Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex

Browsing on Ubuntu 8.10 was a non-issue. The inbuilt browser along with Opera (which we downloaded) allowed us to surf anything the Internet can throw at us. One notable exception were banking sites that were fully compatible only with IE. IM functionality too was easy. We used the inbuilt Pidgin client to catch up with friends and colleagues, and didn’t need to download a separate client. For those who like to customize, there are numerous top-level multi-IM clients out there that offer great functionality.

As for multimedia, Ubuntu comes with some excellent applications of its own. We chose to stick to the inbuilt apps Rhythmbox and the aptly titled 'Movie Player'. There were no issues here. We were able to watch all our regular video samples, get fluid DVD playback, and play some older file formats without hassles. For an inbuilt application to offer this level of functionality out of the box, without the need for clunky external software, is a great deal. One can of course get VLC and enjoy the same functionality that's available on Windows.

Updating the OS was a breeze with the inbuilt package manager. One of the things we loved about it is that if there's a dependency or package missing, the manager seamlessly connects to the Internet and downloads it without any fuss.When we used Ubuntu previously, we just could not make it our main desktop OS, though it was fairly stable and had decent application support. We had to keep rebooting back into Windows, and despite the presence of Wine; we just could not bring ourselves to adapt to Ubuntu as our primary OS.

That was then. Things are different now. Thanks to the evolution of application support for the platform, Ubuntu’s LTS (long time support) format, easy upgradability, great customization and most importantly its small memory footprint, Ubuntu 8.10 is easily our favorite choice as a replacement OS for anyone looking beyond Windows, especially for older machines.