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April 24th, 2007

Kubuntu 7.04 - Is the the distro for those coming from a Windows background?

Posted by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes @ 7:52 am

Categories: Linux, My Linux Experience

Tags:

In Focus » See more posts on: Windows to Linux Chronicles

The other day I posted a question which asked "Which is best - Ubuntu or Kubuntu?"  Interestingly one of the most popular replies that I got was "it depends."  With this phrase in mind I decided to take Kubuntu for a spin and see for myself which I preferred.

Kubuntu

The first thing that struck me about Kubuntu is that while Ubuntu reminded me of Mac OS X, Kubuntu reminds me of Windows (maybe Windows 2000/XP).  It looks good.  I know it's just cosmetic and that under the hood Ubuntu and Kubuntu are the same thing, but the application of a brighter, clearer UI and a task bar makes using Kubuntu look and feel more "normal." 

Don't get me wrong, I like Ubuntu (quite a lot as it happens) but for me, coming from a Windows background, Kubuntu feels like it has less of a learning curve, and when adopting a new OS, that's an important consideration.  I think that bportlock was right, those coming from a Windows background might well find the K-desktop more familiar.

Next I'll be taking a look at how Ubuntu/Kubuntu react to different hardware configurations.  Stay tuned.

The galley of my tour around Kubuntu can be found here.

Read my first thoughts on Ubuntu 7.04 here.

Adrian Kingsley-HughesAdrian is a technology journalist and author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology. He also runs a popular blog called The PC Doctor. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations

Want to get in touch? Got a tip? Feel free to drop me a note! I ALWAYS respect anonymity. I'm also on Twitter (@the_pc_doc)

