Windows has always been the dominate player in the operating system market, however now a completely free alternative is becoming more mainstream. This review is not meant to be a complete overview, but rather some observations from my personal experience.
Basic installation is now easier then Windows, it can be install as an application in windows, making it even easier to install and uninstall when dual booting with windows. Installing and finding applications is quick and easy because Ubuntu has a vast library of free software that is only one click away. Everything is modular, even the GUI can be uninstalled, in fact the Server edition and Desktop edition, are only different because they have different default modules on installation. The GUI is great, it supports multiple desktops, which keeps running programs very organized...great for multitaskers! For windows there is a program that adds similarly functionality, but it’s much slower.
The web support forums and tutorials I found are mainly command line solutions, maybe because it’s easier to write -tell users just to paste some commands- or just that the people who know enough to answer questions or write tutorials prefer command line. For those of us who prefer clicking around a GUI we may find this a downside of Ubuntu. Also since drivers are mostly closed source getting the right drivers installed may be a challenge. Setting up support for things like dual monitor support is hardware dependent, and thus requires research for each device.
