Back in March I announced I was throwing in the towel on Linux as mu primary laptop operating system. It’s strange that 7 months have passed. Windows has not been perfect during that time but it has done its job. In a couple of days, Ubuntu 8.10 will be released. I cringe at the idea but I will one again make the attempt to use Linux as my primary operating system.

Two things have changed (and one has not) and one is new.

• First, Ubuntu 8.10 is reported to be even better at hardware compatibility.
• Second, OpenOffice is reported to have better MS Office compatibility. If a recent PowerPoint presentation is any indication, the compatibility still sucks. I can only hope the file I received was OO-2.x.
• Lest I forget, there is still no Blackberry support so no matter what I do, I will need a VMware image of the RIM software for the two or three times a year when I need to reset my device and for those occasions when I need a tethered modem.
• Lastly, there is a new challenge for Ubuntu – I need support for ActivClient. They have a client but they only report working with RHEL 3 and 4 as well as Suse 9.3 and 10. I will be running Ubuntu which is based on Debian.

So, in a few days, I will take my test machine and install Ubuntu 8.10. I’m not so stupid as using my real machine for the first attempt. Give me some credit !
So, the fact I will have a small VM image is telling. Linux is still not ready for the corporate world, if for no other reason that the Blackberry *is* for the corporate world. Still, I’m crazy enough to throw myself into the breach once more.