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What else were you running
Seriously, what else were you running. I ran Vista Home Premium on a 512MB machine and it opened things pretty fast. Either you're running a hell of alot of other software, or that's a massive exagera... (Read the rest)
Posted by: tails5 Posted on: 10/18/08  (Edited: 10/18/08 @ 05:17) You are currently: a Guest | | Terms of Use
This is why I hate that talk  Michael Kelly | 04/24/07
I agree  tombalablomba | 04/24/07
Here - Here  People | 04/24/07
Neither will play at Enterprise Inc. unitl ...  Too Old For IT | 04/25/07
Your post is pointless...  drew1313 | 04/26/07
Locking down Gnome  Jxn | 04/27/07
i dont get you people  df@... | 04/27/07
LInux User and Windows User.  joe.smetona@... | 04/28/07
Go live!  A_Selby | 04/30/07
TrueType, KDE-Look.org  D. T. Schmitz | 04/24/07
You recommend using MS tech illegally?  No_Ax_to_Grind | 04/24/07
From what I've understood  Michael Kelly | 04/24/07
Legality  Yagotta B. Kidding | 04/24/07
Only if you include the license.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 04/25/07
Making a generalized basless  Linux User 147560 | 05/24/07
(NT) Lying, typical, Ax Grinder :o)  Jack-Booted EULA | 04/24/07
Have...  D. T. Schmitz | 04/24/07
If you were to look...  TtfnJohn | 04/25/07
License must also go with it.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 04/25/07
Saying it or in this case writing it  Linux User 147560 | 05/24/07
Not illegal  chessmen | 04/25/07
I suggest you look again  No_Ax_to_Grind | 04/25/07
RE: You recommend using MS tech illegally?  handydan918 | 04/25/07
OpenSource True Type  glenn_primm@... | 04/25/07
actually, if you own a legal copy of windows you can  drew1313 | 04/26/07
Dayam!  Michael Kelly | 04/24/07
Er ah...  D. T. Schmitz | 04/24/07
No, the best distro for Windows users  No_Ax_to_Grind | 04/24/07
Even most Windows users  Michael Kelly | 04/24/07
(NT) I think that's spelled P-I-S-S-T-A :o)  Jack-Booted EULA | 04/24/07
Windows Me 2007  Too Old For IT | 04/25/07
I have to agree  jbaviera@... | 04/25/07
Most Windows users would not  John Zern | 04/24/07
Couldn't have said it better myself...except the spelling  mdsmedia | 04/24/07
The ONLY reason?  Confused by religion | 04/24/07
There are reasons  Yagotta B. Kidding | 04/24/07
If Linux had applications like  josh@... | 04/26/07
Milly, I just had to jump on that  mdsmedia | 04/25/07
that's the ONLY reason  DIMrBobSir | 04/25/07
So you're saying  Michael Kelly | 04/24/07
Most Windows users would unless they a lemmings  mg156 | 04/25/07
The biggest difference between OS X and Windows is...  nix_hed | 05/22/07
Don't understand?  friedtoast@... | 05/24/07
How many Vista programmers...  joe.smetona@... | 04/25/07
OR....  handydan918 | 04/25/07
Bitty, Bitty, Bitty...  jacarter3 | 04/24/07
Had to respond  TripleII | 04/24/07
Had to respond?  sackbut | 04/25/07
Have to agree  josh@... | 04/26/07
Did NOT have to respond  Ole Man | 05/22/07
Nope  voska | 04/24/07
LM*O!!  xstep | 04/24/07
Alrighty ...  MisterMiester | 04/24/07
Well, now we all know what No_Axes favorite distro is!  George Mitchell | 04/24/07
Other than games, it's no different from Linux, really  CobraA1 | 04/24/07
That's Why 100,000 People Demanded Dell  itanalyst | 04/24/07
He walked straight into that one... D'Oh!  A_Selby | 04/30/07
Notice He Just Posted And Ran?  itanalyst | 04/24/07
No_ax you clueless ....  Scrat | 04/25/07
Even die hard Windows users.......  devlin_X | 04/25/07
XP vs. Vista  friedtoast@... | 05/24/07
You guys are soooo easy.  No_Ax_to_Grind | 04/25/07
Exactly  bmore_bro69@... | 04/25/07
Which Vista Distra?  martinfam@... | 04/26/07
Aren't we talking about operating ....  High Sierra | 04/26/07
.  aceofspades1217@... | 04/26/07
You have to be kidding.  grichardt@... | 04/30/07
What else were you running  tails5 | 10/18/08
Asta La Vista  peter.gentry@... | 05/02/07
No actually  Linux User 147560 | 05/24/07
Vista?  friedtoast@... | 05/24/07
Vista is best??? Pleeeease get real!!  The_Curmudgeon | 05/26/07
I tried ubuntu Feisty Fawn  jacarter3 | 04/24/07
Most all WIFI is supported  xstep | 04/24/07
Regarding Torrent speeds  phburks | 04/24/07
My upload to download ratio is close to 1  jacarter3 | 04/24/07
Leaches are annonying, eh?  phburks | 04/24/07
I wonder  tombalablomba | 04/24/07
DVD iso for kubuntu 7.04  jacarter3 | 04/25/07
Guess that's why the torrent is  jacarter3 | 04/25/07
Wi-Fi  friedtoast@... | 05/24/07
