Friday, May 25, 2007

Ubuntu, VMware, Windows - the ultimate laptop?

OK, for work I have a new Lenovo T60 (IBM Thinkpad) 15.4" widescreen with 60GB HD, 3GB of RAM and an Intel Core2 T7200 chip at 2.0Ghz. Needless to say, it is a very nice laptop. So, the question is, what do I run on it? Normally this would never come up, install Windows Vista and be done with it. But two of my colleagues run Ubuntu and I felt it was time to learn something new again. So, I have Ubuntu up and running (7.04 - feisty) and I have installed VMware Workstation 6.0 on it. I have built a VM for Windows XP Pro and will be building another for Windows Vista (I am thinking of doing Windows Server 2003 also).
At this point I have gotten everything working that I expected. I have been very impressed with the performance and ease of use of Ubuntu and how robust the feature are compared with Windows.
There are still a ton of special apps I need on Windows but that is the point of the VM - I don't have to give it up yet. Also, I get to run XP in a full sized window on one screen while still being able to switch screens to my Linux environment.
I think for a lot of folks it is time to check out some of the Linux distros again and see if one works for you. They have gotten more and more desktop friendly and the ease of upgrade and management is very remarkable (especially in light of what it was at a few years ago).
Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend - my hats off to all those who have served our country.
- Ed