Edumacate me on Ubuntu

I hate windows. I have to save everything every two minutes. It crashes. No viruses or anything.

Would Ubuntu (or some other Linux) work for me? I need certain programs, and "need" certain others.

Need:
-Microsoft Word
-Microsoft PowerPoint

"Need":
-AIM
-Itunes
-Google Chrome
-Firefox

I assume the last two are a given.

As always, thanks for the help

Pigeon in place of AIM Run VMWare on Ubuntu with XP for all un-replaceable windows apps.

I often use Sun's Open Office in place of windows and just "Save As" word or powerpoint (or Excel...) but there are times when I need the real thing.

If you need Word, PowerPoint and iTunes as opposed to wanting them, Linux isn't really for you because it can't run Windows applications. Not natively at least, there are ways around it but not for someone who isn't prepared to spend a lot of time on this.

Firefox isn't an issue, Chrome is still in Beta and there are alternative IM clients to replace AIM. You might want to look at OpenOffice to see if that can handle your Word and Powerpoint needs.

I'd try to find out why your Windows crashes all the time. Recent Windows versions are pretty stable out of the box so it might be the accumulated crud that wants cleaning out.

And before someone asks, I do use Windows (XP and 7), Mac OS X and Ubuntu all the time. Goes with the job.

I think OpenOffice will completely fill the needs of probably 90-95% of the Office-using population. It's really quite good, and you can't beat the price (free).

As others have said, there are good replacements for AIM.

iTunes is a no-go on Linux, but I know I've heard of a replacement. Just can't think of the name.

Sounds like it wouldn't really work for me. I need to download Word documents frequently, so unless the Ubuntu could handle it (open doc.x formats) I'm SOL

It crashes because... I don't know. I'm pretty computer savvy. I don't download anything but word documents. I run virus scans every other day. I might take it into the computer tech help here on campus and see if they can find out why, but I'm skeptical.

I have been having problems with Windows as well, I recently installed Ubuntu 9.04 but I am still having problems with it that I am trying to work out.

I have also been using OpenOffice for awhile, takes a bit to get used to some of the icons and features but it can do most of what MS office can do. If you really need the Windows programs sometimes you can leave Windows on your computer and use it when you need to or just use a computer lab at your school.

You can open Word documents in OpenOffice and also save them as .doc, no problem there.

OpenOffice is pretty good at handling 95% of MS Office docs IME. If they're getting too fancy then you're likely to run into layout issues etc.

@mtn - you can get OpenOffice for Windows. Before you take the Linux plunge, download the current OO and see if it works with your documents. If it does, you should be OK on Ubuntu.

Also, I'd partition the disk so you can keep both Windows and Ubuntu in there just in case the latter doesn't work out.

In reply to mtn:

I had a similar problem on my old desktop pc and it turned out to be heat related.

My cpu was so caked in dust the cooling fan stopped turning.

Open Office is great. I'd use it for work stuff, but my company's IT dept wouldn't support it if anything happened.

There's a program called gtkpod which will allow you to add/remove stuff from your Ipod. I've only used it a bit with wifey's old shuffle.

I use XP Pro for work (have to) but my home pc is 100% Ubuntu. If your PC problem is heat/hardware related, you'll have trouble with any OS you care to use. I was trying to install Ubuntu (dual boot) when I found my problem. The constant crashing during installation messed things up enough that I couldn't boot into windows from Grub at all. Thankfully, I could still access my windows drive and files from Ubuntu.

The big problem for newbies is installing software that isn't in the repositories. It took me like 2 weeks to get handbrake installed. I use handbrake to put DVD movies on my PSP.

mtn wrote: I hate windows. I have to save everything every two minutes. It crashes. No viruses or anything.

Well then, you should stop using windows 95.

Sounds like you'd be a good candidate for a Mac... It has all those programs, without the crud you have to deal with on regular PCs.

Ubuntu is great if your hardware is supported. These days that is usually true. You can usually handle life with a quirky install unless the problem is with your network card... However, I've found Wifi on Linux to be spotty at times (had a bunch of issues with a dell laptop). It had trouble reconnecting to wifi after waking from sleep.

I'd recommend a Mac first, Ubuntu second, windows third.

scardeal wrote: Sounds like you'd be a good candidate for a Mac... It has all those programs, without the crud you have to deal with on regular PCs.

Can't really afford it.

There are Ubuntu hardware guides so you can see ahead of time if you're going to run into problems.

My desktop originally had an Ati Radeon 9000 video card that was notorious for not working well with Linux.

It worked ok in 2d but didn't allow the eye candy lots of people switch to Linux for. Lots of the fancy Win Vista visual stuff was "inspired" by the visual effects in Beryl/Compiz

I have an Nvidia card now and I don't use the visual anyway.

One more thing to add is if you're a gamer beyond Solitaire, Sudoku, and Mah Jongg, there isn't a whole lot out there in Linux.

The .docx files are no problem, but iTunes is a no-go.

Check this out for alternatives:

http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/itunes

Ubuntu disks are live boot, throw it in your DVD and reboot, it will come up running. Try all your hardware to make sure you can see the pretty colors, hit google and so on...

then choose "Install to Hard Disk" - if you are a gamer, follow the instructions to Dual Boot so you can keep your old Windows alive on the box.

When that is all done... install a copy of VMWare and install Windows XP into it... run what you must in real windows (iTunes, Visio).

Bask in a world where windows is in a window and can't break your E36 M3.

Well that pretty much answers it... Now how do I get Ubuntu? can it be downloaded, or do I have to get it from a disk?

Download the disk image then burn onto a CD.

www.ubuntu.com

My most recent install from cold was Hardy Heron.

I couldn't believe how much easier it was than Breezy Badger.

Installing Breezy was my first attempt at Ubuntu and second at Linux. My first time was trying to Install Gentoo back in 03. I never did get it to do anything more than turn on and show me a "dos prompt". I guess that's how the first PC users felt when they brought their first machines home. "Now what? Hello! Hi! Anything?"

Linux has come a loooooong way.

edit GRM Content

I've been around Linux & Unix since the late 80s/early 90s and even I'd suggest that Gentoo is probably not a good introduction to Linux. Heck, I failed to install it properly...

scardeal wrote: Sounds like you'd be a good candidate for a Mac... It has all those programs, without the crud you have to deal with on regular PCs.

I find it odd that while windows seems to be universally hated.. macs are either loved or hated. I know just as many people who have NO problems with their macs as people who have had nothing but trouble.

I prefer windows. I just finally upgraded a computer and discovered that it's Windows Xp pro build was the same one I put on the computer... when XP pro first came out.

BoxheadTim wrote: I've been around Linux & Unix since the late 80s/early 90s and even I'd suggest that Gentoo is probably not a good introduction to Linux. Heck, I failed to install it properly...

I had no idea what I was getting into. I bought a Linux magazine and was thinking I'd try Red Hat or whatever (no idea...). Someone had written a letter saying how wonderful Gentoo was because you could configure it any way you wanted to. I thought "perfect! I'm a smart guy." And tried to install Gentoo. My brain still cramps up thinking about it.

In reply to mad_machine:

I'm not a particular fan of windows, but it's alright. Pre Windows 2k, I DID hate it, though. At work, I use it all the time. Its domain services work very well, and they are cheap (oftentimes in both senses of the word) compared to Macs.

I just continually find that Macs are more elegant and more flexible than Windows or Linux.

Macs certainly seem to be more consistent in their interface. I guess Apple enforcing UI guidelines (at least in the past) has paid off. And underneath there is Unix which appeals to me...