Maybe 1 out of 8 current MacBooks currently has a bizarre problem where they lock up randomly. Apple isn’t dealing with it either. (Unless you consider this to be an adequate response, that is.)

The highly respected Doc Searls says, Apple better deal with it, and quickly too, before mainstream media grabs the story and runs with it. He is advising people to look at Linux instead.

Indeed. I’d been playing with the idea of getting a MacBook but after this, will get a Linux laptop, probably from RCubed. They have multiple models and install and tweak quite a lot of extra stuff too. Here’s what they do for Ubuntu.

Is Linux geeky? Sure, but it’s is easy enough to use that most any Windows user can learn to use it quickly. For web browing and email, there is no difference (if you use FireFox and Thunderbird) and OpenOffice can do most anything Microsoft Office can, including reading Word and Excel files. The GIMP image editor is quite powerful and I’ve used it to tweak photos to post here. There’s lots of other programs like that too, plus no need to worry about spyware, viruses, and the other beasties that infest Windows.

It’s interesting using Ubuntu. On one hand it’s no different from Windows; browsing, email, all that works just the same. On the other hand, once you start digging in it, wow, there’s a wealth of stuff there. Does it take time to become a guru? Sure. But it does in Windows too. That doesn’t stop average users from getting stuff done. After using Ubuntu for several weeks now, I’ve decided it’s easier to use than Windows.

Plus it’s all free and all open source.

[tags]MacBook random shutdowns,Linux,Ubuntu[/tags]

2 Comments »