As promised in a previous post, my next computer purchase was a netbook. I picked up my Acer Aspire One at Best Buy for $349 Canadian, and carried the two-pound machine home. It has a 10″ screen, almost the same processing power as my other laptop (a Toshiba I bought three years ago), all the most useful parts of any other laptop (USB 2.0 ports for external devices, SD Card reader for your digital media, VGA Monitor-Out so you can hook it up to a larger monitor/projector, and a 160 GB Hard Drive for all your mp3s and photos), as well as a webcam/microphone and wireless internet capability.

And because I’m a geek, I decided to nerd it up a step further. While the Acer Aspire One came with Windows XP, the first thing I did when I plugged it in was install the Linux operating system Ubuntu. Ubuntu is an open-source, community-authored, software that somewhat straddles the gap between Mac and PC functionality (it can run on PC or Mac, but the graphics, in many cases, give a PC laptop a very Mac feel). Better yet, it has a netbook specific edition that is geared specifically to the hardware found in most netbooks.

The install only took a few minutes and came with other open source software staples like Firefox for web browsing and OpenOffice for word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations. It has a wide selection of applications and makes finding new ones extremely easy. Because all the software on linux is generally free and open, searching and installing is a snap. There’s an open source counterpart to almost standard Windows program. Microsoft Office becomes OpenOffice. Photoshop becomes GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program). All file types are generally compatible, so you can import your .doc, .jpg., .avi, .mp3 and so on, without any trouble.

While Ubuntu may seem like a novelty or a hobby-type operating system for nerds. Think of it this way… Windows 7 (the latest Microsoft Operating System) costs $119 CDN for the most basic version. The latest version of photoshop sells for more thatn $600 CDN. Ubuntu and all its programs are FREE. So if you’re trying to outfit an office, or a school, or an organization with a limited budget… consider this as an alternative. It’s no harder to use than Windows, but it’s way easier to pay for.