I LINUX!

Sometime in the year 2000 I began a quest to switch my main daily use computers away from Microsoft Windows. My quest lead me to download and install the Mandriva Linux (called Mandrake back then) operating system. In late 2004, I switched to Arch Linux.

There are many Linux distributions to choose from, some of the more popular FREE ones are:

• Mandriva (easy installation, fairly easy to learn)
• SuSe (easy installation, most popular in Europe)
• Debian (difficult installation, for the purist or hacker)
• Ubuntu (based on Debian but made easy for desktop users)

If you are a first time Linux user, I would strongly recommend Mandriva or Ubuntu. If you feel you want a challenge or want to know more of how the system works or stability, choose Debian (or something even more challenging like Arch or Gentoo ).

To download free Linux ISO images to burn to CD, check out: http://www.linuxiso.org
(or you could go to your local computer store, BestBuy or Staples and purchase a boxed version although you may not usually find the latest versions on store shelves)

To try out Linux with no risk and no modifications to your harddrive, get Knoppix.

Get my Make The Move 4 CD kit delivered to you in the mail.

Here is a list of software applications that I used in Windows and the equivalent applications for Linux with a comment.

Application	Windows	Linux	Comment
Office Suite	Microsoft Office Standard $700	OpenOffice $FREE	OpenOffice is a very full-featured word processor, spreadsheet and presentation maker. OpenOffice can load and save in MS-Office formats. Note: this app is available for Windows also
Graphic Editor	Adobe Photoshop $1000	The Gimp $FREE	I don't require much from my graphic editor application so The Gimp has so far done everything I need. Some people claim that it is almost comparable to Photoshop in features (hmm... maybe not quite yet). Overall, Gimp is a great application! Note: this app is available for Windows also
Text Editor	TextPad $35	JEdit $FREE	I use a text editor a lot in my job as a web/database developer and I find that JEdit is really a good application and in some ways better than TextPad. For features and customization ability, the two editors are almost the same. Note: this app is available for Windows also
Web Browser	Internet Explorer $FREE	Firefox $FREE	Firefox is fast and renders pages well. Note: this app is available for Windows also
Instant Messenger	ICQ $FREE	Gaim $FREE	Gaim is compatible with ICQ, AIM, MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, IRC, Jabber, Gadu-Gadu, SILC, GroupWise Messenger, and Zephyr networks. Note: this app is available for Windows also
MP3/Audio Player	WinAmp $FREE	Xmms $FREE	These programs are almost identical in look and feel.
CD/DVD Creation and Burning	Easy CD Creator $100	K3B $FREE	K3B is an excellent program with many options and it works well... I use it to burn CDs all the time.
Virus Protection	McAfee Virus Scan $50	N/A	This is not needed on Linux as there are no viruses for it! (well, maybe a few but none that I've ever come across) Also, no need to run spyware scanners!
Total:	$1885 CAD	$FREE	Here is where one of the main attractions is for me with Linux and open source applications... it's all FREE and I am bound to NO company or corporation!

The list above only includes a few of the more common applications that a Windows user probably feels he/she couldn't live without... and most of them have Windows versions available so you can start your transition by installing them on your current Windows system. Once you have learned to use all these applications, the switch to Linux won't be so unfamiliar.
For an almost complete list of Windows/Linux software comparisons, check out http://linuxshop.ru/linuxbegin/win-lin-soft-en/table.shtml

If you like the Windows interface look and feel, don't forget to specify KDE as your default window manager when you install! If you want a light-weight & fast desktop that still has the look and feel of Windows, you may want to check out IceWM!

One difficult thing about Linux is that there are so many choices for look and feel of your system that it can be a bit overwhelming at first. Please check out my other site, DesktopLinuxAtHome.com, for more stuff to help you out!

If you live in the Waterloo/Kitchener/Cambridge area and are interested in learning more about Linux, come to a KWLUG (KW Linux Users Group) meeting! Check out www.kwlug.org for more information. Meetings are open to anybody interested in Linux... there is no cost and no membership needed.