It’s been six days since I installed Ubuntu 7.04 “Feisty Fawn” on my computer and this desktop operating system has everything I require as a web developer and a casual user. More importantly, using a Linux based operating system means you are free from virus, spyware, and ‘your computer will never be at risk’. What’s more, it’s absolutely free, no end user license agreements, no restrictions.
Here are screenshots of some of the common applications I use. Click on the thumbnails for a larger image.
- The first screenshot shows a slightly customized Ubuntu 7.04 Desktop
- Second screenshot shows Firefox 2.0.0.3 displaying wikipedia article on Ubuntu
- IE6 on Ubuntu, yes, that’s Microsoft Internet Explorer running on Ubuntu Linux! If you are a web designer, you know how important it is to make sure your web page displays properly on standards flouting Internet Explorer browsers. IE 5, 5.5 and 7 can also be installed on Linux along with IE6, thanks to IEs4Linux. Installation instructions here.
- Opera 9.20 — I installed Opera just one day after the release of Ubuntu 7.04 using this roundabout opera installation guide, there should now be an easy method to install Opera from the repositories.
- I use Gedit to edit all php code, html and css files. It is of course, the default text editor. Gcolor2 color picker can be a handy application for web/graphic designers. To install Gcolor2, give the following command on terminal (Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal)
sudo apt-get install gcolor2
This is not all, there is F-Spot, the photo organizer, there is Gimp image editor, which you can use to do quite a lot of things with your images, and then there are many other useful applications that come bundled with Ubuntu.
Check out features overview and screenshots at the ubuntu website. More Ubuntu 7.04 screenshots at osdir.com
Ubuntu 7.04 can be downloaded for free, you can even request an installation CD, they will send you for free! If you need help before, during, or after installation, people at ubuntu forums will always be there for you!
If you are still using Windows XP and looking for an alternative modern desktop operating system, give Ubuntu a try. You will never regret. Ubuntu is freedom. 
