Did you switch from Windows to Linux? How did you find the process?
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From: Rikishi42 on 12 Nov 2009 15:37 On 2009-11-12, RodMcKay <NoJunkMail(a)No.com> wrote: > I've been fed up with Windows ever since I switched from a Win98SE box > to WinXP a couple of years ago. But I haven't made the switch for > various reasons, one of them being the sheer numbers of Windows > programs I use. I'm ready to see how to do the switch anyway and see > how Wine works. But that seems to defeat the purpose. > > So thought I'd ask for any comments from anyone who has already made > the switch. I mean, anything has practically got to be better than > Windows, but just curious as to what the major adjustments might have > been for other Windows users. thx. It's difficult to give such advice wihtout knowing what programs you use in Windows. But look at it from another angle. Instead of wondering what programs' equivalent exists, try to figure out if you're using a generic/open/portable format of file or protocol. I mean, you don't wonder if there's going to be an equivalent to IE. You expect the to be a web browser. (Konqueror, Firefox, Opera, SeaMonkey, ...) You don't wonder if there is Photoshop or Paintshop. Your images are JPG, PNG, Tiff, Gif. You need a picture editor/viewer that supports those formats. (GIMP, xv, GwenView, digiKam, ...) You use MSN, ICQ or IRC. Is there a chat software that will connect with those protocols? (Kopete, Konversation, ...) On the other hand: you use Autocad. Is there a program that reads DWG drawings? Not likely. There are to few users that use CAD, so you'll need some luck there. There are drawing softs, but wether you can exchage designs with someone else ? In between: you type your documents in Word. There is such a need to open the MS Office documentsn, that OpenOffice included support for them. But it's a better idea to use an open format. Even MS is being pushed into supporting such a format in Word. -- Any time things appear to be going better, you have overlooked something.
From: John Hasler on 12 Nov 2009 16:12 Rikishi42 writes: > On the other hand: you use Autocad. Is there a program that reads DWG > drawings? Not likely. There are to few users that use CAD, so you'll need > some luck there. There are plenty of users. The problem is Autodesk. -- John Hasler jhasler(a)newsguy.com Dancing Horse Hill Elmwood, WI USA
From: TJ on 12 Nov 2009 18:18 RodMcKay wrote: > I've been fed up with Windows ever since I switched from a Win98SE box > to WinXP a couple of years ago. But I haven't made the switch for > various reasons, one of them being the sheer numbers of Windows > programs I use. I'm ready to see how to do the switch anyway and see > how Wine works. But that seems to defeat the purpose. > > So thought I'd ask for any comments from anyone who has already made > the switch. I mean, anything has practically got to be better than > Windows, but just curious as to what the major adjustments might have > been for other Windows users. thx. > You don't have to "switch" all at once. With most distros, you don't even have to get rid of your Windows installation if you don't want to. (assuming you have enough free hard drive space) I first tried Linux in 2002, with a Mandrake (now known as Mandriva) distro. I was using Windows 98SE at the time, and put both on the same computer in a dual-boot situation. I used both for a while, but quickly became more and more comfortable with Linux. I had never cared for Windows, having come there from the Atari ST - a much friendlier OS - so it didn't take much to convert me. While I still have one machine that dual-boots with Windows 98SE for the few Windows-only programs I still use, nearly 99% of my computing time is spent with Linux. If you've been a Windows user for a long time, the biggest thing you'll probably have to get used to will not needing to update your anti-malware programs on a daily basis. TJ
From: RodMcKay on 12 Nov 2009 18:29 On Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:13:29 -0500, RodMcKay <NoJunkMail(a)No.com> wrote: >I've been fed up with Windows ever since I switched from a Win98SE box >to WinXP a couple of years ago. But I haven't made the switch for >various reasons, one of them being the sheer numbers of Windows >programs I use. I'm ready to see how to do the switch anyway and see >how Wine works. But that seems to defeat the purpose. > >So thought I'd ask for any comments from anyone who has already made >the switch. I mean, anything has practically got to be better than >Windows, but just curious as to what the major adjustments might have >been for other Windows users. thx. Thanks for everyone's input. I am just so darned tired of Windoze that I've been ready to give it up forever. The trouble is how I must keep up with Windows and apps for work and the fact that there are some windows apps that I absolutely need to be able to keep using. But I've narrowed the list of the latter right down and with regards to work, well, I think I'll try to figure out how to struggle to keep up with everything even though I might not ever use Windoze again at home. Now what remains, I guess, is to take the plunge again. I was started down this