Switching operating systems can be tough. When you get accustomed to certain applications sometimes it can be hard to learn how to use other ones. I recently installed Ubuntu Eee (soon to be Easy Peasy) on my Eee PC 901 and it took quite a while to find apps that cam do everything I can do within Mac OS X and Windows. Here’s a quick guide so you can make your Linux machine feel like home.
Standard Internet procedures
Think of the things you do most often on the Internet. Chances are they involve any combination of a web browser, IM program, VOIP, and email client. These are the simplest of applications to find, and usually built in to most Linux distributions. Firefox is the easiest choice for a web browser and is probably what you’re using on Windows and (maybe) Mac, anyway.
Pidgin is used for IM, and can handle just about any service you throw at it from AIM and ICQ to Yahoo, Google Talk and MSN. Skype already as a Linux program, so there’s another familiar app.
For email, it’s a bit different. The two largest ones are Evolution Mail and Thunderbird. Personally, if you’re using a netbook with Linux, its probably a better idea to just use the websites to conserve space.
Office Suite
Although we would like to, it is usually impossible to have a computer without an office suite, or at least a word processor. On Linux, the big one I found is OpenOffice, a free open source project from Sun. They can be a bit bloated, and have things you don’t need to use, though. If you only need a straight word processor, AbiWord will do the trick. It’s lightweight, free, and open source. It is the best option I’ve found to replace Word.
There’s also the option to simply install Google Gears and run Google Docs online and off, if you really want to get into cloud computing.
Personally, on the Mac I have 4 word processors that each do separate things. The two specialty ones being WriteRoom and Scrivener. Both have fullscreen editing which I find to be a big help, and Scrivener has the tools to outline any sort of creative writing work (especially good for writing novels and short stories). Sadly, I have yet to find a replacement for Scivener, but I have been able to find a replacement for WriteRoom.
For Windows users, you may have used Q10 or JDarkRoom before, they work the same as WriteRoom. For Linux I found TextRoom. TextRoom is a Google Code project that opens in full screen to write, and tells you word count, pages and other stats alon the bottom of the screen, quite useful for distraction-free writing. Or, you could just used full screen mode in AbiWord.
Media Playback
On Windows and Mac OS X you might be comfortable with Windows Media Player, iTunes, and Quicktime. Unfortunately, none of these work on Linux, but their counterparts are actually better, allowing for more customization and supporting more media codecs.
For video, the best option for Linux (or any operating system, for that matter) that I found is VLC Player. VLC can take just about any media file you throw at it and play it perfectly. It is also lightweight and isn’t too much of a resource hog unless it’s playing HD video. Hands down the best option.
For music the range of options is large. Ubuntu packs Rhythmbox into the distribution and that works fairly well from I’ve seen. It supports music, podcasts, and iPods. However, recently Songbird, a music player based on the Firefox architecture was released, and it seems a bit cooler than Rhythmbox. It supports add-ons like Firefox and even has built in web browser. It can even play iTunes DRM tracks, which is quite impressive.
Image Editing
For most people, when they think of image editing, they think of Photoshop. Photoshop, however, has no real Linux version. I don’t do a whole lot of image editing, but I do use Skitch on the Mac to capture images to send to people and sadly there’s no Linux version of that either. There is one popular program that can replace both of these, though: GIMP.
GIMP is an open source “image manipulation program” that bears an uncanny resemblance to Photoshop. It can do just about everything Photoshop can do for the average user. I can’t speak for the hardcore image editor, but for me it is more than adequate.
Of course, there isn’t a replacement for everything your looking for, especially when you get even more specific. But, with WINE or Crossover, you can get most popular Windows apps to work in Linux. Sadly, there is no way to get native Mac apps to work on Linux, so no Delicious Library, Skitch, Scrivener or 1Password for Linux users.
SOURCE: Gadgetell
Standard Internet procedures
Think of the things you do most often on the Internet. Chances are they involve any combination of a web browser, IM program, VOIP, and email client. These are the simplest of applications to find, and usually built in to most Linux distributions. Firefox is the easiest choice for a web browser and is probably what you’re using on Windows and (maybe) Mac, anyway.
Pidgin is used for IM, and can handle just about any service you throw at it from AIM and ICQ to Yahoo, Google Talk and MSN. Skype already as a Linux program, so there’s another familiar app.
For email, it’s a bit different. The two largest ones are Evolution Mail and Thunderbird. Personally, if you’re using a netbook with Linux, its probably a better idea to just use the websites to conserve space.
Office Suite
Although we would like to, it is usually impossible to have a computer without an office suite, or at least a word processor. On Linux, the big one I found is OpenOffice, a free open source project from Sun. They can be a bit bloated, and have things you don’t need to use, though. If you only need a straight word processor, AbiWord will do the trick. It’s lightweight, free, and open source. It is the best option I’ve found to replace Word.
There’s also the option to simply install Google Gears and run Google Docs online and off, if you really want to get into cloud computing.
Personally, on the Mac I have 4 word processors that each do separate things. The two specialty ones being WriteRoom and Scrivener. Both have fullscreen editing which I find to be a big help, and Scrivener has the tools to outline any sort of creative writing work (especially good for writing novels and short stories). Sadly, I have yet to find a replacement for Scivener, but I have been able to find a replacement for WriteRoom.
For Windows users, you may have used Q10 or JDarkRoom before, they work the same as WriteRoom. For Linux I found TextRoom. TextRoom is a Google Code project that opens in full screen to write, and tells you word count, pages and other stats alon the bottom of the screen, quite useful for distraction-free writing. Or, you could just used full screen mode in AbiWord.
Media Playback
On Windows and Mac OS X you might be comfortable with Windows Media Player, iTunes, and Quicktime. Unfortunately, none of these work on Linux, but their counterparts are actually better, allowing for more customization and supporting more media codecs.
For video, the best option for Linux (or any operating system, for that matter) that I found is VLC Player. VLC can take just about any media file you throw at it and play it perfectly. It is also lightweight and isn’t too much of a resource hog unless it’s playing HD video. Hands down the best option.
For music the range of options is large. Ubuntu packs Rhythmbox into the distribution and that works fairly well from I’ve seen. It supports music, podcasts, and iPods. However, recently Songbird, a music player based on the Firefox architecture was released, and it seems a bit cooler than Rhythmbox. It supports add-ons like Firefox and even has built in web browser. It can even play iTunes DRM tracks, which is quite impressive.
Image Editing
For most people, when they think of image editing, they think of Photoshop. Photoshop, however, has no real Linux version. I don’t do a whole lot of image editing, but I do use Skitch on the Mac to capture images to send to people and sadly there’s no Linux version of that either. There is one popular program that can replace both of these, though: GIMP.
GIMP is an open source “image manipulation program” that bears an uncanny resemblance to Photoshop. It can do just about everything Photoshop can do for the average user. I can’t speak for the hardcore image editor, but for me it is more than adequate.
Of course, there isn’t a replacement for everything your looking for, especially when you get even more specific. But, with WINE or Crossover, you can get most popular Windows apps to work in Linux. Sadly, there is no way to get native Mac apps to work on Linux, so no Delicious Library, Skitch, Scrivener or 1Password for Linux users.
SOURCE: Gadgetell