KDE Centric Distro  TripleII | 04/24/07
Application Environment  xstep | 04/24/07
Thanks to the suggestion  Yagotta B. Kidding | 04/24/07
SSH is your friend  TripleII | 04/24/07
Grandmothers, eggs  Yagotta B. Kidding | 04/24/07
If she is on a University then  Linux User 147560 | 04/24/07
She does  Yagotta B. Kidding | 04/24/07
Send her round....... (nt)  bportlock | 04/24/07
That's what I don't get  Michael Kelly | 04/24/07
Yes, but why?  Yagotta B. Kidding | 04/24/07
Dang, she doesn't need support  TripleII | 04/24/07
May I Add...  D. T. Schmitz | 04/24/07
Congratulations  NonCartoonist | 04/25/07
If only Vista looked as good as Kubuntu  zaine_ridling | 04/24/07
Tips for using Kubuntu  pjotr123 | 04/24/07
Some advice for Adrian  bportlock | 04/24/07
miss them? that's an understatement like no other  shryko | 04/25/07
Ubuntu, both desktop and server are  bjbrock | 04/24/07
Speaking of Synaptic...  Mr_Gray | 04/24/07
let feisty select one for you  (``-_-´´) | 04/24/07
Much Thanks  Mr_Gray | 04/24/07
Trying Linux is SO easy ..  George Mitchell | 04/24/07
Thanks for the review Adrian.  shawkins | 04/24/07
Keep in mind  Michael Kelly | 04/24/07
Seconded  TripleII | 04/24/07
Thanks for the information. Very useful.  shawkins | 04/25/07
Why not get all of them?  KWierso | 04/25/07
You might think about PCLinuxOS also . . .  JLHenry | 04/25/07
Go for it shawkins.  Update victim | 07/08/07
Go for it, shawkins,  Update victim | 07/08/07
I'm a KDE fan anyway, so this isn't really a surprise to hear  Scrat | 04/25/07
Finally ... Linux for compter users  Billybob115 | 04/25/07
*ubuntu isn't alone with this  TtfnJohn | 04/25/07
like me in class  shryko | 04/25/07
UI not all that important  dfreeman@... | 04/25/07
As was it for me...  Billybob115 | 04/25/07
That was a while ago, wasn't it? happy  TtfnJohn | 04/25/07
Excellent Post  bmore_bro69@... | 04/26/07
The best distro for former Windows users,  don-guitar | 04/25/07
Second that Motion  pfries@... | 05/10/07
Gnome and KDE both seem awful Windows-like to me.  Resuna | 04/25/07
menu bar at the top, perhaps?  shryko | 04/25/07
Who's Still Using Machines That Old  bmore_bro69@... | 04/25/07
A lot of people use old machines  critic-at-arms | 04/25/07
Even My 5 Year Old  bmore_bro69@... | 04/25/07
Who's STill using machines that old?  pipesndrums@... | 04/25/07
That's why we went to SuSE from Novell  critic-at-arms | 04/25/07
good use still for old machines  jeremystewart | 04/25/07
use of old machines  B_hinchman@... | 04/26/07
And this is why Linux is not ready....  JohnSmith2000 | 04/25/07
What's too difficult?  KWierso | 04/25/07
All Too Difficult  stomfi@... | 04/25/07
What about games  mames1701 | 04/25/07
I can assure you . . . .  JLHenry | 04/25/07
Gaming Numbers  bmore_bro69@... | 04/25/07
you look at it the wrong way...  doh123 | 04/25/07
Games on Linux? Port with Cedega  seymush | 04/25/07
Get all of them  KWierso | 04/25/07
...Wrong button, apparently...  KWierso | 04/25/07
Best Distro  hvdpuijl@... | 04/25/07
good use still for old machines  jeremystewart | 04/25/07
Kubuntu Is More Like Windows?  jojoleb@... | 04/25/07
Look exactly the same?  CodeCurmudgeon | 04/25/07
Well...maybe not...  IT_Guy_z | 04/25/07
Linux is much easier to upgrade then windows  iforbes@... | 04/25/07
Message has been deleted.  IT_Guy_z | 04/25/07
Obviously you mucked up  mdsmedia | 04/27/07
Possible hardware issue?  D-cat | 04/26/07
What about CNR programs and update functionality?  joe.smetona@... | 04/25/07
dapper drake not liable  bn246674@... | 04/25/07
Wow. Are you the guy that writes all those spam mail subject lines?  A_Selby | 04/30/07
I too like Ubuntu but.........  ConfusedOne | 04/26/07
Games and Windows apps  High Sierra | 04/26/07
The Future.  joe.smetona@... | 04/26/07
My Challenge, Try Xubuntu  racoq@... | 04/26/07
Where is iLoveM$stock Davidson?  tek_heretik | 04/26/07
The Key Words--"Play Around With"  bmore_bro69@... | 04/27/07
Why Debian based?  joe6pack_z | 04/27/07
What works best.  joe.smetona@... | 04/28/07
He walked straight into that one... D'Oh!  A_Selby | 04/30/07
Don't Know  rtimblin@... | 04/30/07
Wha...?  Raider_51 | 05/01/07
Only a masochist would use Linux  KrazyGuy | 05/22/07
Only a Pacifist or Schizophrenic would use Windows  Ole Man | 05/22/07
like most tech writers...  A.Lizard | 05/22/07
Kubuntu is good...but it's not the distro for those coming from Windows  johnf76@... | 05/22/07
Kubuntu  previso@... | 06/02/07

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