Software is the only thing holding me back
 

hi. i'm an XP user (please don't shoot me). i'm looking at migrating to fully mandrake (obviouslyt with some overlap till i get used to it).

the new one has come out now and i want it.

one thing though, i like the programs i have. and changing every one is a pain i think. things like photoshop which take a lot of time to get used to are very hard to start again with a similar but differene one.

is there any decent, reliable way of running ALL my programs i'm using now, including things like MS Office, but in linux? basically i just want the os, but to keep my programs.

anyone have any ideas?

did any of you have trouble migrating from windows?

Hi, and welcome to LQ!

/me gets out tar & feathers instead ...

I've had no problem migrating to Linux, and
I don't use a single windows application :) in
my Linux environment.

The only 30 minutes a week that I spend in
Windows is when I use the webcam with
yahoo messenger to chat with relatives in
Europe. ;)

And no, I haven't managed to get that working
with Wine (and quite frankly, in my case it
wouldn't be worth the bother).



Cheers,
Tink

Agreed with tink... I thought I could never let go of some proggys, but there all there, everything. Games (FPS 3D, sims, whatever), audio visual software with no limits, rendering soft, u name it. I have yet not to find a linux proggy equivalent. Yeah, the intereface takes a bit to get used to, but you will never know how comfortable and second nature it comes, untill after your last boot into windows. Its been 6 months or more since Ive seen the win xp logo on my machine. Its also been the best 6 months Ive ever had regarding computer use.

Take the plunge, worked for me.

No sane linux user would _suggest_ that you do that but it is possible. However, your machine will be less reliable. Making the change really isn't hard, especially if you have some people on aim/yahoo/msn to chat with when you need to know how to do something in linux.

One thing I will say is that photoshop is something some people can not in any way replace because they use every feature embeded in the program and something such as the gimp will not serve their needs.

However, I don't think MS office is anything special and that is well worth it to use the linux alternative StarOffice or OpenOffice(.org)

ms office: openoffice.org
photoshop: gimp
windows media player: mplayer
and an app that might run a windows app if you so desire: wine.
there you are.

dual boot. Their is no good reason for not keeping windows around. Sometimes it is the best tool for the job. I was trying to print a PDF file with linux a few days ago. It was cutting off the edge, so I booted to windows(was not worth the effort to find a solution). Their are some sights that I pay bills with the require IE. My tax software only worked with windows, and I had no motivation to figure out how to use it with wine, again windows was the best tool. With all of that said, I love the linux OS. It makes me happy just playing with it. Windows will never be my favorite, but I will always probably use it(no shame). For the average person windows is a great OS(not 9*)

hi,

you can find a package called wine in rpm format.. by installing this package you can run some of the programs which will run in Xp...plz do go thru this


bye

If you get Mandrake 10.0, it comes with everything you need. GnomeMeeting (Compatible with netmeeting), GAIM/KOPETE (IM clients), OpenOffice, Gimp, k3b, Kontact (Great integrated email/address/schedule, etc app) and at least 500(0) other applications. Dual boot (i.e. When installing, let Mandrake set your system up to dual boot), and explore. I think you will like what you find. Just remember, read the Mandrake Intro Guide and howtos (they are great). Also, Linux != Windows, there will be some adjustment time. If you are brand new, I REALLY recommend these (Everyone I install Mandrake on, I tell them don't call me till you have read these. :) )

http://doc.mandrakelinux.com/Mandrak...html/pt02.html
http://doc.mandrakelinux.com/Mandrak...html/pt03.html

RO

P.S. For some reason, I don't know why, Mandrake does not install Mozilla Mail (Mozilla browser yes) by default. If you use Netscape now, during the install, select 'Package Options Manually', find it, and install it.

but be carefull not to bog your new linux box down with windoze-like software and gui non-sense! :) just keep your internet device stable and a web browser and you're good to go. good luck with the new computer! (well, it sort of is)

mplayer definately. plays anything
xmms (winamp)
gaim (all im clients in one, better package)
LinNeighborhood, xsmbrowser and samba (for networking to windows machines)
iptables (kernel level netfiltering - the ultimate firewall)
no replacement for adobe or macromedia software :(
openoffice (msoffice)
Limewire, giFT (kazza/p2p)
mozilla, konqueror, opera (internet explorer)
k3b, xcdroast, gtoaster (cdrecording)
acidrip, ripperX (dvd, audio cd rippers)
...and MUCH more!

-c

thanks for all the replies i will try it.

about wine, does it work with any win32 applicatiuon? say i have a bittorrent program i want to use with linux, will it work?

It is possible to get some some Windows programs to run under Linux but not others. Most Linux distros come with something called WINE that can be used to run some Windows programs under Linux. The Codeweavers company also sell something called CrossoverOffice that can be used to run some versions of Microsoft Office under Linux. On my computer I use it to run Word 97, Excel 97 and Powerpoint 97 under Linux. I have also used it to run Adobe Photoshop 7.0. Unfortunately, CrossoverOffice does not yet work with Office 2003 or Photoshop CS. At the moment CrossoverOffice only supports a limited selection of Windows programs although they claim that they will soon be able to run 95% of all Windows applications. I will have to wait and see if that happens, at the moment they only support a very limited list of popular Windows programs. Here is a link for CrossoverOffice:

http://www.codeweavers.com/site/products/cxoffice/

There is also something similar that is meant mostly for running Windows games under Linux. I can not think of what it is called and have never tried using it. I am not much of a gamer so I never looked into that. However, I do use DOSBox to run some old DOS games under Linux. I eventually did figure out how to get my USB joytick and my soundcard to work with DOSBox.

Earlier this week there was an announcement about a new project in the works that is called David. They claim it is a "middleware" that sits on top of the Linux OS to enable it to run Windows programs. It is too soon to tell if their product will ever do what they claim or not but, here is a link:

http://www.flexbeta.net/main/comment...&shownews=7361

I have also used something called VMWare. VMWare will allow a computer to run two or more operating systems at once. One operating system is the host which is booted up first. The other OS is the guest. VMWare is probably more complex and expensive than what most Linux users would need. I use the Linux version of VMWare on my computer and like it. On most days I only run Linux, but I can run Windows in a window (or full screen) under Linux. I can then jump back and foth between each OS in a couple of seconds. Even though I like using VMWare I actually would not recommend it for most people for various reasons.

There are also alternatives to VMWare such as Win4Lin, Bachs and also coLinux. I do not know much about any of those alternatives. You probably will never get around to trying out most of what I have mentioned. CoLinux is something new that was just announced in the last week or two.

http://www.colinux.org/

Most Linux users probably either dual boot or they only use programs that are written for Linux. Don't overlook the exellent Linux programs that are available. I use Ximian Evolution instead of Outlook. I use Mozilla Firefox instead of Internet Explorer. OpenOffice is a good alternative to MS Office. Personally, I my favorite Linux word processor is Textmaker. In most cases you will find that there are good Linux alternatives. I still use Windows applications such as Adobe Photoshop 7.0 and Excel 97 so sorry if I am not a Linux purist! I do not know the answer to your question about bittorrent.

What you will most likely not have any more is spyware, worms and viruses like many of your friends. I have several friends who are Windows users have found 80 or more spyware related files on their computer. After removing the spyware their computers ran much faster and were more stable. This morning's Monday April 26, 2004 issue of the Wall Street Journal had a two page article on the growing spyware problem.

There's a bittorent for Linux.