One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

I have been using Ubuntu 10.04 on a Dell Mini 10 for almost three years and was very pleased. When I learned of the Project Sputnik, I became very excited that I could upgrade to an ultrabook and get dedicated support for Ubuntu on the platform. Although the increased speed, the display, and the overall quality of the computer is great, there are several disappointments.

First, where 10.04 on the Mini 10 connected with my wireless printers without any problem, 12.04 on the XPS failed to do so. I had to physically copy and import the information from the Mini 10 to the XPS to get them to connect.

Second, the wireless connection to one of the routers I regularly use always connected quickly on the Mini 10, but it regularly takes half a dozen attempts with the XPS.

Third, the Libre Office 3.5 that comes with 12.04 does not open up the MS Word docs that I sometimes use.

I expect (hope?) these things will get fixed, but it is very disappointing that a project launched with such promise has these significant flaws.