Contributor diablo75

Basic Info -->
80 GB SATA hd NTFS windows xp on 70+ GB .. 1 gb swap, 4 gbs ext3 ubuntu ... [trying linux for first time]

I accidentally deleted a folder on c:\ .. it totally disappeared .. did not go to trash can .. #ubuntu said that it happened because the folder was on NTFS windows partition .. I understand that NTFS and linux does not go hand in hand but if something is not going to trash can, a warning should pop up .. it would be useful to warn a user about total non-recoverable deletion of files.

Thank you

Ubuntu's bootloader is a stark black and white screen, filled with confusing options. It gives newbies a moment of indecision, as they try to figure out if they are supposed to choose something, and wonder why there are three or four Ubuntus listed. Then the timer finishes counting down (starting from 10), and the newb begins to feel like he's getting in over his head as his PC boots into Ubuntu.

Too much information up front, stark text-only display, painfully long countdown timer. What would be the alternative? Well, when a Fedora PC is booted up, the first thing the user sees is a graphical splash screen, and "Booting into Fedora (kernel version) in 4 seconds ... " The user can press a key to interrupt and select from kernel versions or alternative operating systems, or just let it boot into Fedora.

Can't we create our own attractive bootloader? Or, failing that, copy-and-paste Fedora's?

All I can say is that I've seen Mouse Keys seemingly enable itself (although probably through a keyboard shortcut I'm unaware of). No onscreen notification, no auditory notification currently exists when the mode is toggled. There really should be some form of notification presented to the user so they know they've changed something by accident.

i don't know how...but can't you make installing applications easy like in windows with the .exe?It's really confusing if you keep it simple you will atract more ussers

There are a lot of themes available for download from http://www.gnome-look.org/, but it would be nice if some of the best ones that are not currently included with Ubuntu WERE included by default. What would it hurt to include a few more?

While the weather next to the clock is a great idea I think it needs some additional features.

The main feature I can think of is to have an update/refresh button when you right click on the weather. Sometimes the weather can be out of date and this would be a great way of getting it up to date.

New users coming from Windows are often disoriented and don't really know the real advantages of Ubuntu or even how to use some of its basic functions (Add/Remove instead of setup.exe). An orientation would help them.

A couple of ideas for how to help them have come up, including an idea about having pop-ups for every new application that's open. The pop-up idea has a few downsides, of course, not the least of which being that pop-ups are annoying to many users, both new and experienced.

One relatively unobtrusive way to introduce new users to the basic functions of Ubuntu is to show a slideshow during the installation process. New users would probably watch the slideshow (they're waiting for the installation to finish--what else are they going to do?), while experienced users might have the option to turn off the slideshow... or they may just get up and leave, knowing that the installation won't take more than fifteen minutes.

There are all sort of features, enabled by default, that violate the users privacy:

recent files histories,
browser histories and cache not being cleaned at shutdown,
password saving features,
tracker and indexing services that even index file contents,
etc, etc,...

The problem with these is that they are scattered all over the system, so you can never tell when you have found them all. Some are even impossible to turn of with my skills.

It would make much more sense if the attitude would be to have features that violate privacy disabled by default, and enabled by request. This would be a much better attitude towards the user, giving them clarity into their privacy. It would make me feel much better if i had the feeling that developers would only have features like that turned on when im very concious of the decisions i make. Right now, i find it impossible to try and create a safe environment to work in, because it's all scattered. In my opinion, most of those features are quite unuseful anyways. Who was really waiting in great expectation for recent documents to come to linux???

There are also privacy enchancing features which could maybe be on by default if they have no drawbacks, like encrypted swap etc.

In any case, there should be very clear documentation on what the privacy status is of an operating system, with for example an extensive list of all the features that possibly violate privacy.

Clarity is asked for. How many people know what it means to have a journalling file system in therms of privacy. Does that mean that shred will not erase all sensitive data? , etc, etc...

Something nit-picky I've always hated about Archive Manager is the fact that I can't extract files to a folder or to my desktop by simply dragging and dropping them somewhere (like I can with a Windows box and any archiving program with a GUI, like Winzip or WinRAR).

Sure, I can click "Extract Files" and then browse through folders to find the path I want, but if I could drag and drop to extract from (and add to) archives, it would sure save me a lot of time. And possible save newbies a little frustration.

It seems funny sometimes to see newbies in the forums asking about software, and a suggestion is made by someone to search for a package in synaptic, only to have the newbie reply back, "I couldn't find it." Then be told they have to enable the restricted packages and try again.

Couldn't they be given a little sideshow with music and narration that explains what repositories are, that appears mid way through install (You know, during the time they're browsing the Internet or playing Sudoku) and ask them, "Do you want to enable restricted repositories."

Along those same lines, ask them, "Do you want to enable flash? Do you agree to these terms or don't you agree?" And so on. I think it would make great use of their time while their waiting for the rest of the system to install, as well as save the forums a lot of trouble with having to deal with some of the most common issues brought up, repeating itself and wasting time.

When each new version of Ubuntu is released, I like to test it out, but don't want to reboot my machine (too many apps running).

By default, running Ubuntu under VMware, it works, but without proper drivers (provided by VMware tools).

Fixing this would give people another easy way to try Ubuntu before committing to it, and let them try it without even burning a CD.