Thinkpads Forum

I thought there might be some interest in the newest version of Kubuntu, and by definition the other Ubuntu flavors. I appreciate the final version is due out at the end of April but I thought I'd give the Beta a shot anyway.
In truth I wasn't expecting much as Hardy works very well but Intrepid gave my X41 all kinds of problems!
I made the transition from Ubuntu to Kubuntu because, as a Windows guy, the layout seemed more logical to me.
In any event I downloaded the Beta (Live CD) onto a 4G San Disk CF drive and in no time my machine was up and running, with the exception of having to (quickly) 'reconnect' my bluetooth mouse on every boot up, the OS works flawlessly.
I figure 20 to 30 seconds, with a password, from turn on to desktop which is very good.
The interfaces are slick and I like the fact that launching a program, Dragon Player for example, brings up a window telling you what's needed to make it run, it will then download the packages and install them for you. That part still needs work as the download failed but the idea is sound and I'm sure it will be fine in the final release. At least it gave me a complete list of the packages needed, so I simply downloaded them individually.
With development like this Linux could become a major player.
Tim S

Thanks Tim. I am ready to kick new life into some of my Thinkpads and your input is a good starting point. I will be trying it on my X41 with MTRON 32gb SSD, and looking for really fast boot times and processing speeds. LinuxMint Live CD was on my list, however, your comment about Windows experience blending with Kubuntu Jaunty altered my direction.
Thanks again, Norman

Happy to help.
But I always have my fingers crossed when it comes to anything Linux which is why I mention my laptop brand and model. It seems to me that the success or failure of any Linux distro has as much to do with the system as the operator!
Without really knowing just how Microsoft, or Mac, go about testing any new OS, I think it's fair to say that no matter how they do it they have a much larger test bed than Linux is, especially the independent distros, capable of putting together.
I also have an X40 but unlike the X41, I just couldn't get the CD/DVD dock to hot swap under any Linux disto!
It's things like that that drive me to drink but then I remind myself we are talking about free software put together by some well meaning, very smart individuals.
So I do my best to work around any errors or idiosyncrasies and thank my lucky stars that we at least have an OS choice!
Tim S