Program compatability......
 

Hi All,

Just crawled out from under my rock and am 100% totally new to the concept of LINUX.

If I dumped MS and went to LINUX could I still run programs like I-tunes, MagicJack telephone, etc...? How about internet browser? What is available? Living overseas, I rely on my Slingbox to keep up on America everything. Will that pgm run on LINUX?
Thank you all very much for tolerating my newbie questions.
Best wishes,
Paul
BangSaray, Thailand

Best to find equivalent programs see http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/...ndows_software that run natively under Linux.
If desperate, try wine http://www.winehq.org/.
Another alternative is to run them inside a VM.

Note that some programs have different versions that run on MSWin and Linux eg Firefox browser.
Also, Apache, MySQL etc ...

you can use Amarok or aTunes instead of ITunes. Firefox, Chrome and Opera browsers are multi-os. dont know about MagicJack.

Here you can look for linux alternatives to Windows Software:
http://www.x64bit.net/site/board/ind...showtopic=1606
http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/...ndows_software
http://www.linux.ie/newusers/alternatives.php
http://www.linuxalt.com/

iTunes may work under WINE but it is extremely unlikely that you will be able to use it to administer an iPhone, iPad or any other iDevice.
I think somebody on here mentioned using MagicJack under WINE but, personally, I expect things running under WINE to break with no notice and wouldn't trust WINE for anything I need.
As for Browsers, see previous posts -- many browsers are available for Linux. Adobe Flash also works, at least for now...

Have a look here:
http://linuxappfinder.com/alternatives

For iTunes- I second the above advice to use an alternative. I like Banshee, but it's all a matter of taste.

If you have an iDevice... some of the newer ones do not play nice with Linux at all. My older iPod (from 2008) works fine, but my sister's iPod from last year doesn't cooperate.

If you're going to start on Linux, I suggest baby steps. Put it on a separate machine or dual boot until you are ready to take the plunge and go Linux exclusive. That process took me 2 years.

Wow. Great advice. Thank you to all who responded. Very much appreciated.
Paul