My Experience with Kubuntu as a Linux Newbie;

I was thinking to try Linux on my desktop PC ,but I was afraid to try it because of some reasons such as,
1.I was using Windows XP and I was afraid to mess it up during the partition process for Linux,
2.I was scared to change the windows bootloader,
3.I had never used Linux before, I was afraid that I would not be able to use it and I was not sure that my printers,scanner camera would work on Linux.
Those were my main concerns. But on the other side I wanted to try Linux because;
1.Linux is more secure,antivirus is not needed(open to discussion) you can use system sources for other things,
2.You do not have to clean,defrag etc. for Linux.
3.It is free,updates are free and open source. No need to buy a new desktop and a new PC for every few years.
So I decided to try Linux,but which distro:I looked on internet and chose some linux distros and installed them on my vmware player. First I chose Ubuntu because it was widely used, I could find many documents about it. I checked the polls in the Wilders Security Forums too. But I did not like the gnome desktop. So I decided to use the KDE desktop,which I think has more eye-candy. I installed Kubuntu and I loved it. So I thought why not use my national KDE based Linux(Pardus)
First I backed up all my data and documents etc. to an external hard disk and USB flash disks,resized my existing data partition with Easeus Partition Manager,it was easy.I had a 50GB Windows Partiton, 100GB data partiton was resized to 70 to 30.(30GB for linux)I left the 30GB partition without formatting,I left it as an unallocated space.
Burning an iso to a cd/dvd is easy but please write it at most at the speed of 8.I wrote at maximum speed and the bootable dvd's did not work.
I started the PC with the bootable Pardus DVD and ;That is where I started to pull my hair out.No matter how much I tried(burning to a new cd,downloading a new iso.) the installation stuck at 32%.I gave up and decided to try Kubuntu.
Kubuntu installation was smooth,during installation I chose manual partitioning and I chose 30GB for root and 1 GB for swap file(on Ubuntu wiki it is written like this: if you have 2GBRAM on your PC and a 30GB partition for Linux it is recommended to have a 1GB swap file size.),since I was going to use easyBCD for dual boot I formatted the root ext3.The most important thing during setup is to choose the place where to put the grub.I put the GRUB into the same partition where I installed Kubuntu. I had to choose it from the advanced menu after partitioning.
I finished the installation and booted up and removed the cd. I was very excited and when my PC booted up as before. I was very happy.Now I had to do the dual booting part.The reason I chose easyBCD for dual booting was because I had more control over WindowsXP and I did not know how to use Linux and Grub.And if something went wrong I could easily uninstall Linux and use my PC as before.I was going to install easyBCD but to make it work on WinXP you have to own a license for Vista and carry vista boot files from Vista to XP. I carried those files from my laptop and installed easyBCD and configured it as written on the easyBCD internet pages.
I was able to dual boot.Booting into Kubuntu takes only 20 sec.
Kubuntu;the easy and the hard :
I booted into Kubuntu, menu's and everything is easy to use.You just have to look around a little.I did not like the fonts,it was not easy on my eyes so I changed them to Sans Serif and I used 96 DPI. I tried some combination's and I found this to be the best on LCD diplay. It automatically told me to fix bug updates I fixed them.That is all.You can use it out of the box.Xerox phaser printer,PC camera, worked out of the box.To make the samsung color Laser printer to work I had to choose its name from the printers menu,that was easy too.But to make the mustek scanner to work I had to do some work.I had to download a driver and rename it.I downloaded the driver and tried to rename and move as I did in WindowsXP.That is the funny part,things work different in Linux.I had to google and found out the solution.I had to use the Terminal.I learned how to rename files.Now My scanner is working too.The only thing that did not work is the Kodak camera.But I can use the memory card.
As a conclusion I would advice everyone to try Linux.It is not something to be scared of,and there is always a solution for your problem.You can google and find the solutions to your problems.I did a lot of reading,still reading.And I appreciate the help of the people here on Wilders.If you do not want to read a lot, Ubuntu is easier for the first time users,because most programs come by default.I had to install many programs on Kubuntu.Also configuring OpenDNS is easier on Ubuntu with the GUI.But you have to configure it on the terminal on Kubuntu.

 

Very nice review, you can remove Kubuntu's network manager and switch to better WICD which is in the repos.

 

very nice review cet

one more think i like to add for newbies if you like kde or gnome environment you dont need to install an another distro

like what cet said she feel ubuntu easy and kubuntu eye candy she can add gnome in kubuntu to give the feel of ubuntu and vice versa all you need is enough disk space to install 2 environments and need to switch to kde or gnome environment thats all
updating form one it will update both environments as well

 

There is plenty of eyecandy for gnome at http://gnome-look.org/ Choose also to install emerald (from repos) and check out some of the screenlets at http://gnome-look.org/ Awn is also available in repos.
The screenshot thread may also give you some ideas.