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Ubuntu is an open-source, freely distributed operating system based on Linux developed by Canonical Ltd. Ubuntu's first release was on October 20th, 2004 as a fork of the Debian GNU/Linux project. Ubuntu differs from its Linux roots because of 1) its emphasis on usability, 2) regular releases every 6 months, and 3) ease of installation. These three factors make the Ubuntu operating system far more appealing to mainstream users over other Linux distributions. Ubuntu can be installed on desktop PCs, laptops, servers, 64-bit systems, and Mac computers. The most recent release is, version 9.04, is nicknamed "Jaunty Jackalope," and was released April 20th, 2009.

Ubuntu 3
MSRP $0.00
Release date October, 2008
love it
want it
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Pros & Cons18
Reviews30
Details
Buy It
Competitors7
Comments2
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Pros & Cons

ProSCORE
30 reviews
91
negative
mixed
positive
29 positive
0 mixed
1 negative

[i] How is the ProSCORE calculated?

show me!

Pros:
Do you agree?
•
Regular releases every 6 months
+24agreedisagree

•
Its FREE !
+15agreedisagree

•
'One-Click' Software install and Removal
+13agreedisagree

•
Significant online community offering news, advice, software & support
+12agreedisagree

•
One of the most beginner/user friendly Linux distributions.
+12agreedisagree

•
Infinitely customisable
+10agreedisagree

•
Comes with FULL office suite as standard (Open Office).
+10agreedisagree

•
ALL installation CD/DVDs contain a 'Live' image which lets you use and test ubuntu fully, without making any changes to your PC!
+10agreedisagree

•
Largely immune to Spyware / Malware / Viruses
+9agreedisagree

•
online community can fix anything with linux and ubuntu and solves problems alot of people cannot figure out eg. driver issues
+7agreedisagree

•
Ubuntu OS incorporates an effective firewall - No need for 3rd party security applications.
+6agreedisagree

•
easier to fix than windows eg. full reinstall takes under half hour, XP/Vista At least an hour
+4agreedisagree

•
network configuration is fantastic, it's easy to switch from one network to another network without having to set up all back from square one
0agreedisagree

Cons:
Do you agree?
•
Often ignored by hardware vendors when writing drivers.
+7agreedisagree

•
I have problem with openVPN client, it just need a little workaround which is not that easy for regular user
0agreedisagree

•
Connecting through webdav with MS Windows is more stable than through Ubuntu, eventhough I did it through ubuntu, but not that easy for regular user
0agreedisagree

•
Broke support for a major group of Samsung Monitors in 8.04(+) and no fix is readily available or has been implemented to date
-2agreedisagree

•
If the kernel doesn't have a driver for your hardware, very little can be done to get it working
-2agreedisagree


30 people added to this review by submitting or voting on pros and cons. Add your say!
See individual votes »

Details

The Ubuntu Promise

  • Ubuntu will always be free of charge, including enterprise releases and security updates.
  • Ubuntu comes with full commercial support from Canonical and hundreds of companies around the world.
  • Ubuntu includes the very best translations and accessibility infrastructure that the free software community has to offer.
  • Ubuntu CDs contain only free software applications; we encourage you to use free and open source software, improve it and pass it on.

Ubuntu Variants

Ubuntu has two main variants: the Desktop or Server edition. The Desktop edition is used general computing, and comes preloaded with software to surf the web, read email, create and edit documents and spreadsheets, and to play music. The server edition is used to run services such as, but not limited to, the Apache webserver, OpenSSH, Samba/NFS for a file fileserver, or CUPS for a print server.

Canonical Ltd, the complany that develops Ubuntu, is currently working a version of Ubuntu for MID's. It aims to support flash, media playback, Web 2.0 services, and productivity software. It will be customizable and integrate well with Internet services such as Facebook, Google, and Youtube.

Additionally, there are versions off Ubuntu specifically designed for different groups of applications:

  • Edubuntu, a distribution designed for classrooms using GNOME
  • Gobuntu, a free software distribution
  • Kubuntu, a desktop distribution using KDE rather than GNOME
  • Xubuntu, a "lightweight" distribution based on the Xfce desktop environment instead of GNOME
  • Ubuntu JeOS, "an efficient variant [...] configured specifically for virtual appliances"
  • Ubuntu Studio, a desktop distribution explicitly geared towards multimedia creation.

