Lots of people argue why I should use Linux (any distro, I prefer Ubuntu) when I am currently using Windows or Mac. Given a chance to select your choice of operating system (OS), people may prefer to use Linux than anything else. The other thing which prevents users using Linux is the hardware support which is not that good currently for Linux. But that is because we have been living in a world where Windows is being forced to everyone when they buy PC. That’s why hardware manufacturers are also forced to support Windows first than any other thing. But this support has increased tremendously over last couple of years. At the same time Linux community has developed itself in making Linux (Ubuntu in particular) more user friendly.
Anyways that is an ongoing debate whether you should use Linux or Windows or Mac. And at some point it is a personal choice as well.
I thought of collating some reasons which might make you think twice while buying another Windows PC. And if you currently use Linux, then please add a comment to this post, why you use Linux and which distro you use so that others can get more information about it:
- Ubuntu is Free and so any other Linux distro. (Saved ~ $250)
- You don’t have to buy Office (Word, Power-point, Excel etc.) separately. It comes with OpenOffice preinstalled. (Saved ~ $200)
- You don’t have to buy costly hardwares for the basic need. (RAM. Processor, HDD etc.)
- Ubuntu is more stable.
- You are free from Viruses so you don’t have to buy another upgrade of Norton or any other Antivirus software. (Saved ~ $75)
- When you have installed Ubuntu, you don’t have to install anything else to get you started with your productivity.
- You don’t have to wait for years for the bugs to get fixed. You can track them down in Ubuntu.
- You can update everything on your system with just one update manager. No need to run separate Update manger for all the softwares you installed. (Saves your system resources.)
- Don’t get tired restarting your computer all the time. You do it almost never with Ubuntu.
- You are free from Pirated softwares. With Ubuntu you can share it with as many people as you want and it is LEGAL.
- Don’t have to bother searching the web for new softwares. Ubuntu gets a whole lot of software free of cost to you.
- Play hundreds of games for Free.
- Your PC won’t get slower day by day. It happens in Windows only.
- Use MSN, AIM, ICQ, Jabber, Gtalk, Yahoo and many more with a single program. No need to install separate software for the same thing.
- Tired of managing multiple windows on your screen. You can use workspaces to manage your work.
- You old computer will get a second life. Because Ubuntu does not need those high resources as Windows.
- Jump into the next generation of desktop themes with Compiz fusion and all with lot less resources than Windows Vista.
- With Ubuntu, you are always free. Free as in Freedom and in Free Beer. Ubuntu is free and will always remain free. (Saves ~ $200 every 2 years when Microsoft releases a new version of its operating system and you have to buy it.
- All future upgrades of Ubuntu are provided free of cost. Upgrades are released every 6 months.
- Upgrades are installed automatically. You don’t have to bother about losing your data and redoing lots of personalization. *Edit* The updates are installed with your permission and only if you want them…not in the background without you knowing it. – Thanks freeber – A Ubuntu User
- You can tweak your desktop wallpaper or any other setting the way you want it. You can make it look like Windows or Mac (if you want.). You can even get the sidebar you were fascinated in Vista.
- You don’t have to defrag your hard disk every now and then to boost the performance. Ubuntu does it for you automatically.
- You don’t have to go to a shop to buy operating system. You can download it anytime you want it and burn it on a CD. You can even burn it on a re-writable CD to save some CDs.
- Thousand of user are there to help you with when you are stuck. Become a part of Ubuntuforums.
- You will get free and Long Term Support (LTS) for Ubuntu. Ubuntu 8.04 Desktop version also will get a LTS. (17 days to go for the release version.)
I think these many reason are enough to get you started with Ubuntu or any other Linux flavor. Keep visiting this blog for more information on Linux, Ubuntu in particular. If you want to try it now you can download Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron (Beta) now and later it will be updated to the released version.
Technorati Tags: Ubuntu, Linux, OS, Operating System, Microsoft, Windows, Office, OpenOffice
Posted by Aubrey on April 7, 2008 at 8:18 PM
Nice list!
I’d also probably add
- No shareware, addware or nagware. If you want to try out some free and open source software you just install it. If it suits, keep it. If not, delete it. No drama, no follow-up emails, no pressure.
- More than 10,000 applications are available for Ubuntu and can be browsed and installed over the internet with a few mouse clicks. Music players, movie players, all sorts of web tools and a vast array of graphics applications make up only a small part of this global repositories. This is equally tru for most other Linux distros as well.
