it's a very good effect, but i like the cube better ;). Something worth mentioning also is that the Compiz-Fusion cube effect is a LOT faster than Beryl's.

Now of course, there are some minor annoyances in this release, like a cube-rotate freeze that happens sometime ( rarely ) in Compiz, and some bug here and there, but come on what kind of software doesn't have bugs ? They all do ! In Ubuntu's case they are simply annoyances but in other systems they cause huge problems ( like in Windows ). Some might say that Ubuntu is becoming a viable alternative to Mac OS X and Windows, I say it has already become.