Wednesday, 15th October 2008, 6 Comments »
The great Ubuntu experiment
Is Ubuntu ready for the unsuspecting masses? Well kinda, but not really..
Many months ago, some very non-tech savvy friends where having trouble with their computer. Being someone that does ‘IT stuff’ meant I got called to help out their failing machine. What I found was a Windows XP machine riddled with malware, virus and who knows what else. Knowing it was going to be more trouble than it was worth to fix it, I decided on a bold move, replace it with Ubuntu.
The happy couple had never heard of Linux, let alone Ubuntu, before. Their experience with other operating systems other than Windows based machines was a couple of five minute plays with my mac to checkout something online a few years ago. I decided at the onset not to mention that their ‘replacement’ machine would be running an operating system other than windows.
Typical usage
The happy couple have their one and only PC connected to their large flat screen TV in the living room, and use a bluetooth keyboard/mouse. They have broadband, but they only turn the PC on when they’re using it, which is only a few times a week, and then their usage is pretty limited to between half and hour to an hour a session. They surf the web, which consists mainly of TradeMe and YouTube, use Picasa and email.
A fortunate user test
Once I did the standard Ubuntu install, which went painlessly, I procrastinated a bit on getting everything finished up, which was fortunate. The happy couple dropped by one weekend and wanted to check their email and do a few things on the web, so I let me loose on their new Ubuntu machine. They failed miserably at even finding Firefox to begin with, and in hindsight I’m glad I didn’t mention it was their machine.
A quick fix
What I realised from this impromptu (and complete unscientific) user test was that the first steps a typical user needs to take in Ubuntu still aren’t good enough for every day people. There was no way I could drop the happy couple a default Ubuntu machine and expect them to pick it up on their own without major support from me. The only course of action was to customise, and in a direction that felt a little wrong. Using Avant Window Navigator and some of the theme stuff from Mac4Lin I hoped I could fill the gaps for the majority of the issues I observed.
In conclusion
Several months later and the happy couple love their new machine, it’s stable, fast and other than the odd glitch (Flash in Firefox sometimes doesn’t work), they are really happy with Ubuntu. I’m not saying that installing Ubuntu is easier than XP, the vast majority of people will never see this step. But if the same effort that went into the install process could be directed into the usability of the desktop, maybe in a few years Linux will be ready for the mainstream.
6 Comments to “The great Ubuntu experiment”
“What I realised from this impromptu (and complete unscientific) user test was that the first steps a typical user needs to take in Ubuntu still aren’t good enough for every day people.”
I think the problem is not that it’s not good enough or that it’s too hard. It’s just different. And people aren’t used to something different. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to be different. Once people get used to the difference it won’t be any harder to use than XP.
I’ve converted a few Windows users to Linux and find that the transition is far less traumatic if I start them off with KDE. PCLinusOS or Linux Mint are excellent choices. The average Windows user scarcely notices the change.
“great ubuntu experiment”, huh?
I’m not sure if you know, but people don’t learn OS’s magically, out of the blue. You give a person any type of tool, you’ll explain how to use it to them - same with an OS.
It’s different, so don’t be an ass and make them figure it out.
It would be nice to know what ‘improvements’ you made to Ubuntu’s default — my first step would be KDE — that closed the gaps that you saw. Also, what gaps did you see that needed fixing?
I’ve got no problem with different, different is great! But from the onset the interface should be intuitive enough that finding how to launch a web browser isn’t a major hassle that requires help from someone who knows. These people don’t have the time, or the inclination, to ‘learn’ a new operating system, they view computers like household appliances, not tools. The interface needs to be stupidly, stupidly easy.
KDE is likely an easier transition from Windows, and I’m sure there are plenty of reasons why the Ubuntu team didn’t make it the default.
Other than a strong ‘launch point’, like the dock or windows start bar, one thing I observed was they totally missed the off button in the main tool bar. They hunted around for a good 5 minutes and eventually found the option under system.
I did something similar in 2005 with my wife, who was a non-tech user.
http://linux-blog.org/experiment-the-distro-roundup/
Ubuntu fell on its face. It was one of the lowest rated of all the distros.
So…you should try said new user test using a KDE based distro like MEPIS or PCLinuxOS and see what happens.