Various Questions Please Help Thinkin about converting
 

Hiya newbies

I'm thinking about converting if the live CD i'm downloading works right and i like what i see, its been recommended by a friend.

I'll been initally installing it onto a ACER 3690 Series Laptop, Is there any know hardware combatibility issues if any one knows

Does Linux update like Windows would.

Do all the major programs work within this OS (eg. Nero)

Please help thank you

Which live CD are you downloading? Ubuntu?

http://samuel.brugger.googlepages.com/acer3690.html

What do you mean here, as in OS updates? Most distributions of Linux have a built in updater that will notify you that there are updates for your system, just as in Windows.

No, Windows programs do not work on Linux. There is a program for Linux called wine that will allow you to install some Windows programs on Linux, but not everything will work.

There are, however, almost always several alternative Linux programs that will do the same functionality as a Windows counterpart. For example, Nero is used for burning CDs and DVDs. On linux, there is Brasero, k3b, etc.

Welcome to LQ!

From taking a quick look looks like most hardware will work. Use the link provided by claudius753 it is a great resource for future purchase of laptops. As far as updating that depends on what distro you are using. Most Fedora based, debian based, and openSuse distros will download updates for you and install them. Each also come with really good app managers. As for Major programs some do using applications like wine.

However Linux comes with it's own software that works great.

Openoffice Like MS Office
Gimp Like photoshop
Inkscape like Illustrator
CDparanioa Like nero
MPlayer like media player

Just a few apps I can think of off the top of my head.

As a general rule windows programs will NOT work in Linux. You can attempt to use them through wine (by legal definition not an emulator, but basically an emulator) but this has mixed results(directX not supported last I heard). There are usually free Linux equivalents to most of your common applications. K3b replaces Nero. Open office replaces MS office. etc.

Just search the forum on your specific hardware to look for problems. As long as it has been out for at least six months, if there are any issues with it they will probably show up here.

The answer to the update question will depend on what specifically you are asking. If you mean are there security updates for any one version, then yes, there are usually weekly (depending on distro) updates. Updating from one version of the OS to another version of the same OS will again depend on distro choice. Generally I would suggest doing a fresh install when moving from Z.X to (Z+1).X versions.

Edit: I need to learn to type faster.

My advice, don't install Linux right away. Check out a few Live CDs and find a distro that works for you and your hardware first. If you like Linux then switch over and install it later.

Nero does make a version for linux but you have to pay for it. Linux comes with other free software that's just as good as nero and other windows software.

There shouldn't be much of a problem with your hardware.

Why would you want something as bad as Windows in this regard? The better Linux distros (versions) will do a complete update much easier than with Windows.
Just to re-enforce what's already been said: For almost any common task, Linux has SW that is equivalent to the typical Windows programs. In many cases, there are more choices.
In addition to WINE, you might also be interested in CrossOver. This is the commercial version of WINE and has a friendlier interface.

Personally I like the burning software that comes with Linux. Seems to work a lot better than nero and burns a little faster.

Each distro has its own update and support policies. You should be able to find that info on their website. Most distros will have daily updates (if there's something to update) at least for security fixes. Bigger updates might require a reinstall on *some* distros.

No. Windows programs require Windows to work. You might have some degree of success (or not) with wine, which is an open source reimplementation of the windows api and can run many programs that have been designed and compile for Windows. But it will usually be faster and less painful to use a Linux equivalent. There's a nero version for linux, but for what I know it's really bad. A very featureful frontend to burn cds and dvds is k3b.