As of around March of this year, I have successfully switched over to Linux for my home PC – I will probably say a bit more about that in a future post – as well as at work. Specifically, I am using the Ubuntu variant (32-bit for home and the 64-bit version for work), running a Windows XP for accessing the Microsoft Office documents mainly in a free virtualisation program called Virtualbox. I must say, so far I am pretty happy with the transition. I mean, apart from a few nagging things like Java and some multimedia functions not working perfectly all the time, no issues about Windows-withdrawal… I mean, it does help that I am comfortable with UNIX/Linux since my PhD days. 🙂

Anyway, for people who are still afraid of trying Linux or free/open-source software in general, here is a list of 20 lightweight window managers that have been available for Linux for quite a few years, just to show that UNIX/Linux is not all about a blank terminal with a blinking cursor! So, why not give it a try? Or, better still, try alternative OSes using a virtualisation program such as Virtualbox.