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Thread ID: 120619	2011-09-17 06:26:00	Transitioning from Windows to Linux. Woohoo!	baabits (15242)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1231884	2011-09-17 06:26:00	We've just completed our transition project at work, moving 200 XP & 2000 desktops to Ubuntu 11.04. What sparked it? Well, the biggest moving factor was the cost of upgrading to Windows 7- Thanks to most of our systems being P4's/Celeron Machines, the costs to upgrade to Windows 7 were huge when new hardware was taken into account. This route, plus upgrading every machine to a minimum of 2GB RAM + new LCD monitors has meant that we can now phase out the other pieces of hardware over time without having to worry about getting everything done in budget before 2014. We've had feedback coming in that they all feel like new machines. I'm still absolutley rapt with the speed difference. We're now a 200 Linux Happy Box Company + 10 Macs for the design department :D Went absolutely swimmingly and we (the IT department at least) are delighted with the results. I'm wondering though, have any other businesses faced with a similar challenge considered making the switch? And what limitation factors have you found if you have? The biggest one I expected was Software Compatibility, though it turns out that this concern turned out to be the easiest part of the switch thanks to co-ordinated training sessions with OpenOffice before we began the transition. Since we never upgraded to Office 2007, most of our users had no problems adapting to it. However, we're yet to discover the biggest problem- Lets hope that we don't! (It was such a great feeling when we finished the last box yesterday that I just had to write about it somewhere :P) Have a great weekend guys	baabits (15242)
1231885	2011-09-17 06:31:00	That would be a busy job installing a new OS on the machines. How did the users cope with a new OS (apart from OpenOffice)? Did you have to provide training on where to save files etc and use email? Were they open to change?	Jen (38)
1231886	2011-09-17 06:42:00	Well done baabits :thumbs:	Gobe1 (6290)
1231887	2011-09-17 06:46:00	Yes it was, fitting in with everyone's schedules was the most difficult part So far we haven't had too many complaints- We gave department-by-department tutorials and the majority of people seemed to catch on pretty quickly. The most popular question was "is copy still called copy" and so far the only question I've had is where is the create shortcut button (It's a link in ubuntu). Most people have began to utilise the sidebar, dragging in their favourite folders. A lot actually prefer it over what XP offered (the standard, uneditable sidebar) as they have almost instant access to their favourite folders. We've transitioned Exchange to Zimbra and the majority of users found their way around Evolution with no problems after being given a quick tour. It's very, very similar to Outlook 2003. Thankfully we were able to do most of the training within one session per department in a lecture style and most people were quite grateful for this. I think people have really appreciated the speed difference over Windows and this has led to a 'get used to it attitude' for most staff. Before, XP boxes had P4 2.4GHz + 1GB RAM and they now have 2GB, which would have made a big difference on any machine. But hey, going to a 25sec boot time and nearly instantaneous application startup times would probably convince most average users anyway.	baabits (15242)
1231888	2011-09-17 07:27:00	Well done on the migration! Those startup times are impressive - where I am contracting at the moment, my client is running an XP environment for everyone and there is a 'hotdesk' arrangement where most people can sit anywhere (in practice people tend to sit in the same place every day), but this means that laptops must be put away in a locker (or taken home) each day - a clear desk policy . Which means everyone shutting down their laptops between 4:50 and 5:05 every day, swamping the server that stores that roaming profiles (don't get me started - why would you need a roaming profile with a laptop!??) and causing shutdown times of around ten minutes (20MB profiles) . The same thing happens at the start of each day (to a lesser extent) . I have amended my profile on my laptop so that its a local one (HDD failure be damned! How often does that happen?!) so my startup/shutdown times are reduced somewhat, and have taken to putting the laptop to sleep, rather than shutting it down anyway . Even so, just setting up my workstation every day and packing up every night, sucks about 30+ minutes of productivity out of each day . Madness! And multiply that by the (large) number of people having to do the same thing!!!! Someone in HR who made the decision, needs to be given a rocket!	johcar (6283)
1231889	2011-09-17 09:50:00	Nice going! I dumped Vista for Ubuntu (10.10 at the time but now running 11.04), and haven't looked back. I've fired up Vista maybe a handful of times, now it's about as pleasant as being beaten over the head. Did you go for Unity or GNOME?	ubergeek85 (131)
1231890	2011-09-17 10:39:00	Hmmm, non-LTS release ... 6 monthly upgrades planned for?	fred_fish (15241)
1231891	2011-09-17 10:51:00	oh my god let me know how cost effective this ends up being ( have to excuse me but 200 users moving to lyniux who knows how to use lyniux i can build a system from scratch including stripping and building a Microsoft operating system faster than i can install flash player in ubuntu and i am not a stupid person.) p.s. just using up my post woohoo post 10 may be i can edit my profile... p.p.s being a Microsoft techie there is a reason lyniux is a free os hehehehe sorry but really	milkster1976 (16554)
1231892	2011-09-17 11:35:00	There is also a reason why MS support is such a huge industry ;)	fred_fish (15241)
1231893	2011-09-17 11:47:00	yeah its called having the largest customer base in the world, I guess that would require one or two people lol ( i just think its funny that most new zealand industry find it a better option to hide there problems rather than pay to have them fixed properly ) personally i believe lyniux should be left to pro users the guys hiding at home under a blankets ) the only time i ever use lyniux is in a emergency data recovery scenario or password reset, i am sorry i have just been warned that the cost of installation ends up being overwhelmed by cost of time in user training and lack of application or driver support	milkster1976 (16554)
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