New Computer, New Operating System

New Computer, New Operating System

Last week, after seven years of steady, reliable service, my computer finally went the way of all silicon. After a few hiccups that demonstrated its situation, it simply stopped working. It was time to get a new one whether I wanted to or not.

After consulting with D., my fantastic computer technician (who works here; I recommend the company highly), we decided that instead of putting the Windows 7 pre-release version on my new machine, we’d go with Ubuntu. Since I’d been wanting to try Ubuntu for a long time, I was quite pleased.

I still am. Indeed, D. said that out of the sixty-odd people for whom he’s installed Ubuntu over the years, none of them has asked to have it removed. So I guess I have joined the ranks of satisfied Ubuntu users.

I’ve been learning a lot through trial and error—mostly error. But that’s how I’ve acquired almost every computer-related skill I’ve learned since I graduated college, just when personal computers were starting to become popular. I remember the first Macs that required startup discs, and back when 100K was a large amount of storage space. And I remember how, when I worked in secretarial jobs for a temp firm, I picked up programs like Einstein, WordPerfect, WordMill, QText and other similar ones on the job, because I had to.

And here’s the funny thing. Back then, I was a complete technophobe, a Luddite if there ever was one. I still have traces of that—I make my own soap and laundry soap, for example, and go with handmade, reusable items wherever possible.

Still, I cherish the computer skills that I have, and hope to increase them. (GIMP, here I come!)

Thank you, D. the Fantastic Computer Guy. Long live Ubuntu!