- Get the best performance from your computer. It doesn’t matter whether you have a seven year old Pentium 3 box or the latest and greatest quad core monster – Ubuntu can be optimised to get maximum performance. It comes in the standard 32 bit version as well as the newer 64 bit version. A version is also availaible for PPC (Mac) machines.
- Unlimited learning. Although Ubuntu is very stable and secure, it is not “locked down” like Windows and Mac. The settings and code for almost everything is available to you to explore and tinker. The vast software repositories contain many tools for wannabe coders too. If you like to explore technology, go Linux!
Posted by Butwheaty on April 7, 2008 at 9:50 PM
Dude, Windows Me is way better than Linux.
Long Live FAT32!
Posted by sdgdsgds on August 12, 2009 at 8:35 AM
FAT32 sucks it really does duck!
And much more than the NTFS file system in Windows
and all the file systems in Linux suck all together!!
DIE, FAT32, DIE!!!!
Posted by Arthur Amendt on April 8, 2008 at 12:12 AM
The Linux Community is the best.
Users and Programmers will donate time to help others out – FOR FREE WoW
Posted by Ety W. on April 8, 2008 at 8:51 AM
I have a dual boot on my computer for both Windows XP and Ubuntu. I never boot to Windows, even though my weaving software is there, because Windows is such a hassle. I hate the way the Windows based programs all clammer to be first to run home and check for updates, etc. They hog all the processing power and leave me having to wait my “turn” before I can do what I want!
What I wonder however, is if Ubuntu gets really popular, won’t we become the target for viruses, etc? The support team is excellent with updates, but I wonder if this could become a problem anyway.
Posted by Jones on April 8, 2008 at 10:39 AM
Great post!
http://www.jonesview.wordpress.com
Posted by Anurag Bansal on April 8, 2008 at 11:58 AM
Thanks ‘Aubrey’ for adding some extra points to this list. I appreciate it.
At the same time I agree with ‘Ety W.’ as Ubuntu might become a victim or viruses once it become popular. But I think viruses are there as there are companies who sell their software to protect them. In Ubuntu or any Linux, you don’t buy anything so I think virus for Ubuntu won’t make much of a business sense.
Let’s see.
And yes, ‘Butwheaty’….dude, I have used Windows ME, XP, Vista and Ubuntu. I wouldn’t think twice in saying that Ubuntu is far better than any Windows version. With so much less resources, it works like a charm. Anyone who have used Ubuntu will never go back to Windows, I am sure. Unless he is using some proprietary software which is not yet available in Ubuntu. Else everyone who loves performance instead of wasting his time for Windows PCs to respond, will love Ubuntu.
Posted by castever on April 8, 2008 at 1:57 PM
I have a dual boot system (Windows & Ubuntu). I think both have their strengths and weaknesses, so having both is not a bad idea. For one: how am I suppose to play all of my StarWars games on Ubuntu?
Posted by How to try Ubuntu without messing with your existing OS? « Technomania on April 8, 2008 at 2:17 PM
[...] Technomania Another blog covering Linux, specially Ubuntu and entire Open Source Community. A complete guide to help you gain complete FREEDOM, Free as in Free Beer… About Me « 25 Reasons to use Ubuntu Linux instead of Windows [...]
Posted by Rajavanya on April 9, 2008 at 10:56 PM
Gr8 list.. You have given me points to argue with ma friends to make them try linux !
You missed something… about the FREE CD Shipping !
My copy of 7.10 arrived yesterday by mail Absolutely FREE
Posted by Anurag Bansal on April 9, 2008 at 11:46 PM
Ya, actually I have written a separate post giving an overview of how someone can try without messing with his existing OS. Here is the link:
http://anuragbansal.wordpress.com/2008/04/08/how-to-try-ubuntu-without-messing-with-your-existing-os/
Posted by Ubuntu 8.04 ‘Hardy Heron’ Release Candidate is here « Technomania on April 18, 2008 at 2:46 PM
[...] note. Ubuntu doesn’t need heavy resources like other operating systems as Windows need. 25 such reasons to try Ubuntu are listed here, if they give you a boost to give it a try. And if you decide then this guide will help you try [...]
Posted by Dani on May 28, 2008 at 6:12 AM
Ubuntu is great, no doubt. Easy to use, stable, no hassle with virus and spyware. And Compiz Fusion is awesome.
