I recently bought a new HP Spectre x360 laptop and installed Linux (Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 64 bit) for the first time.
I am seeing various bugs. I don't know if the problems are due to:
(a) Hardware problems with the new laptop.
(b) Software issues, i.e. Ubuntu not working with the other programs I have downloaded.
(c) Problems with the resolution I have chosen. Most of the problems seem to be display related. I had issues initially with setting the screen resolution correctly and so I have had to play around a little to get things looking okay with most programs. Screen is 3840 x 2160.
An couple of example of the problems that I am encountering:
When I make a Skype call, I have lots of weird flickering and colour changing etc.
When I use Google Chrome, I sometimes get strange flickering too.
I'm basically trying to isolate my problem before I try to fix it. I know that people have told me to expect Linux to be "buggy" but I don't have a feel of what this means.
Do my problems sound common when trying to use software like Skype and Chrome? Do I need to try a different version of Linux? Do I need to try and fix my resolution issues?
Any advice that might help to point me in the right direction would be great.
Hi twelth hour, I believe the problem you are faced with can be fixed.
I am new here and trying to find my way around. I will first recommend that you relax and leave the problem for a while. Your message and tone sound tensed.
Have you visited the Ubuntu sub-section of this site. Also have you used the search section of this site. If none of this is helpful i believe you can visit Ubuntu website and take your time searching and asking relevant questions.
Please make sure that in all of this options you remain calm and open to directives.
I hope this helps.
Answer is almost certainly a)
Brand new laptops are the worst thing to try and install any non-OEM OS on -- they will have tons of custom hardware which dislike the generic drivers and only Windows drivers available.
There's not likely to be a "better linux", the Linux community needs time to work out just what in the world they've done to the hardware this time and patch the generic drivers to know the "right thing" to do for your specific model. Often there's fixes you can do by hand once people know them, look for linux with your specific model.
You mean almost certainly (b) right? 
I mean - it's not faulty hardware - it's just an incompatibility issue right?
I didn't think "hardware problems" meant "dead", so B works too.
That depends on your definition. It most likely is a hardware-problem, because the hardware is very new and therefore not (fully) supported and it is a software problem, because you seem to operate with a non-working set of drivers (most probably for the reason that a working set of drivers might not exist yet).
Anyway, i have found this Intel site with a link to a download section for graphics drivers. Since you have some Intel graphics hardware in you system you might try your luck there.
I hope this helps.
bakunin
I agree with the people who are suggesting try a new graphics driver. You probably need to use a proprietary graphics driver. You may also want to lower your resolution. I have Ubuntu 16.04 running on an older HP laptop with 12GB of RAM. It took me a while to work out the issues with streaming Hulu and Netflix. You need to use chrome not the Chrome clone browser that is preinstalled if you want to stream. I still have issues with slow choppy streaming. It just seems like the browser is maxing out the CPU when trying to stream. In time the device drivers should catch up to your hardware. Enjoy!