This is where Mgestyk comes into play. Not only has Mgestyk successfully created a working prototype, you can even sign up for their waiting list already! Well, unfortunately for us it’s nothing as fancy as Tom Cruise’s interface or Robert Downey Jr’s toy, but hey it’s still quite a cool concept isn’t it?

There’s a video on youtube that they hosted which shows off what it is capable of. From Guitar Hero to Flight Simulator to Firefox, Mgestyk’s gesture control can do quite a lot of things. However, it does look quite clumsy and there’s a slight lag in response. Of course, it’s not out yet so these small issues might be attended to by the time it is launched. Anyway, here’s the video!

The first thing you notice about Ubuntu when you start it up is the color. It’s not cloudy blue like XP, smooth white like OSX nor even solid black like Vista. Instead what you get is milky orange. I believe that’s the closest description of the color I can come to. Keep in mind of course that I’m talking about Ubuntu 8.04. I’m not sure what other versions look like.

Now, after getting used to the change in color I had to get used to the user interface itself. Instead of the XP start button I get the Ubuntu Icon, Places and System.

The Ubuntu Icon opens up a menu similar to Windows XP’s “Start > All Programs” menu. Except in this case, all installed programs are automatically categorized into groups such as Accessories, Games, Graphics, Internet, Office etc.

Places is similar to the Windows Explorer except that it doesn’t open up a new window. It shows a drop down menu of your main folders and such. Clicking on one of it would open up a new window that I believe would be the Ubuntu version of Windows Explorer.

System on the other hand is “Control Panel” in a drop down menu form. Pretty straight forward isn’t it?

Oh! I forgot to mention that Ubuntu has the taskbar on the top of the screen. It has another one at the bottom of the screen that serves to show the applications you have running and the number of “Desks” that you have running. These “Desks” are just multiple instances of your desktop. It’s good because your computer is less cluttered. You can put certain applications in certain desks to conserve space.

One really annoying thing for me is the sudden change of shortcuts. I’m used to windows shortcuts. I almost never use the start menu anymore thanks to Launchy and shortcuts. But with Ubuntu, most of the shortcuts I’m used to are rendered useless. And that’s just really tough and confusing for me. I feel crippled!

I’m unsure about this, but right now I have to go through some serious updating for Ubuntu. I think it’s probably similar to Windows XP, so no complaints there. However, I find it slightly annoying that Ubuntu does not allow me to run multiple instances of the installer. Meaning, as I’m updating I can’t install other programs I’ve just downloaded. I’m sure there are ways around it, I just don’t know them yet so it’s getting on my nerves.

Before I end this post and go back to updating and exploring Ubuntu (which overall is quite a pleasant experience) I’d like to say that the most impressive thing about Ubuntu so far is the security. When I tried to open my NTFS-formatted “Media” partition, it asked for my password. When I tried to change my computer settings, it asked for my password. There’s the option for it to remember the response of course. But I feel that it’s quite a good thing that they have this. It’s definitely better than Windows Vista’s UAC where all it does is asks for confirmation instead of authentication.

Anyway, back to Ubuntu updating!

A question to the readers.

What Operating System is the computer you’re using running on? Windows, Mac or Ubuntu?

Chances are it’s Windows. As popular as Mac may be getting, at the end of the day Mac users are but a very small percentage. There’s another operating system that quite a decent number of people use as well, but it’s generally unpopular because it’s not a “Brand-name” like Mac OSX and it’s rarely distributed with computers.

The operating system I’m talking about is the Ubuntu.

I’m going to skip all those technical details because after all, that’s why they’re called “technical details”. This isn’t a tech-focused site anyway.

Ubuntu’s an open-source operating system, meaning it’s not meant for profit and people are free to edit and change the system so that it better suits them. It’s because of this that there are many variations of Ubuntu floating out in the market. Some of them come packaged in a computer, some are geared towards education etc. I’m not too sure about this, but I was told that there are no viruses for the Ubuntu Operating System as well.

As far as I know (and I’ve read quite a lot) the Ubuntu OS is generally quite performance efficient. Meaning your computer will probably perform quite fast with it. The downside to Ubuntu is that there are a number of softwares that are not supported on it such as iTunes. Most games do not run on it as well even though there are workabouts using W.I.N.E (acronym for Wine Is Not an Emulator). That’s another software for another day.

Today I received my free copy of Ubuntu 8.04.1 LTS (Long-Term Support) Desktop Edition. I ordered the CD online about 3 weeks ago and received it today. I’m hesitant to replace WinXP with Ubuntu because I’m used to XP. But I’d like to test it out and see if it’s suitable for me.

Which brings me to why I ordered the CD to begin with. I can boot from the CD (meaning starting my computer using the CD’s OS instead of my HDD’s WinXP) and just try it out. When I’m done and want to return to WinXP I just restart. No changes done at all.

I plan to try that soon. I just got the disc and have been busy with other things so I’ve not gotten around to testing out Ubuntu yet. After I’ve tested it out I’ll be sure to write a post on it. So for now, just an explanation of sorts about Ubuntu.

For those interested in getting Ubuntu to try it out themselves, check here for the disc image version or here to order it online for free (shipping is free too!)