* source Wikipedia

Availability

Ubuntu is free, and will remain free. The desktop and server version can be downloaded from the Ubuntu website. All of the Ubuntu variants are free and can be downloaded as well from their respective websites. Ubuntu gives you the option to have a Ubuntu installation CD for either Ubuntu Desktop/Server, Kubuntu, or Edubuntu mailed to you, but delivery may take as long as 10 weeks, so downloading is strongly encouraged. The installation of the desktop operating system will take approximately 25 minutes. The current release is version 8.04 as of April 24th, 2008.

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This report was started June 26, 2008 at 8:55 am by dialupinternetuser
with the last edit occurring November 2, 2009 at 9:39 pm by lazychris2000
This page has been viewed 663 times, with 226 edits by 22 contributors.
See the full report history »

Buy It

Competitors

Ubuntu is ranked 1st among it's competitors.  See the top picks in Operating Systems »
Apple Mac OS X

Apple Mac OS X

MSRP  $129.00    Released  March, 2001
Pros
  • Good looking
  • Easy to use
  • Stable. Yes, it can crash, but in my experience, it crashes far less often than any version of Windows.
Cons
  • only works on Apple hardware
  • Not as many applications/games available compared to Microsoft Windows
  • Cannot be virtualized
ProSCORE
16 reviews
76
Vote! (6 votes)
vote Ubuntu 50% vs. vote Apple Mac OS X 50%
Microsoft Windows XP

Microsoft Windows XP

MSRP  --    Released  --
Pros
  • Good driver support - lots of drivers even for oblique and legacy hardware
  • backwards compatible; very good gaming platform
  • Stable
Cons
  • Programs aren't isolated from one another, so one can take down the whole OS
  • File system Fragments
  • Poor security out of the box
ProSCORE
34 reviews
55
Vote! (10 votes)
vote Ubuntu 60% vs. vote Microsoft Windows XP 40%
Gentoo

Gentoo

MSRP  $0.00    Released  --
ProSCORE
0 reviews
N/A
Vote! (6 votes)
vote Ubuntu 67% vs. vote Gentoo 33%
Microsoft Windows Vista

Microsoft Windows Vista

MSRP  $199 - $380    Released  January, 2007
Pros
  • Simple instalation from scratch (GUI really helps installation)
  • Much better compatibility with 64-bit hardware
  • Much fewer security vulnerabilities than XP
Cons
  • Performance can be much better
  • Default installation comes with many bloated eye-candy settings enabled that slow your computer down
  • User Access Control is a huge pain
ProSCORE
29 reviews
38
Vote! (6 votes)
vote Ubuntu 67% vs. vote Microsoft Windows Vista 33%
Debian GNU/Linux

Debian GNU/Linux

MSRP  $0.00    Released  August, 1993
Pros
  • Rock solid, even unstable/sid
  • Linux OS that has spawned more successful offspring than any other Linux OS
  • Apt/Dpkg are solid package management options
  • Fantastic appserver platform
  • PHP, OpenJDK, GCC, LLVM and more get solid testing support/SQA support
ProSCORE
1 review
100
Vote! (7 votes)
vote Ubuntu 71% vs. vote Debian GNU/Linux 29%
Slackware: Standard-bearer for Old-school Linux

Slackware: Standard-bearer for Old-school Linux

MSRP  $0.00    Released  --

On the first day the distribution gods created SLS and Yggdrasil and saw that it was good. However, Patrick Volkerding became convinced it could be better, so he created the Slackware distribution in 1993. Slackware is the oldest living Linux distribution. Linux devotees feel a certain nostalgia for Slackware based on that fact alone....

ProSCORE
0 reviews
N/A
Vote! (3 votes)
vote Ubuntu 100% vs. vote Slackware: Standard-bearer for Old-school Linux 0%
Red Hat

Red Hat

MSRP  $0.00    Released  --
ProSCORE
0 reviews
N/A
Vote! (3 votes)
vote Ubuntu 100% vs. vote Red Hat 0%

Suggest a new competitor to add to the list of competing products.
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Comments

11 taps
1.  avatar Manzabar said:

In a somewhat odd turn of events, you can now also buy a copy of Ubuntu from Best Buy or Amazon.com. Given that one can download it for free or even have a physical copy shipped to you at no cost, I'm not sure why anybody would buy a copy from but now you can.
Jul 10, 2008 4:20pm
2.  avatar kdm said:

