Can anyone explain the appeal of Ubuntu for me? It's not that fast, it's not easy to use, interface can be hard on the eyes, and I managed to crash it while trying out screensavers.
Sure. I use it for a couple of reasons:
1. I often have to ssh and use remote X tunneling, and both of those are conveniently there. (though there are ways to get it on Windows, but not for free)
2. The interface is pretty minimalist and intuitive, and on my computer runs faster than Windows XP . I especially like the multiple virtual desktop switcher.
3. Easy to use is subjective. I feel that while it is different from Windows and MacOS, it is as easy to pick up either of them.
4. Easier to do software development on it, in my opinion.
5. More of an advanced feature, but if you don't like the way something is, you can probably change it. Things like the desktop/window manager used (Gnome vs KDE vs others).
6. Most non-3d Windows software (and some but not all 3d stuff) runs well under WINE. DX7 games run fine, but more modern stuff is a more hit or miss affair. Unless the game is written in openGL instead of DirectX (
).
The above points are common to all Linux dstributions- the one most Ubuntu specific is ease of use.
To be fair, a couple of the downsides:
1. Nobody writes games for Linux.
(except for a few like UT and Doom)
2. Some software can be somewhat hard to install.