I traded away one of my Pentium III computers for an office chair this week (don't laugh -- it's a nice chair!). I had one planned to give away, but I was having all kinds of trouble with the O/S. I found myself short a Windows 2K pro disk (the native O/S on this particular computer), and was not wanting to wait around another day to see if the hard drive had physical problems or just bad sectors.

Then it dawned on me I had not yet tried installing my copy of Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn) yet. I have had success with, and enjoyed 6.06, and ordered FF some time ago, so I figured it was time to give it a go.

Here are the system specs:

Pentium III 1 GHz processor, 40GB HD, 512mb RAM.

I loaded the O/S and was immediately impressed with the quickness of the installation. I didn't time it, but it couldn't have taken more than ten minutes to do a complete installation.

With the operating system installed, I went to check the system configuration to see what drivers needed installing. To my surprise, all drivers were properly installed, including the network adapter. With 6.06, I had to install a few drivers, but very few. This was as clean as if it were built for Linux.

Now the big test. With 6.06, I had needed to use easyubuntu to get the audio codecs to use rhythmbox music player. A VERY simple process, mind you, but a necessary one on the older O/S. So I installed a CD to give it a go. The player instantly recognized the CD, and ripping it and playing it was equally simple.

The interface for Ubuntu 7.04 is very familiar. All of the paths are basically carryovers from 6.06, and many of the utilities have a look that has one feeling right at home. Yes, there's a bit of a learning curve, but no more (and, in my opinion, probably less) than Windows XP to Windows Vista.

Summary: in the world of open source, the goal has long been to make an operating system that's "so easy, Grandma can use it". From my early experience with 7.04 and the easy "out of the box" installation that has one going from  start to surfing in under an hour, I would have to say that Feisty Fawn  has met, and possibly surpassed, that goal. While Linux is unlikely to unseat Windows anytime soon, Feisty Fawn is a very viable choice for the user who wants the up to date features of a newer operating system without the price tag or system requirements of Windows Vista. If Edgy Eft was Linux's "coming out" party, Feisty Fawn is it's debutante's ball. Feisty Fawn is a fully functional operating system, with all of the ability to compete with the big boys.