[inabis]

Does anybody use ubuntu?? I've been thinking about getting a new laptop but I figure that my comp is just slow b/c of my specs and XP. But my question is this: if I use Ubuntu then I can still use applications like MS word or itunes? My gut tells me no

[FirstClass]

You can't use your apps, but there are comparable/superior ones that are FOSS and will run on Linux. Open Office is fully compatible with MS Word (all MS Office programs actually) document formats.

[DesiGUY]

Originally Posted by inabis

Does anybody use ubuntu?? I've been thinking about getting a new laptop but I figure that my comp is just slow b/c of my specs and XP. But my question is this: if I use Ubuntu then I can still use applications like MS word or itunes? My gut tells me no

I use both Vista and Ubuntu.
can you still use apps like word, itunes... you can (not 100% sure)

There is a ubuntu application called "Wine"... using that you can install most of the windows applications.

Google for more.

[FirstClass]

Originally Posted by DesiGUY

I use both Vista and Ubuntu.
can you still use apps like word, itunes... you can (not 100% sure)

There is a ubuntu application called "Wine"... using that you can install most of the windows applications.

Google for more.

You can use Wine, but he's much better off using native Linux programs imo. Wine is usually pretty good, but it's an emulator so it's not anything near perfect. The native Linux apps usually retain full functionality or are even better than their Windows counterparts. (Plus they're free, unlike MS Office which is expensive as hell)

[AJerman]

+1, Wine is typically a last ditch effort if you HAVE to have something that has no comparable application on Linux. As mentioned, OpenOffice is incredible and absolutely free. There's your office suite.

For a media player, there are tons. You can look at Songbird which is modeled to be an iTunes alternative, however I've found it not to be polished enough quite yet. Granted, I haven't used it in a while. Another very popular choice is Amarok if you're using KDE (I suggest Gnome, it's the Ubuntu default, Kubuntu is the KDE version), or my favorite when I was last using Ubuntu, Exaile on Gnome.

There are plenty of apps to replace just about anything you use right now. I'd suggest getting into the Ubuntu forums as they have a ridiculous wealth of information. You can find out about all kinds of cool new apps by just browsing around the forums.

[satakal]

I installed a version of ubuntu or was it fedora on my PS3. (Yellow Dog Linux) It kicked me arse. Linux is for men that shave with a steak knife and cut their toe nails with a dremmel.

The free awesomeness isn't exactly free.
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[J.P.]

PS3 isnt the best for linux, the fact that it has very little RAM, and the PS3 blocks out the RSX graphics chip making it almost useless.

[solefald]

have to sound off on the whole ubuntu thing.

i have been using Linux as my primary OS (work desktop, home desktop, servers at work) since '97. It all started with a 28 floppy download of Slackware for my 486SX, then RedHat 4.0, SuSe, Caldera, Debian, and then Ubuntu, because it is Debian based but more Desktop friendly. Linux is my full time job. This is what i do for a living.

if you are a kind of person who has all the time in the world to spend countless hours trying to get your shit to work, linux is for you. but if you are a basic windows check-email-get-online type of user, don't waste your time.

Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) release was a complete disaster! It broke EVERYTHING. I had to reinstall from scratch (i NEVER EVER had to do it with Debian) and re-configure everything again, and even then half of the shit did not work. Like using wireless with static IP's. Network Manager gui software did not allow that, and the only way to get it working was removing bunch of shit and configuring via config files (NOT something a new user would be able to do)

Then 8.04 (Hardy Heron) came out... and after a simple apt-get dist-upgrade Grub (boot loader) does not see my hard drive anymore. I said fuck it and went back to Debian.

Sooo.... i would suggest you stick with windows, unless you either know what you are doing, or you have time and desire to play with your computer all day long

It actually bums me out that after all these years Linux is still nowhere near where it could have been

[jeveryday]

Ubuntu is GREAT...

[cliverman]

UBUNTU is great. Use it daily. I also use Redhat and Mandriva. Of the three distros Ubuntu is my fav.