[GWatt]

@Psycho
Open Office is a good program. i think it could stand to not be written in Java, but it is certainly not bad.
GIMP is a nice program. It works very well.

I will agree that mono is not very good. It is fine if you use command line stuff (except that \t is ignored) but once you venture into the System.Windows.Forms GUI realms it quickly becomes inadequate. I believe the GTK# stuff works pretty well though.

[abgorn]

UG Cyber, on 25 Oct, 2008 - 09:04 AM, said:

I took your advice and going for the live CD, but since my computer (more of vista) is being a pain im getting NimbleX because vista is only showing a max size on my CD-RW 518mb, Thanks for your help, i think i'll like it!!

Quote

What you should really think about is if you have any dependancies to Windows, if you don't try Linux on a LiveCD and if you are happy with it switch or you could dual-boot so you have both!

That would be awsome, how would i set that up??

Here two tutorials for dual-booting (first for Vista and second for XP):
http://apcmag.com/ho...alled_first.htm
http://apcmag.com/ho...alled_first.htm

[Amadeus]

As usual, this type of thread is rapidly denigrating into the MS only advocates and the Linux only advocates using absolutes to describe what they feel.
Each OS has differences, and each user has their own set of needs. There are some differences between Linux and Windows, no doubt about it. If you have specific needs (directed at the OP), please list them, and we can advise of compatibility. There are a few email applications for linux that will hook up to exchange server.

You ay to try Linux, and see if it meets your needs...it may, it may not.

My only advice is to watch the advice you take from zealots on either side of the fence...when people say 'Application X is [insert denigration here]', what they really mean is that the application did not meet their needs...perhaps it does not have some functionality they require, perhaps they are not able to adapt well to the manner in which the application implements that functionality.
a Linux nut will never tell you anything positive about Windows. A Windows nut will never tell you anything positive about Linux.

Try it out, make your own decision, and use what you feel comfortable with.

For the record, I have both, and use them both.

To add an updated feel to this conversation, I would point out to all the following:

1. Mono has just released the new version of the framework. It has many enhanced capabilities and resources. It should be noted that Mono as framework will always be behind the .NET framework...that is unavoidable.

2. Gimpshop is a Gimp hack designed to provide users with the look and feel of Photoshop.

Enjoy trying new things.

[baavgai]

homemade-jam, on 25 Oct, 2008 - 10:36 AM, said:

And for coding.. vi!

You are a bad, bad person.

Vi and emacs are the venerable editors of Linux and are as quirky as they come. Because they've been around forever, they can both do lots of complex non editor things. Emacs is practically an OS unto itself. I wouldn't recommend either of them starting out. If you like Linux, I'd recommend understanding the basics of VI, since it's always there and is sometimes the only thing there. Being able to simply edit a single file can save you a lot of frustration.

For programming there are lots of options. Eclipse, CodeBlocks, Mono, even just a nice editor and the command line. I use Java's Netbeans for both java and C/C++ projects. I find it a good balance of power versus simplicity.

[homemade-jam]

Yeah, I must say I am an equal fan of both, I tend to use kdevelop or kate and sometimes nano if its a little change.

Still prefer a gui over CLI anyday - I can't be doing with reading the useless foo -h text and experimenting around with all the friggin arguments. You don't tend to have to do that much in windoz.

[brds]

baavgai, on 25 Oct, 2008 - 05:30 PM, said:

homemade-jam, on 25 Oct, 2008 - 10:36 AM, said:

And for coding.. vi!

You are a bad, bad person.

You should be using emacs.

[UG Cyber]

ok, i am on it right now, i couldn't get ubuntu to work but i did get NimbleX to work. And i like it but i just have to learn new things to do with it. However, it wont install on the HDD. and Vista wont let me create a new partition for it through disk management. is there any tips for this? would i be able to install a differ version through NimbleX?

[GWatt]

The latest version of ubuntu (8.04) can install into the windows partition. I don't know if you can run the install from within Windows or if you have to reboot, but I have seen my friend's install and he has ubuntu in the Windows bootloader. If you do it that way your system will be slower than if you had installed to a separate partition.

If you want to install on a separate partition you need to shrink your Windows partition. If I remember correctly, Vista doesn't like to give up space so you need to use the ubuntu livecd to shrink the ntfs partition. look for a program called gparted.

[Nykc]

I did this very thing (Dual boot windoz & Ubuntu) with Vista flawlessly and without issue.

This is the very link I used, follow the instructions step by step and you too should have no issue.

Dual Boot with Ubuntu & Vista

[no2pencil]

Amadeus, on 25 Oct, 2008 - 01:44 PM, said:

a Linux nut will never tell you anything positive about Windows.

Not true. I think that the Windows API is fantastic. It gives a developer complete versatility to jump form one platform to another, & not skip a beat. It's like coding standards++ (if that even makes sense).

& I would strongly suggest that anyone who is going to use Linux get used to working in vi. The reason for it is simply that the editor is guaranteed to be on any *nix install, & you can use it to trouble shoot your way out of all sorts of issues. Get yourself dependent on a visual (gui) crutch, & you're stuck if something goes wrong.

Just my 2¢

[UG Cyber]

GWatt, on 25 Oct, 2008 - 06:40 PM, said:

The latest version of ubuntu (8.04) can install into the windows partition. I don't know if you can run the install from within Windows or if you have to reboot, but I have seen my friend's install and he has ubuntu in the Windows bootloader. If you do it that way your system will be slower than if you had installed to a separate partition.

If you want to install on a separate partition you need to shrink your Windows partition. If I remember correctly, Vista doesn't like to give up space so you need to use the ubuntu livecd to shrink the ntfs partition. look for a program called gparted.

Gparted came with NimbleX, when i start it it says that it will erase the entire disk. It will not allow me to resize or move.

When i use FDisk on the other tuts, it will only give me a new partition size of 500K, which is pathetic. So i tried many other partition software bootable and non, none of them liked my HDD. If i erase my HDD