Gmail Notifier does work under Firefox/Linux - it's called "Gmail Notifier" and you can get it from the same place you get the rest of the Firefox extensions.

Gmail also has a similar feature that sits in your system tray and checks your gmail account at preset intervals. That's what I thought he was refering to

it can do everything you want including playing half life 2 and world of warcraft . I would go and get suse 9.2 pro if i were you it helps with the process.
You may need at least 3 months to ease into the system cause a lot of thing are different from windows

well lots of ppl answered, thought id throw in my 2cents
1) yes you choose which OS you will use, the program that lets you choose will be installed with ur linux installation

2)the google desktop version is only for windows, but firefox has a gmail plugin

3)yes, firefox has a linux version

4)openoffice.org but outlook express doesnt work, though you can use kmail (similar to outlook) or thunderbird(the mozilla email client)

5)gaim, kopete - all replacements for aim...gaim is almost exactly the same (and it lets you set ur idle time ), but no ads as in aim...aim also has a linux version though its REALLY old and outdated

6)linux is as hard as you want it to be. you can do everything with a console or just like in windows.
kde is very windows like.
plus i think in some ways its a lot easier... in mandrake to install something ,, gaim for instance all you need to do is type "urpmi gaim" and it installs it for you, then to run gaim you type "gaim" or choose gaim from the "start menu"/kicker

7)
Part A:
ok.. linux is a kernel.
analogy:
the kernel is the engine of a car, linux is not an OS it is a kernel
linux has many different OSs, called distros, for someone installing it the first time i would suggest, mandrake or suse, though all the rest are awesome too. (I personally don't like the liveCD idea, only because if you install it, you are in a way commited to it and are forced to learn more about linux, while with the liveCD if you get frustrated you simply take the CD out and byebye linux) [[but i guess that can also be a good thing]]

Part B:
the window manager is like the type of steering wheel, the color, 2door or 4door, stuff like that...u should really use KDE because its very simple and very windows like. (though there are others, GNOME, blackbox, xfce4, fluxbox, windowmaker, iceWM, enlightenment, and lots of others)
and yes it is VERY sleek and cool, i actually switched to linux just because i saw the cool screenshots and wanted to make my pc look like that (i think i have screenshots in my signature, also check out kde-look.org for some screenshots)

why you should install and use linux:
1) all software is free + the full version (no the demo)
2) it looks awesome, you can impress and awe ur friends
3) for me its A LOT faster then windows
4) no viruses
5) no spyware
6)opensource
7)stability

and the installation was very easy (in mandrake), the linux install CDs will partition your PC for you, if you defrag windows vefore you defrag its very low risk

>>You may need at least 3 months to ease into the system cause a lot of thing are different from windows

My experience exactly. I had an older but quite usable machine lying around that I decided to make a "Linux Only" box. It took about 3 months, but I'm really glad I made the switch, and have since installed a working Linux distribution on an OLD laptop (Pentium 133Mhz, 96MB ram, 6Gb HD) with wireless internet - THAT was a fun setup, let me tell you

Bottom line - take your time, don't get in a hurry, and have another computer with a good internet connection close by (I recommend a laptop.) I discovered that the vast majority of my Google searches in the beginning ended up at this forum, so now I skip the Google part and just come here when I have any questions the various FAQs/HOW-TOs can't answer...

I think you mean defrag windows before you (re)partion...

Umm... oh yeah: mandrake has a nice graphical install and a nice graphical partitioning tool.

OH yeah: congrats for posting this in the right place.

keep asking! keep searching! keep learning!
this is your motto.

titanium_geek

pyrotechnik, your two threads have been merged here. You have technical questions, so technical forum (Linux-Newbie here) is better for them.

Next time please don't double-post. If you notice a better forum for your question after you post, reposrt your thread and ask it to be moved.

thanks everyone!
now I have a couple more questions:

1. so from what you are saying, I can re-partition my hard drive without losing data? how do I do that?

2. do knoppix and other live cd distros require me to repartition my hard drive before running them?

No. LiveCD distros only require you to repartition if you install them to hard drive.

They run completely off of the CD-ROM and could even be run on computers without a hard drive.

you can also use the search function of the forums, ive found lots of answers using that search function
also, i think you should first google it first, 90% of the time i find the answer in a google, only the other 10% do i need to post something up here

Newbies Unite!
Hi!
I'm an XP convertee to Fedora (Core 3 - version 3 to you!)
Anyhoo -
First thing you should do before fooling with installing a Linux partition or area is to defrag your hard drive(s). This gives you the largest patches of empty space to install in.

First time I tried Linux - I tried version 10.1 Community Edition of Mandrake Linux. It is VERY easy to use and install, but because it's the free version of Mandrake and not the pay version is has some 'special' features like not installing video drivers and all that I had to go to another version.

However, one good thing about Mandrake is that it happily installs itself into spare space on one of your Windows partitions - it just shows you your empty space and you pick which block of space you want to use

The Pay version (or Official I think it's called) does not have these problems, but I'm just too cheap to pay for it! LOL

I then moved to Fedora as I mentioned above. I basically went into XP and enlarged the partition that Mandrake was in to a nice 18 Gb. Then it was simple to install Fedora into the nice empty partition.

In summary: Defrag unless you want to try a live CD version. Mandrake is installable without partitioning. Fedora is easy to install if you set up the partitions in advance (I used Partition Magic in Win XP - I know, I know. I just like it!). You can install it from the Fedora disk without fooling around with it using Disk Druid (part of the Fedora install programs - easy enough to use. I just like P. Magic!)

Dark_Helmet wrote:
There is a sourceforge gmail-notifier project and the project homepage can be found HERE.
I'm sure going to give it a try, at least the screenshots look promising.

When I did what you were trying to do I found a copy of Partition magic on Kazaa and it works well for partitioning without losing data in fact sice my linux distro does not read ntfs drives and winblows doesn't read linux drives I use partition magic to transfer between the two since My floppy drive is fried....not caused by either system dell sent us the computer with a fried drive...stupid dell

MDK Community Edition is a free, final release candidate for Mandrake. It may be somewhat incomplete, and buggy, just like any release candidate (beta).

Mandrake Official Edition is a free, final release. Period. It is the Community Edition with a boatload of bugfixes, and is complete. You can take the free, Download Official Edition, and using easyurpmi, set it up to have *almost* everything that the "pay-for" version (PowerPack) has. (All that will be missing is the proprietary apps - which is what you are really paying for.)

If you really need/want high-end 3D graphics drivers, you either buy the Powerpack Edition, where they come pre-compiled, or you simply go to the nvidia/ATI website, download the drivers and install them yourself. Even most noobs can do that.

Hmmm... a fair cop.
Nonetheless, I prefer Fedora but Mandrake is very easy to set up. Fedora just seemed to be happier compiling things, and I prefer not to use the corporate Man's companies.

Just a sad old socialist I guess! LOL