Ubuntu logo.Ubuntu logo.
Ubuntu icon

I have an old laptop running Windows 8.1. I did not believe it was worth paying to update it to Windows 10 and it won’t take Windows 11. One of Canonical’s stated objectives is “Better performance on older hardware” to “extend the lifespan of your devices”. [1] As I only want to use it for tasks like blogging, email, music and movies I decided to load Ubuntu Desktop for a change.

Who? What? Where? When?

Ubuntu is a free, open-source Linux-based operating system maintained and funded by Canonical, a company founded by South African Mark Shuttleworth. The first release was on 20 October 2004.

Install

The documentation is fantastic and I cannot improve on the Ubuntu installation tutorial available here: Install Ubuntu desktop | Ubuntu 

  1. I downloaded and installed balenaEtcher which would not install on Windows 10
  2. I installed balenaEtcher on an NT machine
  3. I downloaded the Ubuntu ISO image file available on this download link: https://releases.ubuntu.com/24.04/ubuntu-24.04-desktop-amd64.iso
  4. the balenaEtcher install failed the first time; I simply ran it a second time and it was successful
  5. I used balenaEtcher to create a bootable USB
  6. I had to do some Googling and fiddle with the BIOS settings of my laptop to enable UEFI [2]
  7. Once I could boot from USB the Ubuntu installation was simple.

Repositories

If you are coming from a Windows environment, one of the big changes is how software is installed and updated. Ubuntu Software is a built-in package management tool. [3]

In most cases, it is simply a case of searching for something in Ubuntu Software and clicking Install! It is worth reading the following to understand more about the Ubuntu (Linux) way of installing and maintaining software. [4]

Observations

We watch TV series via online streaming. None of the Windows machines seemed to be able to do the job; there appears to be some problem with maintaining the Internet connection (it keeps dropping). None of this happens when streaming from the same sources with the same hardware running under Ubuntu.

The GUI is not radically different, but it takes some getting used to. It offers a more minimalistic interface than Windows but remains more intuitive than an Apple interface. I suspect Apple users will feel right at home!

Software availability is excellent. A quick Google for instance reveals that there is an (unofficial) app for WhatsApp. Open the Terminal, type sudo snap install whatsapp-for-linux and you are away. [5]

Hardware has been no problem so far and I could easily plug and play an optical mouse and an old Canon Pixma Inkjet printer.


References:

  1. Canonical Ubuntu. (No date). Ubuntu for desktops. Available at: https://ubuntu.com/desktop (Accessed: 29 July 2024).
  2. Adams, M. (2024) Fix: EFI USB Device has Been Blocked by Security PolicyWindows Report. Available at: https://windowsreport.com/efi-usb-blocked-by-security-policy/ (Accessed: 1 August 2024).
  3. Wikipedia. (2024). Ubuntu. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu. (Accessed: 29 July 2024).
  4. Ubuntu Documentation (no date) Repositories – Community Help Wiki. Available at: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Repositories/ (Accessed: 25 July 2024).
  5. Snapcraft (no date) Install WhatsApp for Linux on Ubuntu using the Snap Store. Available at: https://snapcraft.io/install/whatsapp-for-linux/ubuntu (Accessed: 26 July 2024).

By MisterFoxOnline

Mister Fox AKA @MisterFoxOnline is an ICT, IT and CAT Teacher who has just finished training as a Young Engineers instructor. He has a passion for technology and loves to find solutions to problems using the skills he has learned in the course of his IT career.

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