Today I am writing from the confines of a old laptop, a Pentium II with 512 megs of RAM and a 30 gig hard drive. Why do I subject myself to the challenges posed by an antiquated machine?
I have just installed the latest version of Ubuntu. Ubuntu is a "Linux distribution" that works really hard to create a Windows type environment within Linux without all the nuances of more memory and more resources.
I have dabbled with the Linux operating system since 1998 with my spare computers. But in reality it never worked that great and the software quality was limited. I never thought Linux had a chance for end users.
Now however, Canonical, the makers of Ubuntu have created a Linux that most everyone could love.
It is different than Windows, and has some quirks, but, with a live internet connection, the latest version is a very reasonable solution to expand the life of an older computer.
The biggest problem on my retro-laptop is the graphics card is a bit slow for advanced graphics, but running in what's called "normal" mode, the system performs well with the Ubuntu installed.
There are two ways to install Ubuntu: one is using strictly a ISO distribution. In my case I used a Windows "installer" called wubi. It enables Ubuntu to be installed on the pc from within windows.
It asks you how big a partition you want on your hard drive. (I chose 20 gig) and then sit back and watch the magic. After a hour or so, if you have a internet connection detected, it will update the software.
Here is where the fun begins, because Ubuntu is free, a lot of the software is free. Yes, there can be some challenges with the free software, but here's the cool part, I downloaded my documents and spreadsheets (some created with the latest version of Office) to the "ye olde laptop" and am able to pull them up with ease.
I was able to import my bookmarks from Windows into Ubuntu as well. I also happened to find a distribution that was more focused toward audio and video editing, and had some great software for those tasks installed FREE.
Internet connectivity was easily detected (however, my Linksys card seemed to have issues, so I had to go to a Netgear card which worked with no problem.)
So why would you want to do this? If you’re looking to keep an old machine around, yet want some of the newer application features, this is a very affordable way to do it.
Applications I have installed include Open Office 3.0, Mozilla Firefox, Audacity Audio editor, and a movie player.
So who would use this pc? You can use it for kids, as a backup or provide an option for guests that need a quick internet access. For the work place, I would check to make sure there are printer drivers available, or if the printer can print using internet addressing (tcp/ip). Also if your going out of town, and don't want to take the latest and greatest laptop, this is a way to check mail, surf the web and maybe do a document or two.
The requirements to install this are very small with normally 256 megs of RAM with at least 10 gigs of hard drive space available.
I may be updating this article as time goes along as we see how it handles from day to day use.
[Greg Moore, CEO of Burnt Mountain Technologies, has 20 years in the IT field supporting networks, telecom systems and business continuity planning. He resides in Pickens and is a volunteer firefighter. He may be reached at progress@burntmountaintech.com.]
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