Once you start writing websites on a different platform than windows, you have to go the extra mile in order to access the Internet Explorer for compatibility reasons. Fortunately there is handy website which you can use to render your site with a variety of IE versions.

The service is called netrenderer and you can find it here. It is completely free of charge.

The new Ubuntu version Gutsy Gibbon was released on the 18th. I blogged earlier about my recent move to Ubuntu and now I really do not wanna go back. The new release looks way better, thanks to Gnome 2.2, and all the desktop effects are now pre-installed. So even a guy like me can get his hands on all the new cool stuff. Of course, some things are still not perfect (dual monitor support is giving me a hard time) but I am not complaining considering the fact that you get it for free. The following image shows one of the desktop effects.

Following Ubuntu Apple will release their newest Mac OS version in two days. I am looking forward to hear what the critics will say. If you want to have a look at Leopard check out their guided tour here. For me Time Machine alone would be a reason for an upgrade.

Seems like it is a good year for operating systems.

One of the small little things that I like about Ubuntu it that is much more polite than Windows XP. What more polite? Let me give you an example. If under Windows XP a window, which is not focused, raises a message window or something similar the entry in the taskbar will start to blink furiously. The blinking effect is so strong that it is pretty hard to ignore and it distracts me from the stuff I am currently working on. In my opinion this form of trying to get my attention is rude. I would compare it to banging at the door of an office. In the normal world this type of interrupting people would not be accepted. If software interrupts you all the time nobody cares.

Maybe the Ubuntu folks had a similar experience. However in Ubuntu instead of blinking they slowly fade the color of the application in the taskbar from gray to orange. Much more polite and less distracting (would like to know how it is implemented under Windows Vista).

Someone once said to me:

"Thomas you are the only pragmatic person I know who still uses Windows but I guess it comes back to being pragmatic. Windows just works for you..."

Unfortunately it stopped working for me a few weeks ago. My current XP installation is now over a year old and like every other Windows installation before it is not really usable anymore.

I had three options:

1. I could upgrade to Windows Vista. It looks nice but the reports I got from my friends were all pretty bad. Especially the hardware requirements motivated me not to stick with Windows anymore. Furthermore the whole licensing model looks way too complicated.
2. I could get myself a MacBook and switch over to Mac OS which in my opinion is a fantastic operating system. While it would be great to own a mac I am just not motivated enough to make the necessary investment
3. The last option would be to use a Linux distribution. I know quite a lot of people who run Linux and they seemed to be very satisfied with it.

In the end I decided to go with the dual boot option. I will run Linux and XP in parallel but Linux will be the leading system.

There are a lot of Linux distribution available but for me it was clear right from the start that I will use Ubuntu. I had installed it before and was really impressed how easy it is to set up and use. Even more importantly it has a fantastic community which is very friendly and willing to help out new users.

So far my experience with Ubuntu has been good. I had some problems with the installation but otherwise everything is running now. Here are my pro and cons for using Ubuntu:

Pros

• Compiz the windows manager looks fantastic. I never had a better looking desktop. Moreover it supports all the nice effects you now from the mac like the expose function. Sure a lot of this stuff is eye-candy but I do not want to work without most of these functions anymore.
• The memory management is way better than the one XP uses. Under XP my laptop was swapping the whole day. Under Ubuntu swapping nearly never occurs.
• Ubuntu works great with my ThinkPad R52. All hardware was detected and all special function keys (e.g volume control,...) worked immediately.
• It is very stable and the network implementation seems to be a lot better. Especially setting up WiFi connections is much more elegant.
• Most of the software I use works on Ubuntu because I largely use tools which run on Java. Moreover Firefox and Thunderbird have Debian versions as well.
• A lot of the software is really nice. For example the mp3 player Rhythmbox still impresses me.

Cons

• You will have to make your hands dirty and use the console most of the time if you install new things or follow tutorials. That is not a problem for me but it would be one for my mother.
• The Skype version for Linux is very limited compared to the Windows version. For example there is no support for video chats or sending SMS messages. Especially the lack of SMS support puzzles me. I would really like to know why a company does not provide a functionality which is one of their revenue streams.
• Some software like Java is too complicated to install. While I could always solve my problems sometimes it just took too much time. You definitely have to invest a lot of time in the beginning.
• Some software like Office 2007 is not available for Linux. OpenOffice is a good alternative but it is no replacement.

So far I am happy with my new system and I am truly impressed how high the quality of free software is today. This is how my desktop looks like now: