FreshUbuntu

[update] - I have found a couple of sites that offer some hope and even better an explanation to why I can't enable the effects.

• Video referencing Intel on board graphics being blacklisted and how to fix it
• The site for the script that is also referenced in the video.

      So, I downloaded a copy of the latest Ubuntu codenamed Jaunty Jackalope and installed it over the weekend just for giggles.  Even though I am the type who usually waits until all the bugs are ironed out.  I just couldn't help myself!  This was an exciting release, besides, I could possibly have my Wacom tablet back!  Jaunty promised that I would not have to mess with the compiling and installing the driver and editting the XORG file all while tapping my heels three times and reciting an incantation in Old English to get it to work.  All that followed by weeping and gnashing of teeth due to a corrupted XORG file, darn my rusty Old English.  So I went over to the download section for the new release at Ubuntu's website and decided to use the bittorrent option for downloading the new release.  Just one word about bittorent - AWESOMENESS!!!  Now historically I have downloaded the past releases by getting the image directly from the Ubuntu servers, and, as you might expect, downloading a 700mb file during peak traffic can be slow but with bittorrent the file downloaded in about 30 minutes using a fairly fast DSL line.  Moving right along, I burned the image to a cd and prepared the partition on my laptop.  Here are the specs in a nutshell:

Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU     T5450  @ 1.66GHz
2 Gig of RAM
250 GB HDD
Integrated Graphics - Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller Intel Corporation

    Nothing spectacular, just a decent working laptop that I can get some work done.  The multimedia experience is decent at least in the Vista partition that I sometimes use but sadly this is not a gaming machine.

    I proceeded to prepare the partition by first backing up the necessary data that I use on a daily basis and using the partition manager that came with Vista no less, I deleted the prior release of Ubuntu codenamed Intrepid Ibex because I like to do fresh installs.  Nothing beats a fresh install of any operating system, Ubuntu or otherwise.  This is, after all, The Fresh Ubuntu Website:)

    As I mentioned before - I bought a Wacom Bamboo Fun Tablet about a year ago and managed to get it installed on Hardy Heron when that release came out.  The instructions were easy and compiling wasn't that big of a deal that is if you are into that kind of thing.  I throw in the obligatory, "and there is nothing wrong with that:)".  It worked beautifully until a linux kernal header upgrade after which I would have to reinstall the driver all over again.  Again, no problem since I consider myself to be a more mature user who realizes drawbacks of proprietary drivers.  By the time Intrepid came around I gave up on the tablet even though it worked somewhat as a plug n' play device on it.  Meaning, I could only use the pen device on an absolute position layout.  The mouse that came along with the tablet didn't work without having to delve into the XORG file.

    Now to the meaty part, I installed Jaunty on the partition without problems.  No surprise there, although I did like the option to boot up without login which was new to me.  This is a welcome change because one less thing I have to change is one less Google search I have to worry about if you know what I mean.  And, once installed, like any user familiar with linux distros I set out to customize my "user experience".  I changed the theme to the Dust theme provided in the new installation and also changed the wallpaper to the nice little Bokeh number instead of the default Vista-ish one.  I plugged in the Wacom tablet and, drum roll please....it worked!! 100%  The mouse, the pen, everything!  I was so relieved to see this.  Thanks you developers for having this done I am going to keep my fingers crossed until the next kernal update and see if it holds.  One lusty feature down and one more to go - I went over to the appearances section and tried to enable desktop effects but got an unusual popup that said I couldn't do it.  WHAT????!!!!  Let me pause here for a second to give you the score - 1 Fresh Ubuntu Installation, 0 Google searches - up until I tried to enable Compiz.  

    So, I am off to see the wizard, I mean Google to search for a solution to the Compiz issue the score is now even.  It brings me to several billion pages of possibilities and like any good Googler I pop up the second and third entry.  Why not the first you say, well in short I hate to be disappointed or spammed and there is less expectation with the entries immediately after the first.  I never did like the "Feeling Luck" button, it's just It took me to a forum page and a launchpad page and both gave a convoluted solution about rolling back the XORG driver to the old one and if that doesn't work then roll it back and wait.  Hmmm.

    Meanwhile, I can wait til a better solution evolves as these things often do in much less time than it takes "other" operating systems.  Overall, my initial experiences with Jaunty is overwhelmingly positive.  I've already downloaded my favorite applications and "accessorized" as much as I could and can say without a shadow of a doubt this can easily replace XP and Vista.  Well done Ubuntu.