Posted by Ross on May 28, 2008 at 9:28 PM
Good post. Also you can use Wubi to download Ubuntu and install it on top of windows. You can download Wine to use windows programs with windows!
Posted by Ross on May 29, 2008 at 9:50 AM
edit: use windows programs with UBUNTU
Posted by RENY SOLOMON on June 14, 2008 at 11:37 AM
Hai
Posted by sss on July 2, 2008 at 3:44 AM
Well done copying your whole article from whylinuxisbetter.net
Posted by Anurag Bansal on July 2, 2008 at 10:06 AM
Well, I am hearing about that site for the first time. Thanks for giving me one more resource for Linux information.
May be you just happen to match apples to apples because all of the points mentioned here are true and will remain true no matter who wrote it first. And anyone who will ever write about linux will write about these points only.
So I can’t also say if anyone copied from my article.
Thanks for enlightening me.
Posted by sss on July 3, 2008 at 5:37 AM
Dude I’m matching sentences to sentences
Posted by How myJournal was built: Part 1 - Yorkshire Twist | myJournal on October 7, 2008 at 4:25 PM
[...] If you’re interested in trying out Ubuntu then just follow the instructions on their website. You can even use Ubuntu and Windows together (without messing up either) in case you can’t give up Windows completely. There are more great reasons for using Ubuntu here. [...]
Posted by iampriteshdesai on October 30, 2008 at 1:17 AM
I use and like Ubuntu. I started a basic begginner blog for those of you who use Linux.Tell me if you like it:
http://www.helpforlinux.blogspot.com
Posted by winuxBoy on November 16, 2008 at 1:49 PM
Think I agree with Castever, its a better idea to have both Windows and Linux (at least for now).
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not really a Windows fan. I have both Windows Vista Ultimate and Ubuntu 8.04 LTS, and most of the time I spent is in Ubuntu. The only time I login to my Windows is to play games. Computer games and a few other applications are things where an average computer user or gamer would think twice before installing linux.
Although one may argue that gaming is somewhat possible on Linux, its not as compatible and supported yet (even with Wine, or Cedega), heck even my very old Final Fantasy VII wouldn’t work. Had a minimum luck with Crysis and Tiberium Wars.
But to tell you the truth I don’t think that its the problem with linux. Its the problem that Windows has been pushed into our lives from a very early stage and that the big graphic giants Nvidia and ATI have supported them untill very recently. Even Apple Macs are only now getting some good game titles on their machines, which is due to the Nvidia promoting through their “The way its meant to be played” logo.
What we need here is these graphic giants encouraging developers to release titles for Linux as well. But I guess thats almost a dream never comming true since both companies are money making giants and they wouldn’t get anything out of fully supporting a free, open source kernel.
Just for small conclusion, if your a gamer, stick with Windows. For everyone else, including those who want a complete multimedia PC, Ubuntu is the way to go
Posted by MONTHS with UBUNTU | TamanKota.Com on November 27, 2008 at 4:36 AM
[...] Instead of Windows, I’m using Ubuntu. Actually I’m tired of searching serial number >:) [...]
Posted by Alex on December 17, 2008 at 2:51 PM
I run Ubuntu, mainly because I had a friend show me it and I like it better then any Windoze distro out there. However one of the things I really like is the ability to get a large amount of free software with the apt-get command and through the add and remove software menu. People I have convinced to use it are more impressed by the fact that it’s free and has very few viruses. Actually someone I was introducing it to yesterday actually asked why anyone uses Windoze when this is there for free.
Posted by joshmuffin on January 2, 2009 at 8:09 AM
This is a good list but many of these things, such as multiple virtual desktops can be done in windows (about 3 or 4 points that won’t count anymore) but! for those features you sometimes have to pay where as ubuntu is the COMPLETE package…for free!!!!
Posted by Dj1972 on February 5, 2009 at 11:51 AM
Well lets face it, people who want to switch will switch. People who are curious get bit by the bug and convert or dual boot. And then there’s the ones that will never leave cause they don’t want to learn something new. It is pretty difficult to get someone to convert when its free, sounds silly but its true. Were led to believe if you don’t pay MS price, it isn’t worth it. But being free, its pretty robust and stable. I like it and I’m pushing for people to change instead of upgrading to a new OS that should be a service pak to the existing one.
