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Linux is in a constant state of development and improvement by professional and semi-professional developers who donate their time and skills to the various projects. In addition, the majority of the system and available applications are Open source, so if you wish and you had the ability, you could add any feature you needed. Linux also has the ability to expand the life of many systems as it’s reduced overhead and need for system resources means that it will run great on older machines.

As hard as it is to accept, you can easily get support when you do run into difficulties. In addition to the plethora of online forums, both independent and those provided by the distro supplier, there are also more and more 3rd party service providers that offer service contracts for Linux systems. Good to have in a corporate/business environment. There is also support offered by more and more traditional Technology names such as Dell, IBM, Novell, Sun and others. And finally, for support a little closer to home, most major cities have Linux User Groups that can and do offer help and advice. Help and Support IS available and does not usually mean spending hours on hold to speak to someone in a call center on the other side of the planet.

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Who is using Ubuntu?

Check out who and why is using Ubuntu Linux. Read the stories below.

Chris Dominowski, Ubuntu Forever!

If I were to say how many times my windows machine has crashed, the string theory could not accurately personify it. I was thinking about getting a mac, but they are also notorious for breaking down. Needless to say, when I heard there was a better alternative to either system, I was ecstatic. To make a long story short, I haven't used windows again after installing ubuntu. Why would I? The difference between Winblows/Smackintosh and Linux is the difference between a Lean-to hut and a Mansion. Ubuntu is clearly the better choice, and I'm never going back... ever.

Jonathan Sicoli, Student / Slacker

So, i'm playing around with my laptop, when suddenly XP dies on me. It doesn't even let me boot into the OS. I'm forced to conclude that the only way I'm getting into XP again on the laptop is with a reinstall. So, I look on the internet for "backups" of XP (Don't look at me like that, i do own a disk... somewhere...), and then a thought occured to me: Sure, i COULD go back to XP, but why not try a new OS? I had heard about this "linux" thing, but never really cared to try it out, but now I had a legitimate reason to! So, I hit the forums, and eventually settle on Ubuntu (well, after Sabayon, but Sabayon felt way too slow.) I'm no linux fanboy, in fact, I still use XP on my desktop, as I own a lot of games; however, I'm dualbooting sometimes into 'Buntu, playing around with Wine. One day, when Wine gets to the point where it's able to emulate Windows near perfectly, I may even make the switch permenantly.

Ubuntu isn't perfect, in fact I've been a victim of a bug that until recently was booting me back to login every few hours. But, with the 8.04 update, that's patched up. The support for Ubuntu is great, because everyone is able to help. Microsoft has their techs, Apple has the Genius Bar, Ubuntu has the collective minds of its users. Kinda like Wikipedia, minus most of the vandals. Ubuntu isn't perfect, but it's getting closer, and closer, each and every day. Plus, Compiz alone could convince a guy to make the switch. What can I say? Cake tastes better with icing!

Hope this story convinces you to make the switch, or at least makes you consider that the preinstalled operating system that comes on your computer might not be the best one you can have. After all, the best things in life are free.

Rey Angeles, Web Developer/Graphics Designer

I started using Ubuntu about 1yr half ago and realized that I was actually using my pc more productively than when it had windows installed. For some reason I just can't use windows anymore, Ubuntu has all the applications that I need. Office, Graphics software, Programming IDEs and much more even video editing and music tools. I tell you if you keep paying the microsoft tax you are a fool. Go ahead and try it after all it is free, besides if it does not work for you then you can do a fresh re-install of windows your probably overdue. :p :) Oh and if you live in the state of florida check out the Florida Loco Team (http://florida.ubuntu-us.org) or visit the IRC chat channel #ubuntu-florida.

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