New Computer, New OS.

So I bought the tiny computer, and I installed Ubuntu Eee on it.

The computer is indeed cute. Combined with the cutest of the new Gmail Themes (Tea House, awww), it is almost criminally adorable. Overall, I am quite pleased with it. It is both more powerful and more portable than the laptop it replaces. Its only flaw, as far as I'm concerned, is the increased eyestrain I get from trying to read smaller fonts on its screen. I suspect there are ways around this, but that will take a bit of research and experimentation. In the meantime, I'm quickly losing what little love I had remaining for tiny-fonted websites like Yahoo! Mail and Bloglines (and am already making the transition to Google Reader, though I'm not ready to invite all the clutter at my Yahoo account over to Happy Gmail Land).

Figuring out how to install Ubuntu was a challenge -- not because of any flaw in the software, but because nobody mentioned that the default Windows CD-burning software won't burn you a bootable disk. Hmm. Wonder why Microsoft left that feature out? Also, Windows booted so dang fast on the thing that I kept missing my microsecond of opportunity to get into the BIOS. So my weekend went kind of like this*:
*highly abridged

ME: F2! F2 F2 F2!
WINDOWS: Hello!
ME: Look, I'm trying to boot to an external drive here, do you mind?
[REBOOT]
ME: F2 F2 F2 F2 F...
WINDOWS: Hello!
ME: What am I doing wrong here?
WINDOWS: Where would you like to go today?
ME: Hush, you. Maybe I was using a faulty CD?
[BURN NEW CD AND REBOOT]
ME: F2 F2 F2!
WINDOWS: Hello!
ME: Augh! Maybe the new burner I got is not working. I'll try burning this on the old laptop. Good thing its keyboard is miraculously working again!
[BURN NEW CD AND REBOOT]
ME: F2 F2 F2!
WINDOWS: Hello!
ME: Borscht! Frarble! I sure won't miss you when you're gone, Windows. But you seem awfully reluctant to say goodbye. Could it be that you are secretly foiling my attempts to burn a bootable disk? I wouldn't put it past you.
[TO GOOGLE] How do I burn an ISO disk?
GOOGLE: Different software you need. Here, free it is.
ME: Ha! Now we're talking. Take that, Windows!
[BURN NEW CD AND REBOOT]
ME: F2 F2 F2 EFFITY TWOOOOO it's not working why isn't it working aaaOH MY GOSH IT'S WORKING!
UBUNTU: Hi! I'm your new best friend!
[ANGELS SING]

And we all lived happily ever after.

Some of you might think I must be super geeky to be using Linux now, but I confess I have yet to use the command line. I haven't needed to yet at all. The graphic interface is super intuitive, and also, really pretty. So far, it's been a lot easier to use than Windows -- and it lets me call the shots, instead of getting all Gates knows best on me.

Granted, I'm still in the early exploratory phase, but the only sign of geekiness I've really encountered so far is the screen savers. Sooo many screen savers. There is one for almost every flavor of geek. There are 3D models of engines and gears for the engineering geeks, molecular structures for the chemistry geeks, Matrix-themed screensavers and flying toasters for the retro-geek-culture geeks. Fractals for the math geeks. Chess-themed screensavers, Moebius strips, galaxies spinning outward, cells that divide and die. Mesmerizing patterns with names like "3D Hypertorus" and "StonerView." I am particularly enamored of the one with the fireworks with colors that glint off the ground and overcast sky as the camera flies around and through them. Remember those first fireworks screensavers, the ones made of monochrome ASCII characters? Yeah. That's why it's so great.