Week 1, New World

It's almost a week since i installed ububnt 8.04.1 in my system. And i think it's time to express my first impressions. That of a common user. That is, keeping in mind that most of my readers are hardcore linux developers and debuggers(please note..not de-beggers)... (again i lie pretty.. :P). actually they develope C programmes and somebody did something called 'ZOPE PORTING' which i understand is something of an achievement from the fact that some multinational payed a hefty sum for that(if i missed something tell me, uh?). lolZ..

1. I love the new ubuntu's start up sound. pretty much like African drums( i read somewhere that ubuntu has its origins in the Bantu languages of Southern Africa).

2. Saves me the trouble of installing device drivers for lan, audio, n video(which are the only three i do after each formatting with windows).

3. Also i don't have to install firefox, vlc, im clients and many other common use software(even though windows provides alternatives). Everything you ever need to use are already there in the form of firefox 3, pidgin, open office, gimp etc.

4.The multiple workspace option is a great boon to mask chat windows from parents, which i make use of to it's maximum.

But i'm very unhappy for some problems like

1. During installation, i was stumped with the partitioning part, which is even difficult than that of windows xp.

2. Many a times, i couldn't connect to the internet through ubuntu, but at the same time in windows i am able to connect.

3. My screen resolution is limited to a maximum of 960x800, which is pretty boring. After being accustomed to the small font sizes of windows, which i actually like, it's disappointing. I tried reconfiguring the xserver with dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg, but still no avail. display properties lists the above said maximum resolution with a refresh rate of 60 Hz only.

4. Even though audio and video players are pre-installed, i had to download codecs for popular formats like mp3 and avi from the internet, which i must say, beats the purpose of these players in the first place.

5. Ubuntu hanged my system after which i had to switch off my cpu to reboot again twice already. though i first attributed it to the deteriorating condition of my HDD, windows XP SP2 running on the same HDD has not crashed even a single time.

6. And wef yesterday, my 'h' and ''x' keys have ceased to work in linux. Can't comprehend what the problem is. A message says XKB(or something like that) failed to load something else.

I've mentioned my problems in depth because someone will come up with a solution.

All in all, i'm happy. Not only because i don't have to click the i agree umpteen number of times, but also because according to Keir Thomas "it gives complete power over your system".