My main PC at home has been running Ubuntu since the release of Warty Warthog last October. I’d experimented with Linux desktop software in the past, but was never very successful at making it work nicely for me. Using Ubuntu has been very smooth, and upgrading from 4.10 to 5.04 also went very well. I’m enjoying my experience very much.
Obviously since it’s Linux, there are a couple things possible on Windows that I can’t do with Ubuntu. There are only two that really matter to me: Flash and QuickTime. However, I also have available an older computer running Windows XP. I use it primarily for running the CorelDraw Graphics Suite. (I’m sure I could have replaced that with Linux software like The Gimp, but I find I’m more comfortable with the Corel interface.)
The one significant problem that I have with Ubuntu appears to have surfaced only after I upgraded to Hoary Hedgehog. For some reason that I don’t understand the folder opening behaviour in the File Manager changed. Now, when I open a folder from within another folder it opens in a completely new window that isn’t in focus. I have to click the button on the task panel to see it, and switching windows with the task pane is slow. (And, as I’ll explain below, switching with Alt-Tab is also slow.)
Unfortunately, I don’t recall any problems before I upgraded so I can’t even remember how this procedure worked in 4.10. I’m not really concerned about whether the opened folders are in the same window or new ones, but having to always switch windows is frustrating.
Another problem I have is that at some point I did something to the window manager and I have no idea how to change it back. I tried to install a version of the window manager that had a feature that shows mini-versions of all the current windows on Alt-Tab instead of the usual switcher. If I recall correctly, this version was called Exposity. I don’t mind it that except that it seems to be a lot slower than it was before. Fortunately, at the moment I often need to do a lot of window switching.
The biggest difficulty for me is that I don’t know very much about administering Linux systems and don’t have the time to really learn it properly. I know enough to use the system fairly effectively, but not nearly enough to fix problems. And especially not the one’s I cause.