0

I have been using Windows for my entire life and I have recently wanted to move to Ubuntu. Unfortunately, I have Windows 8.1 installed and I don't want to uninstall it because I still want to use it for gaming. Also, because I have a motherboard made for gaming (gigabyte ga-z97x-gaming), it is making it extremely difficult to disable secure boot. That is why, it is very difficult for me to dual boot Ubuntu 14.04 with Windows 8.1. However, I read that Ubuntu 15.10 solves this problem. What I am afraid of is this:

Does Ubuntu 15.10 have enough bugs to make it inappropriate for a beginner like me?

Does Ubuntu 15.10 introduce new security bugs that make it a bit unsafe for daily usage?

Thank you for any and all answers. :)

  • 1
    You should use 14.04.3 LTS for an Ubuntu beginner. – BeGood Nov 24 '15 at 16:51
  • Is it compatible with secure boot? The only reason I didn't install 14.04 is because my computer is making it very difficult for me to disable secure boot. – Reflex F.N. Nov 24 '15 at 16:56
  • From this will explain the secure boot – BeGood Nov 24 '15 at 17:00
  • You shouldn't have to disable Secure Boot, but if you can it's probably better. – TheWanderer Nov 24 '15 at 17:49
  • Have you considered trying it as a VM first? That way you can get some experience with installation and usage without needing to worry about messing anything up. – llogan Nov 24 '15 at 18:48
  • Ubuntu 14.04 is compatible with secure boot, I use it daily. If you can open the iso with something such as winzip and extract the entire contents to a blank flash drive, that should boot in uefi mode – Hellreaver Nov 24 '15 at 19:40

1 Answers1

10
  1. No. (BTW bugs are not intentional features.) Only when using a beta version should you expect major problems.

What you really should be looking for is whether or not your hardware works with Ubuntu. Check that upfront by looking online or by using the Live feature of the installer. Most hardware is fine with Linux, however, and the main problem is generally graphics. AMD and NVIDIA are usually fine (although NVIDIA does cause problems). Other graphics cards are a hit or miss. SIS (if those are still around) is crap.

Another thing to worry about is what WiFi card you have. If you have one and it's Broadcom, take a look here. You need to be somewhat comfortable with a command line to follow it.

Printers: HP is good. Most others are problematic if they're newer models (In general Linux works better on hardware that was released a while ago since some volunteer needs to add it to the hardware stack and it can take some time before someone with the necessary knowledge can get a hold of the hardware).

  1. No. Security on Linux in general is as good as it gets, and it ismuch better than how Microsoft does it. But with security it is most of the time the user that is the problem: clicking on stuff one should not click; installing stuff you should not install; etc. Our software center is wonderful in that regard: no browsing the web for software, having you end up on some obscure website. Not handing out your admin password helps a lot.

The best thing to do is to install the newest LTS version (now 14.04). That one tends to be rock solid after a few months of release and only offers the next LTS version as an upgrade path by default.

And just to make it clear: my 70 year old mother is using Ubuntu 14.04 for internet, emails, newsletters, listening to music, and watching YouTube videos. She even told me she found a very good Dutch instruction site for using Libreoffice Writer. And she brags to her friends about having a system that does not get viruses when one of them complains about Windows needing to be re-installed.

If she can use it so can you.

Rinzwind
  • 299,756
  • Did you install some variety of anti-virus on your Mother's computer? – Charles Green Nov 24 '15 at 17:06
  • 1
    No. The whole idea is to not have to. No anti-virus. No software firewall. Those are not needed on Linux. – Rinzwind Nov 24 '15 at 17:14
  • Thx - This was a bit of a side conversation, because my mother is approximately the same age, and probably slightly less computer literate than yours! – Charles Green Nov 24 '15 at 17:15
  • 1
    She asked about computers a year ago and had never even touched one before that ("well I think I do have to get a computer" was what she started with :D ) – Rinzwind Nov 24 '15 at 17:24