Not sure, but I know that there was talk of the 'sold' versions coming with canonical support.
Dec 13, 2008 5:42pm
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Reviews

Sort by: Most helpful  •  Newest  •  Most positive

1stade

avatar
April 8, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
100
negative
mixed
positive
12 pros
0 cons
love itlove it
have ithave it
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • Regular releases every 6 months
  • Its FREE !
  • 'One-Click' Software install and Removal
  • Significant online community offering news, advice, software & support
  • One of the most beginner/user friendly Linux distributions.
  • Infinitely customisable
  • Comes with FULL office suite as standard (Open Office).
  • ALL installation CD/DVDs contain a 'Live' image which lets you use and test ubuntu fully, without making any changes to your PC!
  • Largely immune to Spyware / Malware / Viruses
  • online community can fix anything with linux and ubuntu and solves problems alot of people cannot figure out eg. driver issues
  • Ubuntu OS incorporates an effective firewall - No need for 3rd party security applications.
  • easier to fix than windows eg. full reinstall takes under half hour, XP/Vista At least an hour

Cons

Did not agree with any cons

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

kdm

avatar
December 10, 2008
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
89
negative
mixed
positive
8 pros
1 con
love itlove it
have ithave it
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Pros

  • Its FREE !
  • 'One-Click' Software install and Removal
  • Significant online community offering news, advice, software & support
  • Infinitely customisable
  • Comes with FULL office suite as standard (Open Office).
  • ALL installation CD/DVDs contain a 'Live' image which lets you use and test ubuntu fully, without making any changes to your PC!
  • Largely immune to Spyware / Malware / Viruses
  • Ubuntu OS incorporates an effective firewall - No need for 3rd party security applications.

Cons

  • Often ignored by hardware vendors when writing drivers.

Comments

"Not sure, but I know that there was talk of the 'sold' versions coming with canonical support."

Competitors

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

lazychris2000

avatar
November 2, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
92
negative
mixed
positive
12 pros
1 con
have ithave it
love itlove it

Pros

  • Regular releases every 6 months
  • Its FREE !
  • 'One-Click' Software install and Removal
  • Significant online community offering news, advice, software & support
  • One of the most beginner/user friendly Linux distributions.
  • Infinitely customisable
  • Comes with FULL office suite as standard (Open Office).
  • ALL installation CD/DVDs contain a 'Live' image which lets you use and test ubuntu fully, without making any changes to your PC!
  • Largely immune to Spyware / Malware / Viruses
  • online community can fix anything with linux and ubuntu and solves problems alot of people cannot figure out eg. driver issues
  • Ubuntu OS incorporates an effective firewall - No need for 3rd party security applications.
  • easier to fix than windows eg. full reinstall takes under half hour, XP/Vista At least an hour

Cons

  • Often ignored by hardware vendors when writing drivers.

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

Austin Welles

avatar
October 19, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
92
negative
mixed
positive
12 pros
1 con

Pros

  • Regular releases every 6 months
  • Its FREE !
  • 'One-Click' Software install and Removal
  • Significant online community offering news, advice, software & support
  • One of the most beginner/user friendly Linux distributions.
  • Infinitely customisable
  • Comes with FULL office suite as standard (Open Office).
  • ALL installation CD/DVDs contain a 'Live' image which lets you use and test ubuntu fully, without making any changes to your PC!
  • Largely immune to Spyware / Malware / Viruses
  • online community can fix anything with linux and ubuntu and solves problems alot of people cannot figure out eg. driver issues
  • Ubuntu OS incorporates an effective firewall - No need for 3rd party security applications.
  • easier to fix than windows eg. full reinstall takes under half hour, XP/Vista At least an hour

Cons

  • Often ignored by hardware vendors when writing drivers.

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

fractalhorizon

avatar
October 19, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
92
negative
mixed
positive
12 pros
1 con
have ithave it
love itlove it

Pros

  • Regular releases every 6 months
  • Its FREE !
  • 'One-Click' Software install and Removal
  • Significant online community offering news, advice, software & support
  • One of the most beginner/user friendly Linux distributions.
  • Infinitely customisable
  • Comes with FULL office suite as standard (Open Office).
  • ALL installation CD/DVDs contain a 'Live' image which lets you use and test ubuntu fully, without making any changes to your PC!
  • Largely immune to Spyware / Malware / Viruses
  • online community can fix anything with linux and ubuntu and solves problems alot of people cannot figure out eg. driver issues
  • Ubuntu OS incorporates an effective firewall - No need for 3rd party security applications.
  • easier to fix than windows eg. full reinstall takes under half hour, XP/Vista At least an hour

Cons

  • Often ignored by hardware vendors when writing drivers.

