So, i have a question... if i use ubunutu, having all the programas above, is like if im using xp with microsoft office??? but not all the programs can be used on ubunutu or im wrong???

@ Konnichiwa : I believe you can shrink your Windows partition safely and set your computer up to prompt you to use Ubuntu or Windows whichever you choose quite easily with the Ubuntu installer. However if you choose to do so be cautious. This link explains how to do it properly but of course warns that you should backup data thats important to you in case something does go wrong. http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/installing

@ Shura : Most of the programs above come with Ubuntu by default Open Office and Firefox are both already set up ready to go on loading the operating system the first time. It also comes installed with GIMP for image editing like KN said which is a great program for those that refuse to pay for or steal Photoshop. Thunderbird works in it too dunno about the rest though. In short yes starting out on Ubuntu is like having a Windows PC already installed with MS Office / Photoshop ready to go. I personally do all the personal office type jobs I need to do in OpenOffice I'm not sure how good it is for major corporate type work but it is for sure mature enough to do the average person's work while maintaining compatibility with the rest of the Microsoft world.

firstly, you might want to try Abiword instead of OO.o writer. While Writer and Abiword are just as good as Word, Calc and Impress fall far short, I'm afraid. Especially Calc, Excel really is the part of Office that has no competition anywhere near as good.

As for google docs, they're no where near as good. Useful for collaborating, but once you've finished with the content, you have to put it in Word/Writer in order to actually make a useful document.

Of course, for professional work, you should be using LaTeX, which is also open source.

For the media player, VLC >>> MPlayer. VLC is far and away the best media player available for any platform. And it's 100% free and Open Source. Check it out.

@lolita: It's a shame that you can't play The Sims 2 under Linux. Unfortunately, it doesn't work under Wine or Cedega. This is just a matter of not enough support, if there is a market for games under Linux, then more games will be made. Let developers know!

@konnichiwa: no, just make sure you have enough free space on your Windows partition. When it comes to partitioning step, make sure you don't select "erase entire partition" but either select "resize existing partition" or if you're more knowledgeable, or know someone who is, you can do "partition manually". I recommend you select "resize partition" and give Ubuntu 10GB or so. You can get it to import documents from Windows, or you can directly access your windows documents (just create a symlink in your home directory to My Documents, if you want)

Thx for your answers I will try it in 10 minutes (writing it on CD.).

Not to be contrary or anything, but what you define as better is very subjective. I would not consider open office superior to MS office in any way. The only benefit it has is its free which doesn't concern me since my office pays for the software anyway.

Also, I'm not all that confident that linux and FF are any more secure than XP and IE7. It's possible they are, but until you have a similar install ratio to temp hackers and malware writers, I don't think you can claim anything definite.

PS, I hate FF. Man I can't stand that browser. Also, I run XP (fully patched at all times), no virus protection and a simple firewall, and I've never gotten a virus or anything worse than some tracking cookie malware, ever. It's pretty simple to keep clean by practicing smart computing.

Kytiara said: Not to be contrary or anything, but what you define as better is very subjective. I would not consider open office superior to MS office in any way. The only benefit it has is its free which doesn't concern me since my office pays for the software anyway. Also, I'm not all that confident that linux and FF are any more secure than XP and IE7. It's possible they are, but until you have a similar install ratio to temp hackers and malware writers, I don't think you can claim anything definite. PS, I hate FF. Man I can't stand that browser. Also, I run XP (fully patched at all times), no virus protection and a simple firewall, and I've never gotten a virus or anything worse than some tracking cookie malware, ever. It's pretty simple to keep clean by practicing smart computing.

I can see you're not familiar with Linux. First, as an open source OS, Linuxes get fixes pretty fast, if something is found. Second, the way, how developers have thought of the security, is so much different from Windows. Third, you don't need to download software from "virussite X", for example in Ubuntu, you find everything you need from centered location, accessible from your OS (not with your browser), which is run by the Ubuntu community. But yes, best way to avoid everything not-wanted is to practice safe computing. Although, Linux is better even for that.

Hmm strange, I can do this:

Now that you've obtained the Desktop CD (either through a purchase, ShipIt, or downloading and burning), you'll need to reboot your computer to use Ubuntu.

Your computer's BIOS must be set to boot from CD first; otherwise, Windows will just load up again. To get into the BIOS settings, you usually have to press one of these keys during boot-up: Escape, F1, F2, F12, or Delete. Usually your computer will tell you which key to use.



But when I restart my computer I don't get this:

http://img255.imageshack.us/my.php?image=feistysingle01fb0.png

My windows just start again =/.

I don't know what I do wrong.

I go to Bios => Boot menu => first directory CD/DVD drive. Save.

And still it doesn't start X_X.

lolita said: I fell in love with Ubuntu... <3 I don't feel like using XP again! XD I'm sad for Sims though... I can't play it! I hope they will be more compability in the future.

Sims is most likely playable with Wine, but it's not exactly user friendly.

edit: It looks like it doesn't run in wine, thanks to the stupid copy protection it has.

@Kytiara - Firefox running in linux is most definitely more secure than running IE7 in windows.

@OP: Free and better alternative to Windows ---> Ubuntu

Free and better alternative to Ubuntu -----> Gentoo

@Konni: Do you have more than one optical drive? Sometimes one will work and not the other in some situations.

For everyone considering installing linux, a disclaimer: it's great, awesome and totally rocks, but be prepared to jump through hoops to play PC games, if you're into them. It's possible to play a good portion of them, but you have to get to know Wine first. One way to get around this is to dual boot with windows, if you have the hard drive space.

Kytiara said: Not to be contrary or anything, but what you define as better is very subjective. I would not consider open office superior to MS office in any way. The only benefit it has is its free which doesn't concern me since my office pays for the software anyway. Also, I'm not all that confident that linux and FF are any more secure than XP and IE7. It's possible they are, but until you have a similar install ratio to temp hackers and malware writers, I don't think you can claim anything definite. PS, I hate FF. Man I can't stand that browser. Also, I run XP (fully patched at all times), no virus protection and a simple firewall, and I've never gotten a virus or anything worse than some tracking cookie malware, ever. It's pretty simple to keep clean by practicing smart computing.

 

^Well, there are mixed opinions when it comes OpenOffice.org vs Microsoft Office. I can't say for sure whether I hear more about MS Office is better or OOo is better, but many would definitely agree that OpenOffice.org Calc sucks. Usually, I would hear people suggest Gnumeric Spreadsheet; but well, I've never used spreadsheet so I don't know.

As for whether FF is more secure than IE7 or not, I've heard it's because IE7 using DirectX technology that can control your system or something like that. In the end though, it'd mostly come from, like you say, "practicing smart computing."

For burner program, I think there are more people prefer K3b ... but there's no Windows installer for it, lol.

@lolita: That's pretty fast...

@omgwtfbbq: I doubt VLC is better than MPlayer... try playing a video with softsub and you'll see what I mean... Also, try SMPlayer (the one in the screenshot), it's a frontend of mplayer, and works better than the default mplayer GUI ...

epsilon72 said: lolita said: I fell in love with Ubuntu... <3 I don't feel like using XP again! XD I'm sad for Sims though... I can't play it! I hope they will be more compability in the future. @Konni: Do you have more than one optical drive? Sometimes one will work and not the other in some situations.

 Normally I have but I see this:


First directory:  Blabla HD: C
Second directory: CD/DVD
Thirs directory: Floppy drive.

And I changed CD/DVD with HD: C.