Ubuntu 8.04 Released… so what

I have been waiting to get my hands on this release of Ubuntu.  I got up this morning and went to the Ubuntu site.

This Site is Temporarily Unavailable

It was that way until the afternoon.  At the rate my download is going, the 700 MB file should be ready tomorrow when I get up.  I will install it tomorrow and have the weekend to mess around with it.  Most people downloading it will probably do the same.  In a month, all of us will still be using what we were using yesterday. 

I have never understood all the bickering over operating systems.  I remember a Slashdot article from last month where someone asked the only important question that should be asked.

What does (another OS) do that (my OS) doesn’t do?

Fill those names in with whatever you like.  The list of features unique to one operating system is short. 

I run them all.  I have to have access to the same programs my students use and my online students can choose to run any operating system.  Mainly they run Windows, but some run OS X.  I have yet to have a student that uses Linux as a desktop OS either at home or at school.

Just for the record, I have never purchased an operating system.  I use what comes on my computers.  My main OS right now is Windows Vista.  I run Home Premium on my desktop and Ultimate on my laptop.  My MAC has 10.4 and my iPod Touch runs some version of OS X.  The rest of the family runs XP Pro.  We all use IE as our main browser.  All the machines have the free version of AVG anti-virus except for my machines.  I don’t run anti-virus software on my personal machines.  We don’t run anti-spyware software on any of our computers.

We don’t have spyware and have never had a virus.  I have been using a computer for twenty years and I have never had a virus.

Here are most of the things we do on the computers in our house:

1. Browse web pages and read email
2. Create and organize documents, spreadsheets and presentations
3. Create and query databases
4. Schedule work and family activities
5. Draw pictures
6. Manipulate photographs
7. Digitize and watch videos
8. Create and listen to audio files
9. Play games

I am back to the question that no one ever asks.  What OS can’t do these things?

Until someone creates an OS that has useful functionality that no other OS has, we will all probably continue to use what we have.  That’s why the version of Ubuntu I’m downloading right now won’t change much.