Competitors

fractalhorizon prefers Apple Mac OS X over Ubuntu
fractalhorizon prefers Ubuntu over Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows XP
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

Firman Abraham

avatar
June 7, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
85
negative
mixed
positive
11 pros
2 cons
love itlove it
have ithave it

Pros

  • Its FREE !
  • 'One-Click' Software install and Removal
  • Significant online community offering news, advice, software & support
  • One of the most beginner/user friendly Linux distributions.
  • Infinitely customisable
  • Comes with FULL office suite as standard (Open Office).
  • ALL installation CD/DVDs contain a 'Live' image which lets you use and test ubuntu fully, without making any changes to your PC!
  • Largely immune to Spyware / Malware / Viruses
  • online community can fix anything with linux and ubuntu and solves problems alot of people cannot figure out eg. driver issues
  • Ubuntu OS incorporates an effective firewall - No need for 3rd party security applications.
  • network configuration is fantastic, it's easy to switch from one network to another network without having to set up all back from square one

Cons

  • I have problem with openVPN client, it just need a little workaround which is not that easy for regular user
  • Connecting through webdav with MS Windows is more stable than through Ubuntu, eventhough I did it through ubuntu, but not that easy for regular user

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

Nx

avatar
April 23, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
91
negative
mixed
positive
10 pros
1 con
have ithave it
love itlove it

Pros

  • Its FREE !
  • 'One-Click' Software install and Removal
  • Significant online community offering news, advice, software & support
  • One of the most beginner/user friendly Linux distributions.
  • Infinitely customisable
  • Comes with FULL office suite as standard (Open Office).
  • ALL installation CD/DVDs contain a 'Live' image which lets you use and test ubuntu fully, without making any changes to your PC!
  • Largely immune to Spyware / Malware / Viruses
  • online community can fix anything with linux and ubuntu and solves problems alot of people cannot figure out eg. driver issues
  • easier to fix than windows eg. full reinstall takes under half hour, XP/Vista At least an hour

Cons

  • Often ignored by hardware vendors when writing drivers.

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

Fila

avatar
October 26, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
90
negative
mixed
positive
9 pros
1 con

Pros

  • Regular releases every 6 months
  • Its FREE !
  • 'One-Click' Software install and Removal
  • Significant online community offering news, advice, software & support
  • One of the most beginner/user friendly Linux distributions.
  • Infinitely customisable
  • Comes with FULL office suite as standard (Open Office).
  • ALL installation CD/DVDs contain a 'Live' image which lets you use and test ubuntu fully, without making any changes to your PC!
  • online community can fix anything with linux and ubuntu and solves problems alot of people cannot figure out eg. driver issues

Cons

  • Often ignored by hardware vendors when writing drivers.

Competitors

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

lonehunter

avatar
January 4, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
100
negative
mixed
positive
10 pros
0 cons

Pros

  • Regular releases every 6 months
  • Its FREE !
  • 'One-Click' Software install and Removal
  • Significant online community offering news, advice, software & support
  • One of the most beginner/user friendly Linux distributions.
  • Infinitely customisable
  • Comes with FULL office suite as standard (Open Office).
  • ALL installation CD/DVDs contain a 'Live' image which lets you use and test ubuntu fully, without making any changes to your PC!
  • Largely immune to Spyware / Malware / Viruses
  • Ubuntu OS incorporates an effective firewall - No need for 3rd party security applications.

Cons

Did not agree with any cons

Competitors

lonehunter prefers Ubuntu over Microsoft Windows XP
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

Darkstriker

avatar
March 9, 2009
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
71
negative
mixed
positive
5 pros
2 cons

Pros

  • Regular releases every 6 months
  • Its FREE !
  • One of the most beginner/user friendly Linux distributions.
  • Comes with FULL office suite as standard (Open Office).
  • ALL installation CD/DVDs contain a 'Live' image which lets you use and test ubuntu fully, without making any changes to your PC!

Cons

  • Often ignored by hardware vendors when writing drivers.
  • Broke support for a major group of Samsung Monitors in 8.04(+) and no fix is readily available or has been implemented to date

Competitors

Darkstriker prefers Microsoft Windows XP over Ubuntu
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No
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