Linux is not Windows. Nothing in it works like Windows does when it comes to certain hardware. To watch media like You Tube I recommend using the adobe flash player plugin along with every other plugin they have available. The Operating system I am writing about is UBUNTU 8.04 with the 2.6.24 kernel. The kernel is important because of what I am going to get into later. The operating system picked up my moniter,cdrw drive,dvdrw drive on both my laptop=Panasonic CF-48, and Desktop=IBM M-41. It picked up my modem and my wireless router automatically also. What Linux has a big problem with is cheap printers like my Lexmark Z645 and most Wireless cards including built in wireless. What I am trying to say is that on a land line everything works automatically. Wireless takes some work. After working on my wireless problem for about a week I finally achieved success. I now have the laptop working wirelessly with linux. Posting in linux forums sadly didn't give me much help. Ubuntu community forum is hit and miss because it is swamped with people posting there problems from around the world. LinuxForums.org showed me more attention to my problem and 1 guy tried really hard to be helpful but in the end I had to plod along on my own to resolve my wireless connection problem. Now I can happily say the only thing that I use Windows for is for my printer which is no big deal. If I could figure out a program called ndiswrapper which allows windows drivers to run in Linux I could probably get the printer to work to. Oh well that will be another week long project and right now its easier to boot into windows when I need to use it. Ok, I was going to say why the kernel is important. When I went to intel to see about a driver for my intel wireless 2915 chip (which is a very common wireless chip in laptops of all brands) the intel install read me doc. stated they're driver was only compatible with Linux kernel 2.6.8+ which means .8 on up and since mine ended with .24 I was safe. You see what I mean. Linux is not Windows. Right clicking an exe. file or install file more likely than not won't get you no where. The only way to get any thing done or installed besides going through synaptic package manager or apt get manager (which are easy to do. you just click the box for whatever software you want to install from a list
that is 25,014 long.that is individual free software,boy thats alot of software) is to go to Applications>Terminal>open the Terminal and start entering command lines. Computer geek to most of us regular users. All over the internet there are command text for most everything. Trouble is its wrote by geeks who assume you know what they are talking about and get upright indignant when you ask them "HUH". Linux is not Windows.There is no such thing as an exe. file for linux. It comes in either a rpm format or a tar format. To install one of those files or drivers depending on what you downloaded from the internet requires that you open a terminal and get aquainted with your inner child and turn him or her into a semi-geek.

So any of you that wishes to take the plunge,realize that Linux is not Windows. I am semi literate in computer geek when it comes to these operating systems and any of you in this forum just ask and I'll try to help. I found all my answers painstakinly cruzen the internet looking for people that had come close or exactly to having the same problem as me. If I can;t give you an answer directly I'll point you to a link that does and maybe between the 2 or 4 of us we can interpet what the hell The VODOO incantations need to be done in Terminal to get ya up and running. I have posted in previous posts on how to dual boot in Linux so you can keep Windows or Mac depending on your tastes.So have fun and remember "Linux is not Windows"

Nope! Linux is Not Windows.
Thank goodness.
LOL!!

To clarify some points in your post.
You say that you are using a Lexmark printer and Ubuntu didn't recognize it.
This is due to Lexmark's reluctance to support or provide driver info to the Linux community. So don't blame Linux. Instead yell at Lexmark for being so Mule Headed!
If you want to use a good printer that is fully supported in Linux, I would suggest an HP printer. You can find new printers for under $100 that work very well.

As to kernel versions? Most new software and techniques such as the NDISwrapper require newer kernels that have more features built into them.
If you look up when kernel version 2.6.4 was released you would see that it was released in August, 2004. Not many Linux distros can even be found that are this old. So that worry is unfounded.

Installing software can be done in many ways.
You can use the command line from the terminal using the apt-get method.
You can install from the Add/Remove entry in the Applications menu.
Synaptic is another way and by using the Search feature you can quicly find what you want.
If the software you want is not listed in Synaptic or the Menu you can go to the developer's page and grab the source code and compile and install it. And it's easier then you think.
Or you can see if a .deb package is available for the software. Since Ubuntu is based on Debian, it can use the Debian .deb packages to install software. This is prefered over installing from source code as it looks at any dependency problems and includes those files during the install process.

RPM packages are mainly used for Fedora or Red Hat distros but they can be used in Ubuntu if you have the Alien package manager software installed. I've used this a few times with moderate success.

New users rarely need to open the terminal and type in commands for normal every day usage. The only time it may be needed is to add unsupported repositories to give the user access to other software. And even the need to type it in is optional as you can copy and paste the commands needed from the web page into the terminal.

I also find that my needs for XP is very minimal to non-existent and I am a power user. I am into graphics, music creation, office apps and much more.
Most of the time when I do need XP is either due to helping other XP users with problems or I need a proprietary program that has no Linux alternative.

Rather the needing to reboot my computer and log into XP I have instead installed XP into VirtualBox on my Linux system.
I also have Suse, Damn Small Linux, Puppy Linux and NimbleX Linux installed in this manner. That way I have a wealth of O.S.'s at my finger tips and still have my base system available at all times.

I'm sorry you had a bad experience with Ubuntu. But one requirement to a successful install is to do some reading of the documentation first.
There is a wealth of documentation on Ubuntu's site that also deals with how to install software and drivers.

I'm not trashing your post. Instead I need to correct some errors and misconceptions on your part.
And I hope that you give Ubuntu or another distro a try again.
The key to it all is to forget everything you learned about Windows and start out as a new user like you did when you first used Windows.
Only then will you find how powerful and refreshing Linux can be.

Good luck!

TaZMAn

First of all Tazman, WELCOME TO THE FORUM. I wtote this post ages ago when first getting into Ubuntu. Since then I got the printer going in Ubuntu. Glad you are here, I have been like the Lone Ranger Linux user trying to help out other users in this forum. I am not a techy nerd type, but just a old outlaw biker using Linux. I now Run Hardy,and Nimble X and Damn Small Linux on antiquated gear by these forum standards. but my stuff runs, just like my old Harleys. Aint the fastest, but I get to where I'm going.

Thanks for the Welcome.
Glad to hear you got it sorted out.
I also hope that I can be of some assistance with Linux help.
Not a pro by any stretch of the imagination but have been an on and off Linux user for about 5 years now.
Finally made the full switch about 2 years ago.

I still find it amazing that you can get a full OS installed and running on antique systems. Makes me wonder why anyone would need to buy a new computer!

I did a review of NimbleX on my blog and right now have links to a small iso that you burn to a Cd that has both DSL and Puppy on it as a multiboot disk.

Glad I found this forum and hope to be a useful member. Just don't call me Tonto! LOL!


TaZMAn

Nice write up. I have Ubuntu loaded on my stand alone pc, runs great except when the bugger locks up randomly o.O

Hi hougstar,
Do you notice a certain pattern or task you are doing when it locks up?
You can go to the /var/log folder and check the logs for possible errors.
Most notable are the daemon, kern, messages, syslog and user logs.
You usually can find what the culprit is by looking through them.