Right. I was a bit tired and annoyed when I wrote about my new installation of Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon). I did have problems which made me re-install Ubuntu about 20 times, although in the end I was able to use my computer. However, as I tried to fine-tune my system to make it more performant, to my horror (ok, just annoyance), it's performance started deteriorate. When I drag windows, they would lag and leave trailing marks all over the screen, when I open an application, they would appear 3-4 seconds after I launched it, and so on. No desktop effects were enabled, nor was it possible.
However, I figured these all were caused by my graphics card (Radeon X1650 Pro AGP). More precisely, it was to do with the driver issue. Ubuntu couldn't configure my graphics card properly, and ATI didn't provide the right driver (or it might have been just me being ignorant not knowing how to configure it manually, but hey, I never claimed to be a seasoned linux user).
And so, I gave a last shot, I removed my X1650, and put back in my old card, Radeon 9250. It's a lower-end graphics card, but I was hoping that Ubuntu would be able to recognise it properly and also the driver supported. And I re-installed Gutsy again.
Gutsy recognised the driver, and all the previous display-related issues and performance issues disappeared. Amazing. Nice.
With desktop effects enabled, Gutsy Gibbon truly looks pristine, and the system responds promptly. I have to say that I am quite happy with this OS now, and it is growing on me as I use it more.
Now, after seeing me using Gutsy Gibbon for a few days, even Hank (my housemate) is willing to give it a try on his Virus-infected (no, not just infected, *infested*) computer. Great!
No comments:
Post a Comment