Linux; The first word that comes to the mind if any normal human being is an Operating System which is not at all User Friendly, you need to have a real in depth knowledge of Computers to use Linux. Well all this was true earlier but not now! Linux is has developed a lot and is very user-friendly as well! Linux has many Variants like Windows XP has in the form of Home and Professional, these variants of Linux are known as Distro and we are going to talk about the most popular Linux distro “Ubuntu”.
Most of you people are afraid to re-install windows since its tough according to you but you can easily install Application in Windows very easily! Well you can install Ubuntu just like you install any program in Windows! The steps are exactly the same when you install any application from a CD. Pop-in the CD of Ubuntu in the Drive a new dialog box will open which will ask you where you want to install Ubuntu and will ask you how much space would like to allocate to Ubuntu and some other stuffs! After that’s Next, Next and Restart and after 5 mins you are staring at your Ubuntu Desktop! Also the minimum space required to install Ubuntu is 4GB which is what most of todays latest game take and which is comparatively lower than and Vista’s 8-12GB. Also Ubuntu will automatically import your Pictures, Music, Movies and all your settings from Windows installation. Also Unlike Windows Vista and XP, Ubuntu does not require a Mid or a High End PC to run at its full glory, a PC with 256Mb RAM and a processor running at or more than 1.6Ghz is capable of running Ubuntu at its full glory. You can even use Ubuntu before even installing it (yes you have read it right), all you have to do is pop-in your Ubuntu CD and Restart your Comp and Ubuntu will start and soon you will be running a whole operating system without even installing it.
Also Unlike in Windows where you need to install Thousands of Driver after installing it, you don’t need to install any driver in Ubuntu and if you have any graphics card then Ubuntu will automatically download its driver for you. Short and Simple! You people must be familiar with Add/Remove in Windows XP; even though its name is Add/Remove you can’t literally add programs through it. Ubuntu also has an Add/Remove Feature built-in and true to its name you can install and remove application from here. Infact Add/Remove indexes all the software available for Ubuntu in this whole universe!!! Also After you install Windows, you have to download Some Messenger Client, some email client and your favourite browser Firefox, with Ubuntu you don’t need to! Ubuntu comes pre-installed with Pidgin which is a Multi Protocol Messenger client that is you can simultaneously stay online in Yahoo, Google talk, AIM and what not. Ubuntu also uses Firefox as its default browser so no need to download firefox and even OpenOffice an alternative to Office is pre-installed. Also unlike Windows you don’t need to install Firewall or Antivirus in Ubuntu since Ubuntu offers a robust security of features built-in and yes even files which are already infected with virus can’t affect Ubuntu! Even CD and DVD burning Application is pre-installed! I hope there are enough reasons now for you to switch over to linux. 
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May 8th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
yay! i was just to blog about this! juss now i finished installing UBuntu 8 on all my systems, it rocks!
May 11th, 2008 at 1:36 am
Ashish, though you have touched quite rightly on the basic points which an end user might need to think about while switching over to linux, but just a bit of additions/clarifications:
1. You might want to clarify that wubi (install ubuntu from windows) is available in Hardy onwards only.
2. Drivers handling is much better in linux as compared to windows but still there are a few issues with wi-fi and hardy, which is might be deal breaking for many people.
3. apt-get, synaptic, aptitude etc don’t index “all” the sw in this universe but only the ones which are present in the repositories that you add to ur list. But yeah, you will get “most” of the sw you’ll ever need in the default repos.
4. Didn’t understand what you meant by “even files which are already infected with virus can’t affect Ubuntu!”
May 11th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
First of all Shantanu, Why will people use a older Verson of Ubuntu when the new version is out and unlike XP or Vista Ubuntu’s system requirements dont increase with every new release that users should hesitate to use the latest version!
Also Synaptic Package Manager does index all the application available for Ubuntu in this universe! I have never come across any application not there in Synaptic Package Manager! Now I cant really do anything if you come up with a low grade useless program and say that its not there in the synpatic package manager!
May 11th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
@Shantanu Goel
I think your questions are already answered. Do ask if you have any more questions.
May 11th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
@Rajesh:
Just because the latest version is out does not mean that everyone would have access to it. Many people don’t have the resources to download and burn it and shipit CDs for hardy have yet to start reaching people. So, there is a high chance that they are able to get only a gutsy or feisty CD.
Moreover, you couldn’t be more wrong if you said that synaptic can get you “all” the software in this universe. First of all, with the default repos, you will not be able to get many sw, off the top I can recollect mtpaint and many multimedia codecs, which are definitely not “low-grade” things.
Secondly, most of the times the versions in the repos are not latest, and many of the times they are so old that they are unusable (e.g. synce).
Basically, my point is that linux and ubuntu can do with less misinformation than is already being spread. If it is a newbie, you are trying to rope in, better tell it like it is, rather than promise him the moon and give him a replica in the end.
@Ashish: I had just one question (pt. 4) which wasn’t answered, rest were comments that you might wish to incorporate into ur post (it’s ur wish anyways).
May 14th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
@Shantanu Goel
That 90% of the applications needed by users are available in Synaptic package and its very rare that a user will not be able to find the application he is looking for.
Also about the latest version, today everyone has a good fast paced internet connection so I really don’t think that anyone will have problems downloading the newer version of Ubuntu. Also dude Shipit is shipping Hardy Heron CD’s and not Gutsy Gibbon.
Have a nice day!
May 14th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Ashish:
Looks like you didn’t read my previous comment and that you don’t understand how the apt tools work. Basically Synaptic/aptitude/apt whatever don’t really index the packages, repositories do. apt then just downloads the list of the packages available. Anyways, I’m not going to repeat rest of the things again. It’s your wish whether you want your article to be correct and taken seriously or not.
About fast paced connections, just check the stats where India stands in %age penetration of broadband, and even the homes that do have broadband, I can bet a big majority still have fast but data limited connections. So, don’t just take it for granted that everyone can download CDs.
Where did I say shipit is sending out gutsy CDs? I said that hardy CDs sent by shipit haven’t started reaching most ppl yet.
Anyways, my comments were meant in a good spirit for you to improve the article so that things that weren’t right/misleading could be corrected. Sometimes, it is good to accept mistakes. If you don’t want to, it’s okay, it’s not my loss.
May 16th, 2008 at 11:42 am
@Shantanu Goel
First of all, I know that your comments were in a good spirit. So don’t think that I am ignorant or something.
Secondly, you are right that homes in India really don’t have fast Unlimited Net Connection but then how many of them actually know that Ubuntu is so user friendly? This post was for motivating them to break those strands of XP and try something new.
Also I understand that Apt just indexes all the apps available in the default repo but I am a normal user and till now I have never seen that I search for some App name and it does not come in Ubuntu, geeks will remain geeks and will need additional repos but my article is not targeting any geek out there!
Regarding the 4th point in your first comment, Ubuntu is not affected with files which are already infected with a Virus. Example - The Deadly pen drive virus which created an autorun.inf file and spreads the virus like anything.