Posted by davekell on February 5, 2009 at 5:04 PM
I would love to kick microshaft to the curb, but im a pc gamer, so i might have to dual boot. I have raptor HD’s will this make a diff in ubuntu like it does in windows? I run 64 bit xp and have 8 gigs of ram, does more ram mean ubuntu runs even faster?
. my 1st pc was a 50 mhz power house!but everything i have ever does has been windows based, 95,98,me,xp…ect.
I also compose music on my pc, like thru cakewalk and sonor. I also ways wondering about DX 9.0c and 10, I take it ubuntu doesnt use either?
Im not comp illiterate, just free OS illiterate,
Could someone link me to forums and
Posted by davekell on February 5, 2009 at 5:16 PM
I would love to kick Microshaft to the curb, but I’m a PC gamer, so I might have to dual boot. I have raptor HD’s will this make a diff in Ubuntu like it does in windows? I run 64 bit XP and have 8 gigs of ram, does more ram mean Ubuntu runs even faster? Does Ubuntu have a ram cut off like 32 bit Windows?
. my 1st PC was a 50 Mhz power house! But everything I have ever done has been Windows based, 95,98,me,xp…ect.
I also compose music on my PC, like thru cakewalk and Sonor. I also ways wondering about DX 9.0c and 10, I take it ubuntu doesnt use either?
I’m not comp illiterate, just free OS illiterate,
Could someone link me to sites and forums that will help a newb become literate? Basic walkthru’s? I would love to learn more, I have 5 pc’s and 2 laptops, and I hate having to upgrade them constantly.
Oh, and what about peripherals I.E printer, speakers, game controllers, fan controllers,CD/DVD burns…ect?
I know that might be a lot to answer
Thanks a ton.
Dave.
Posted by davekell on February 5, 2009 at 5:40 PM
I answered my 64 bit question, as there are 32/64 bit dl’s for Ubuntu. (bonk!)
So 32 bit is limited to 4 gigs no matter the OS.
Learning is FUN!
Posted by Donald SMouse on February 15, 2009 at 12:24 AM
I use ubuntu 8.10, why?
Because of its ease of use,windows vista is a powerhog,install some programs and windows slows way down,then try the readyboost it works ok,but then it also slows after a while.
I like ubuntu,im running it on a toshibal L305-S5865 that i bought from walmart,and of course it came with vista home premium pre-installed,until i got ubuntu
Posted by Erick Ramirez on February 17, 2009 at 3:41 AM
On point 22, Ubuntu does not defrag your Hard drive, actually EXT3 does not defrag at all, it uses indexing.
When you write a file using windows, it looks for empty clusters and writes it down there, if the file is large, the file will be in different places of the Harddrive.This makes writting faster, and reading slower.
Instead of that, Ubuntu first look for a space large enough for the whole file to fit in, this makes writting slower, but the reading is much faster, because there isn’t any fragmentation in the files, now that I come to think of it, along with the indexing, the longer you use ubuntu, the faster it will be
Posted by magnoliasouth on February 25, 2009 at 7:10 AM
I’m brand spanking new to Ubuntu, but I have to say that I’m LOVING it already. I’ve used ME, XP and the worst of all, Vista and this Ubuntu baby rocks.
On comment 21, I have to agree partially with the gaming. We hoped that we could load World of Warcraft in Ubuntu, but it was a no go, way too slow situation. However, we have six computers in our household of five so we had plenty of alternatives. We’re running 3 on XP, 1 on Vista (gag) and 2 on Ubuntu. The Ubuntu computers are strictly for web surfing, writing, etc., 2 of the XP’s are work computers so we have to stick with that, the Vista will be for WoW and the other XP will be too.
It’s just that the surfing in Ubuntu is amazing! Such speed! I’m very impressed.
Posted by mysterious on May 20, 2009 at 4:10 PM
helloo…
its z cool…friendly user…n much much more features than windowz,,
Posted by Kabel on June 10, 2009 at 11:58 AM
Get your hippie friends on board by saying they’ll be fighting a “big powerful company.”
Nice list by the way.
@The People Worried about Viruses: If it ever happens, which I doubt, you can always simply install a new version of Linux.
But we will have thousands of people fighting the few misbehaving people.
Posted by Jen on June 10, 2009 at 5:48 PM
We run World of Warcraft on Ubuntu using Cedega. We have not had any slowness issues. Runs just as fast as our xp pcs.
I’m a few months new to Ubuntu but I am gradually getting around to getting everything working. I got my Palm sync’d today.
