I disappeared again for couple of days - I got stuck in Ubuntu Linux. For some time now I've been seeing on YouTube and other sites people comparing Ubuntu with Beryl and Vista's looks so I decided to get my hands dirty a bit and see it for myself.
I installed Ubuntu 6.10, installed Nvidia drivers (which work better on Linux than under Vista, lol), installed Beryl and went on playing around.
I must admit - I liked what I saw. Vista does have cool transparencies, fairly pretty theme and icons, and DreamScene (which I never use). Ubuntu on the other hand looks a bit old-school-like. You know, like XP looks once you've experienced Vista for couple of hours. With Beryl - I must admit I had more fun in Linux than ever before. I love the effects, especially the burning of the windows once you minimize them, and I love how easy is to spin around the desktop "cube" and switch to other virtual desktops with a simple movement of the mouse. It is definitely something I'd like to see on Vista.
The best part is that the whole Beryl system is so configurable that there is little it cannot do.
I really love Ubuntu (since long time ago even before Beryl). I love how everything flows with ease in Ubuntu (no hiccups anywhere), and the thing I love the most is a memory footprint once everything is loaded under Linux (whole OS, my stuff, Gnome Desktop and Beryl Manager - total of 200MB of RAM taken, 0MB of Swap used). This definitely beats Vista which with everything loaded up leaves me with a bit of a bloated system, some swap space used, and about 1GB of RAM used.
So, what's the outcome: I am gonna keep both systems on my computer.
When I am in Linux I miss pretty Windows orbs, my beautiful sidebar clock, Office 2007, Dreamweaver and Photoshop - not to mention my SlingPlayer and Microsoft Money 2007.
When I am in Windows, I miss the eaten up RAM (very much so), Super fast boot time of Ubuntu, and yes - I do miss being able to spin my virtual cube and a cool access to my other virtual desktops.
It's a tie - Vista has won my heart since looooong time ago, but Ubuntu is just so slick.
For those who do not know what I'm talking about (Beryl), check out overly long and a bit annoying video below. You'll get the point.
For those Linux/Windows fans who just wait to comment and wage a war of the OSs - remember I was mostly interested in comparing the LOOKS of the two systems - not all other goodies.
Also, I discovered an amazing thing - If you put the "Dawn of Ubuntu" wallpaper in your Vista - you will discover it makes the whole experience just so much better. I finally found the wallpaper I've been searching for for the longest time ever. Take a look:
Points of Interest: Beryl, Ubuntu Site, Dawn of Ubuntu Wallpaper
P.S> Oh, and tomorrow Ubuntu 7.04 is coming out so I'm gonna install that version and see what's new. Hopefully this version detects my wireless card out of the box - and it does not completely forgets it exists after the on-line system update... :) HA!
