As promised, here is the follow-up to my previous post, "Looking for a New Linux".
Fedora 16 was released three days ago and I've been experimenting with it in both the GNOME 3.2 interface and the XFCE interface. While GNOME is definitely pretty, it leaves a lot to be desired. The desktop, for instance, is a massive no-man's land where you can't put a icon. To do anything at all, you have to click the "Activities" button at the upper left corner of the screen, which activates a side bar reminiscent of Mac OS X's Dock. I have to agree with its many critics, including Linus Torvalds himself, who characterized it as an "unholy mess". In my opinion, the interface places form over function to such an extent that it's practically useless. This problem is only exacerbated by the fact that you can't customize the interface at all. It's even more locked down that Mac OS X and not nearly as user friendly.
The XFCE interface, on the other hand, is a lot better. I first experimented with Fedora 16 with XFCE and felt immediately at home, both because it bears a close resemblence to GNOME 2.x, but it also felt a little Mac-like at the same time.
Fedora 16 XFCE had a sort of glitchy startup, which required my intervention to solve, so I found myself thinking toward Ubuntu, but I wasn't completely sold on the Unity interface. Eventually, I realized I could have the best of both worlds with Xubuntu 11.10, which is the latest Ubuntu with XFCE.
Pronounced "zoo-BOON-too," Xubuntu offers the a highly customizable, yet user friendly interface that's light on system resources, yet retains the best of Ubuntu's user friendly features. And with just a few mouse clicks, I was able to make it look a lot like Mac OS X. All I can say is "Honey, I'm home!"
Now here's the crazy part: This system is so user friendly, the installer gives you access to the Web while the operating system is installing. Believe it or not, I'm actually typing this on my HP laptop as the operating system installs!
Update: 11/16/2011
So I've had Xubuntu installed on my HP laptop for almost a week now and all I can say is I love it. I've never felt as at home with any Linux distribution. I've always found Linux to be usable but it often took an effort to enjoy it. This time, it's different. Granted, it's not as slick as Mac OS X, but it also isn't nearly as frustrating as Windows. I feel like I have control and that's a good thing. The important part is I can use it without thinking about what operating system I'm on. I just do what feels natural and intuitive and most of the time it just works. I've always believed alternatives are a good thing, and this is definitely a good alternative; in fact, this is as close as I've found to what I've envisioned as my ideal Linux. It's not perfect by any means, but then what system is? The bottom line is when I'm using it, I'm focusing on the task at hand and not some quirk of the operating system.
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