path when a colleague gifted me with a Linux CD a couple of years back and I was amazed at how wonderful it was. I have always missed the power of having DOS so easily accessible as in Win98SE and the Linux version he gave me felt similar. He gave me two discs with two "distros" as they're called, but I couldn't grasp the other one very well. But the Linux distro I did manage to use felt similar in some respects. What I also like about it is how Linux is a whole lot less vulnerable than Windows, like MACs are. But a MAC would mean getting a whole new computer, etc. Linux is much more desirable on so many levels. I was also concerned about the FAT32 / NTFS issues. These are what I know. But I gather from my other thread that large drives are not a problem. And I don't care what it's called, FAT32 and NTFS are the names I know and that FAT32 cannot handle drives larger than about 30gigs. But whatever is the equivalent to NTFS allowing us to use very large drives, then that's all that matters. That's one of the only reasons I went to XP to begin with. I didn't give up Win98SE willingly at all. So my next concern will be starting and then figuring out how to switch all my files and systems over. Whatever I can't switch over I'll have to find alternatives for. But this thread has made me decide to try it, to begin afresh with Linux. For those special apps that might not exist in Linux because of their obscurity/uniqueness, I'll try them in Wine till I figure out a Linux equivalent. Thanks once again. I'll check out your info, MarcB, that sounds like the type of good place to start... >On my site, I described the process, and wrote down some settings as a >memory aid. > >https://sites.google.com/site/marcshomesite/Home > >-- >MarcB Thanks everyone! :oD
From: RodMcKay on 12 Nov 2009 18:38
On Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:18:16 -0500, TJ <TJ(a)noneofyour.business> wrote: >RodMcKay wrote: >> I've been fed up with Windows ever since I switched from a Win98SE box >> to WinXP a couple of years ago. But I haven't made the switch for >> various reasons, one of them being the sheer numbers of Windows >> programs I use. I'm ready to see how to do the switch anyway and see >> how Wine works. But that seems to defeat the purpose. >> >> So thought I'd ask for any comments from anyone who has already made >> the switch. I mean, anything has practically got to be better than >> Windows, but just curious as to what the major adjustments might have >> been for other Windows users. thx. >> >You don't have to "switch" all at once. With most distros, you don't >even have to get rid of your Windows installation if you don't want to. >(assuming you have enough free hard drive space) > >I first tried Linux in 2002, with a Mandrake (now known as Mandriva) >distro. I was using Windows 98SE at the time, and put both on the same >computer in a dual-boot situation. I used both for a while, but quickly >became more and more comfortable with Linux. I had never cared for >Windows, having come there from the Atari ST - a much friendlier OS - so >it didn't take much to convert me. While I still have one machine that >dual-boots with Windows 98SE for the few Windows-only programs I still >use, nearly 99% of my computing time is spent with Linux. > >If you've been a Windows user for a long time, the biggest thing you'll >probably have to get used to will not needing to update your >anti-malware programs on a daily basis. > >TJ That sounds ideal to me. I'd very _very_ happy to have Win98SE available for whatever situation happens to come up where I need to absolutely do something in Windows. Fortunately, no matter what system upgrades they do, usually old versions of documents like Word 2000, still accepted. In those cases where my resume absolutely _has_ to be sent in Word, I could do that. Doubtful I could get them to accept PDF so there may be no choice there, but knowing that I can dual-boot to Win98SE might make this all easier. I've always looked for apps that generally can be used in older OS and not need any of that stupid .NET stuff, so maybe that practice will pay off even more now! So my resume and some obscure puzzle-building apps may be only thing holding me back. That and Outlook. I'm a huge fan because of how much I use the power of MS Outlook for mail. I've tried, literally, about 40-50 other email programs and none come close. Does Linux have anything as powerful as Outlook, by any chance? Probably a stupid question but I do love the ease of use, rules, calendar, tasks, notes power and even look of Outlook 2000. I do also prefer Excel. I have used the OO one but it doesn't do all that Excel does. But I can live with the limitations, I believe. But Outlook no. It handles my rather large email needs like no other. However, wouldn't like to run it under Wine, I definitely would prefer to find a Linux "equivalent" to. Well, looks like I have my work cut out for me. And, YES, I definitely like all those things that Linux provides: - no need to update virus/malware definitions so often - no need to repeatedly wipe the drive and reinstall!!! That I've always loved the idea of. - no need to worry about keeping the registry as clean as one can! etc. etc. etc. <g> Thanks. |