To continue from where I left off previously, my installation of Ubuntu’s Feisty Fawn (7.04) has been full of nothing but pleasant surprises. It just works! Right out of the box, if you will. So far, the experience has been smooth. Now, like most of you out there, I was hyped to see what all I had to use that was comparable to Windows. Granted, not all applications/software/games will work on Ubuntu….yet.
But thanks to some clever people over at the Wine project, that is soon to be a thing of the past.
Applications Galore! OK, let’s see what we have here:
Word Processing
- Windows: Word
- Ubuntu: OpenOffice.org’s Writer
Spreadsheet
- Windows: Excel
- Ubuntu: OpenOffice.org’s CalcPresentation
Presentations
- Windows: Powerpoint
- Ubuntu: OpenOffice.org’s Impress
Database
- Windows: Access
- Ubuntu: OpenOffice.org’s Base
Web Browser
- Windows: Internet Explorer or Firefox
- Ubuntu: Firefox
- Windows: Outlook Express, Outlook or Thunderbird
- Ubuntu: Evolution or Thunderbird (Evolution is similar to Outlook)
Media Players
- Windows: Windows Media Player, iTunes, Winamp
- Ubuntu: Rhythmbox, Totem Movie Player, Banshee
Photo Editor
- Windows: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Fireworks
- Ubuntu: The GIMP
Instant Messaging
- Windows: AIM, Yahoo, ICQ, Google Talk, Gaim
- Ubuntu: Gaim (Gaim handles most all IM protocals all in one app)
Voice over IP
- Windows: Skype
- Ubuntu: Ekiga Softphone or Skype
There are many, many more apps that Ubuntu offers or is available for download that I didn’t cover here but I think you get the point. Also, there are many more apps out there that are available on Windows as well but here again, I wanted to cover some of the more popular ones.
My Take on Things
I’ve used The GIMP for some image editing and it’s similar to Photoshop albeit, you’ll have a bit of a learning curve to get used to some of the options especially if you’re used to Photoshop.
NVU is an excellant WYSIWYG web authoring app that is also similar to Dreamweaver. I’ve used both extensively and have had no issues whatsoever.
GAIM just rocks because you can run it in place of most all of the popular IM’ing clients out there today. Just add the client (such as AOL or ICQ), set it to auto logon and you’re set.
Email is also easy. Personally, I use both Gmail and Yahoo for personal and business emails but have used Thunderbird in place of Outlook Express. Thunderbird is a head on winner in my book. Evolution is Ubuntu’s version to replace Outlook and it does an admirable job.
Firefox has been my primary browser of choice ever since it’s inception so I wouldn’t have enough space here to go on about it. 
For word processing duties, I use OpenOffice hands down. A document can be saved in the popular .doc format if need be for those that need to access it via M/S Word.
For entertainment purposes, I’m giving Banshee and Totem Movie Player a go. So far, I’m impressed.
To Sum It All Up
See, my point is this with all the coverage of Ubuntu here: You get a full-featured, fast and capable operating system for the cost of a little time invested. Not a bloated system that costs more than it’s worth! Many would argue with me but the sweet part of all of this is that it’s a personal choice. If you want to go through the hassles of upgrading your hardware (especially if you have an older system) and then pay several hundred dollars just for the system itself, then by all means…go ahead. It’s your money.
However, with Ubuntu you don’t have to pay an expensive price for a capable operating system. It’s absolutely free. Just some time invested to download it, burn the ISO to CD and then install and configure (set up your desktop). That’s it. Many of the apps I mentioned above are already installed or free to download either through the Package Manager or via Synaptic. What more could you ask for?
Now I’ve generalized a lot of information here for the sake of space but if I’ve worked up your interest enough, go ahead and check out Ubuntu Linux for yourself. I think you’ll be impressed!
Article by Scott Wilson – Scott has been involved with PC’s, operating systems and web development for around 6 years. Once he figured out how to turn a computer on he’s never been quite able to turn it back off again. He’s been continually adding to a weblog to help pass on information relating to the world wide web. You can find out more about Scott and his work at MerlinsMinute.com.
