Actually, mp3 support is a checkbox during the install process now, so this is a non-issue.
Video drivers have been just fine for me for the past six years or so, but perhaps that's because I always buy nvidia cards that are well supported.
The only place OS X has a leg up on Linux IMHO is video codec support, and you can't really blame the open source developers for this one.
I keep waiting for a hardware manufacturer to issue 3 or 4 different machines and make Linux work very well on them, akin to what Apple does with OS X. Most of the issues I see people have with Linux is due to the immense variability in hardware combinations. Eliminating this variability would make it pretty easy for a company to provide a seamless desktop experience to users.
Didn't know that about mp3 support; that's really good to hear. What about installing proprietary video drivers? Can that be done at install time too? Has maintaining up-to-date versions of these drivers become easier?
I admit ignorance--the last time I used Ubuntu regularly on the desktop was just before my first mac arrived in late 2006. I've toyed with it since then; but never gone through installation and configuration.
I'm not sure if it can be done at install time, but it's very easy after you're booted up. Almost all cards I've tried are supported by the basic drivers, and enabling third-party driver support (to get nvidia drivers, etc straight from the commercial source) is as simple as System->Administration->Additional Drivers. Click activate and you're good to go.
Video drivers have been just fine for me for the past six years or so, but perhaps that's because I always buy nvidia cards that are well supported.
The only place OS X has a leg up on Linux IMHO is video codec support, and you can't really blame the open source developers for this one.
I keep waiting for a hardware manufacturer to issue 3 or 4 different machines and make Linux work very well on them, akin to what Apple does with OS X. Most of the issues I see people have with Linux is due to the immense variability in hardware combinations. Eliminating this variability would make it pretty easy for a company to provide a seamless desktop experience to users.