Posted by chris on June 30, 2009 at 10:38 AM
I Installed Ubuntu on my sisters Laptop an Acer 5310 She does Not use it that much but she won’t sell it to me For some reason.Anyway its running Great she had Vista home basic and it was rubbish it has A 80 gb hard drive 31 gb C drive 31 Gb backup why would you need 31 gb backup for a start.and vista 18 gb Way too much space.Anyway she has never Used Ubuntu and she told me the other day that she will need it back and she has a friend who will put XP on it .For some reason Although Never even trying Ubuntu She wishes To install XP which means problems.Reasons to Use Windows over Ubuntu “Ubuntu don’t Advertise on T.V”
Posted by Ron on July 10, 2009 at 6:18 PM
Support for XP (OEM versions) went out the Window (pun intended) on April 14th, 2009. Only the most critical of updates will be given out, and all support beyond that is for the retail only versions of XP. All support stops altogether on April 8th, 2014. Aside from all of this, the whole 32-bit architecture is going away as well. 64-bit is here to stay, so even IF she did use Windows XP, didn’t connect it to the Internet, didn’t get any updates, the software out there for 32-bit is going away much like 16-bit software went away when Windows95 came out and people were migrating over from Windows 3.1.1.
Posted by Ron on July 10, 2009 at 6:14 PM
Regarding this:
“You don’t have to defrag your hard disk every now and then to boost the performance. Ubuntu does it for you automatically.”
You don’t have to defragment the drive at all because the ext3 (and ext4) file systems operate differently than FAT and NTFS do. In the ext file system, the data is at the beginning of the drive and the free space is at the end, and this is where the new data is written to. On the FAT/NTFS systems, data is moved around all the time and new data is put in thos various places, thus fragmentation occurs. (Coincidentally, OS/2 Warp doesn’t have file fragmentation either.)
Ubuntu will do a disk check every 30 bootups, but that is different than a defrag (and it’s actually more akin to a Windows scandisk)
Posted by Jaydeep Naik on August 24, 2009 at 5:46 AM
Hi dude…well good points about ubuntu…i have a question to ask u….i have tried ubuntu 9.04 with all its features except the compiz fusion software…bec of no graphics driver…so i shifted to lower version of ubuntu i.e 8.04…..now the problem with ubuntu 8.04 is i am not able to use bsnl broadband in it(cannot configure)….but i easily configured it in 9.04…please give a soln to this problem as soon as possible…so tht i can shift to ubuntu 8.04…and leave windows
Posted by Kabel on August 24, 2009 at 7:55 AM
What exactly was the problem with 9.04?
Posted by Ike Dyson on September 8, 2009 at 12:03 PM
I have been using Ubuntu for only a few eeks now. Why did I change from XP? Because my damn BIOS is gone, and Windows will not load. I have an embedded BIOS chip which is hell to fix. Isn’t it amazing that Windows will not work at all on my machine, yet Ubuntu behaves like a dream.
F**k Microsoft Corporation!
Posted by Anurag Bansal on September 8, 2009 at 12:29 PM
Hahahaha….
Very interesting to know your experience. That’s why I always recommend Ubuntu to everyone.
Thanks
Posted by Chris on September 8, 2009 at 12:30 PM
Much the Same story here when will people stop being Brainwashed by Microsoft
Posted by Learn Linux, Ditch Windows : The easy way with Anurag « Knowliz on October 4, 2009 at 9:28 PM
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[...] be any trace of Ubuntu on your computer. As simple as that. But before you do that, read these 25 reasons to use Ubuntu instead of Windows. Well, these are some of the questions, people with no or little knowledge about Linux generally [...]
Posted by How-to Install Ubuntu (Linux) with Windows Vista? | Knowliz on October 29, 2009 at 11:07 AM
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[...] 25 Reasons to use Ubuntu Linux instead of Windows [...]
Posted by Caleb Withers on November 2, 2009 at 12:17 AM
Just to disagree with two of your reasons:
1. You don’t have to get Microsoft Office in ANY operating system, and OpenOffice works on Windows
2. Are you seriously trying to tell me Linux is better for gaming?
Just my 2 cents xD
Posted by windows 7 vs. Ubuntu 9.10 : Which is the best? | Knowliz on November 7, 2009 at 10:39 AM
[...] may want to find out 25 reasons to try Ubuntu instead of Windows as well if you are still thinking why you should also migrate to [...]