release of Ubuntu on my Thinkpad in the hopes that one day, I will be able to boot it as my primary operating system and cut the cord to Windows, particularly the need to constantly defend against viruses and spyware.

The biggest thrill of using Linux on the desktop is a sense that you can do almost anything you want—if only you can figure out how to do it. With Windows, customers are increasingly aware that its features are driven largely by what Microsoft has calculated will be good for their bottom line. Mac users, intensely loyal though they are, are basically forced to use their machines in the specific way that Apple—and even more specifically, Steve Jobs—wants them to. Although this is the Mac’s great appeal if you think like Steve does, it is also its great constraint if you do not.

In contrast, Linux is the shapeshifter of operating systems. Although Ubuntu has a certain default “out of the box” look and design, its architecture imposes very few limitations. But with power can come complexity. If Linux were a car, the ques-

and run text-based commands to accomplish things that are impossible or nonobvious through the visual desktop.

Upon installing and booting the latest Ubuntu release, things were humming along rather smoothly at first. My laptop’s wireless card was automatically detected and I was connected to the wireless network in seconds. I launched Firefox and tried playing a You Tube video. Uh oh. Flash is not installed.

You can find detailed solutions to many Linux problems online. The community really is great. But you can make a strong case that installing the Flash player—which comes pre-installed with Windows and the Mac—shouldn’t be one of the problems I needed to research.

In a matter of minutes, I found myself there again—inside a terminal window, typing commands. This car’s hood was wide open, parked on the side of the road.

My favorite feature of the latest generation of desktop Linux is the composited desktop environment, also known as a “3D desktop.” Like OS X and Windows

THE BIGGEST THRILL OF USING LINUX ON THE DESKTOP IS A SENSE THAT YOU CAN DO ALMOST ANYTHING YOU WANT—IF ONLY YOU CAN FIGURE OUT HOW TO DO IT.

tion for typical users would be how often do you need to pull over to the side of the road and pop the hood?

Whenever I try a new Linux distribution, I informally gauge its usability by noting how far I can drive it before pulling over to pop the hood. In Linux, to “pop the hood” means to drop into the terminal window

Vista, Linux can now use the accelerated rendering capabilities of modern video cards to produce enhanced visual effects. Some of these, like wobbly windows that stretch and bounce as you move them, are pure eye candy. But others, like auto-arranging windows on focus, multiple virtual desktops arranged as sides of rota-