I've been using Ubuntu on some of my home machines since around July of this year. First, I loaded Ubuntu, Suse, and Fedora 7 on an old Dell 4300 just to see which distro I liked better. As it turned out, Ubuntu was the more comprehensive, easier to use OS. I have MSDN licenses for operating systems, so license fees weren't my only reason for adding Linux to my systems, my job has recently pulled me into the Java world, and in that world, there's lots of Linux and UNIX systems. To keep my edge at work, I had to start playing with the technology.

After my first DellBuntu system came in, I was hooked. I quickly started adding Ubuntu to some of my Windows machines, playing "what if I could get rid of all my Windows machines?" The only downside I've seen is FTP support. I have a nice, easy package I run from Code-Crafters, and it's already paid for, while the Linux FTP server support is pretty convoluted and will take some time for me to emulate the ease of use of adding new accounts and managing where they have rights to. So because of my lack of understanding, my big-horse machine (Intel Q6600) is running XP Home. Quit laughing, it's the fastest and lightest of the Windows offerings, and that machine is responsible for my FTP server and 3 Virtual Machines running VM Workstation. If I ever get the FTP stuff worked out, I'll put Ubuntu on that screamer and have some good posts from that.

So once I upgraded the workhorse, I was left with essentially a full PC, sans hard drive and case. So for under $200 I got a cheap case and a 320 Gb hard drive and was ready to build a Samba server for my files. Previously, my home backup consisted of 3 external USB drives on the workhorse... not an ideal solution. While I was at it, I pulled the CPU from the scavenged motherboard, because it is an AMD Athalon X2 4200+, and my kids both have AM Athalon 3200+ machines... single core. So I pulled the faster memory and dual-core 4200+ and put it in my eldest son's PC. Windows ran faster, but it wouldn't see the dual-core CPU. Kind of a pain. After some research, it appeared as if I might have to reinstall Windows on that PC. Ok, this was supposed to be a painless upgrade... not a weekend project.

Long story short, I had to repair the Windows system, then open a support ticket with Microsoft, since the machine would no longer install updates from Windows Update. Three emails and a week later, the machine is running like it should be.

So why is Ubuntu better? I picked up two more Athalon 4200+ CPUs real cheap, so I upgraded my scavenged Samba machine from the single-core 3200+ to the X2 4200+. Ubuntu found the dual core on the next boot. That's how the CPU upgrade is supposed to be.

Now, I could blame the motherboard manufacturer for this, but MSI built the motherboard that didn't work, and LanParty is the motherboard that did work... both good, solid platforms.

So as I write this, I am upgrading the second kid's machine with the dual-core X2 4200+ I have left... and here we go again reinstalling Windows. Currently, the only thing keeping me on Windows at home is FTP and iTunes. If anyone has a port for iPod under Ubuntu, lemme know.

Happy New Year!