Several years back, I had a Linux laptop. But by around 2010 I had migrated to the Apple ecosystem, starting with an iPad, and left Linux behind. Now I’m back to Linux and let me explain why. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It turned out that I hardly use any of Apple’s software products – not Siri, not Pages, not iTunes, not Safari. My software — even on the Mac — consisted mostly of free and open source tools, such as Libre Office, Thunderbird, and Firefox, and I rely on web applications for much of what I do (e.g., TickTick for my to-do list, Diaro for my daily diary, Netflix, Spotify, etc.). I was getting no added value from being with Apple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today took delivery of my new laptop, a Dell XPS-13 with Ubuntu Linux 18.04 pre-installed. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I’ve spent the last hour getting re-acquainted and it’s been a happy experience so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What I have learned is that migrating from other operating systems to Linux is much<\/em> easier than it used to be. For example, there’s one-click downloading of software. I was surprised to see that Firefox did not come pre-installed, but installing it, syncing it with my previous version, and making it my new default browser took less than a minute – no technical skills required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Connecting to wifi and bluetooth was a piece of cake. My Microsoft mouse works perfectly — though I do have to get used to the fact that I now have a touch screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The XPS-13 is a lovely bit of kit — it seems so much smaller than my MacBook Air, but it’s the same screen size. The screen resolution is spectacularly good, the memory is quadruple what I had before, as is the hard drive capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n