doubt on Linux

well, im using Vista right now. Im quite Ok, but im getting tired of using Win. for years and it uses alot of power (RAM and all thst stuff)

anyway i have some "simple" questions:

Would i be able to use Office on Linux?
Would i be able to use Visual Basic on Linux?
Will all of my info right now get earsed if i install Linux?
will i be able to use Messenger (wlm)?

thx in adv folks

p.s srry for my bad english :S

 

1- If you create a new partition for Linux then you will keep your data.

2- You can run some Win apps under Linux with WINE ( a compatibility layer) but I would recommend you to use some native alternatives (Pidgin, Kopete or aMSN instead of WLM / OpenOffice.Org instead of Office).

 

thx for the fast replay

i read an articule around here, but i just cant make my mind lol .... im interested in Linux cause it sounds powerful without taking much RAM power..

 

The best thing to do is to download & burn a LiveCD and give it a try withtout installing it.

 

GREAT!!! i like that... do u have the link to it?

 

1. Would i be able to use Office on Linux?
ANS: You can read and write Office stuff using OpenOffice [including the new Office 2007 OOXML format, using a converter]. So, in essence, yes.

2. Would i be able to use Visual Basic on Linux?
ANS: Perhaps, most likely through Wine. I'd Google up on it.

3. Will all of my info right now get earsed if i install Linux?
ANS: Partition it, that way you can switch between if you need. If done right, no data will be lost.

4. will i be able to use Messenger (wlm)?
ANS: Yes! "Pidgin" supports MS Messenger, AIM, etc etc...

 

thx again to u Scythe

i'll google up that about VB and Pidgin

 

1. Office on Linux = No. I've used Office in Wine and it doesn't work. The only apps that sort of work are Word and Excel, and then they are very very very unstable (crashing on close, inability to save, etc). Outlook, Access, Powerpoint, OneNote, etc. do not work in Wine.

The only realistic workable way to have an office suite on your computer is to use an open source solution such as OpenOffice which has reasonably good copies of Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Access (and some other apps).

2. VB on Linux = No. Using an inherently unstable solution is just not a best practice.

3. Data Loss = Possibly. If you are not careful in how you partition/install, then it's possible (even easy) to erase all your data. This is only if you do something wrong. If you do it correctly, there are no problems. The LiveCD solution works as well if you just want to mess around and evaluate. Just remember it will run much slower off the CD/DVD drive than the HD.

4. There are many open source alternatives for windows apps including messaging apps. pidgin installs by default with ubuntu.

 

Gnome desktop environment:
Ubuntu
Linux Mint (a variant of Ubuntu, even easier)

KDE desktop environment:
MEPIS
OpenSUSE
PCLinuxOS

Btw, what are your hardware specs?

 

well you could use msoffice, two diff ways that are workable, one is to use crossover(simular to wine) but its not free after 60 days...secondly you could use virtual machine, where you have windows running in linux, i use innotek, but theres plenty to try and if you have a system that supports hardware vm then you got it made...
You could use VB in a virtual machine, limitation would be hardware support, as vm usually uses a virtual graphics card....
using a decent partition app(like gparted), you can simply resize an existing partition..albiet ensuring have some backup for errors...
(with gparted, every change is actioned so if you change the size 2 or 3 times before applying, it will do each step, so do the least changes, ie one step reducing, an one step for each linux partition)
as for messenger, well take your choice.....

 

For a KDE environment, don't forget Kubuntu, that is a popular distrubution that is easy to install and set up like Ubuntu

 

thx John 4 those links... im gonna start downloading it ...

i saw some vids on youtube, and it looks great. and i really loved the 3D cube lol

 

What are your hardware specs?

 

-120GB HD
-1GB RAM
-GMA 950

any more?

 

well, i have the disc now

so how do i exactly install it? without losing windows of course

i think i reboot my pc with the disc in.. am i right?

 

Yes that's all you have to do.

Remember, it will be slower with the disc and that's normal.

 

I hope I am not too late. I see that you are very new to Linux, and possibly to computers. Running Linux from the LiveCD is very safe, but I wouldn't jump into the installation part until you understand a little better what it is that you are doing.

Your machine probably came with one or two partitions from the store, the Windows partition and a partition that has the files to restore the machine to its factory condition. There are tools you can use to see this. For example, you can download a CD image of GParted. This works like other LiveCDs in that you can boot your machine from it, but its only purpose is to show you your partitions and edit them if needed.

!!!Always defragment your Windows partitions before attempting to edit them.!!!

What I recommend is that you use GParted to shrink your Windows partition first. Leave the now empty part of the hard drive as is. Whatever distro you end up installing can easily detect it and use it for itself.

This little writeup I did may prove to be useful to you to see how this works.

http://temporaryland.wordpress.com/2007/11/23/finding-the-right-distro-for-my-thinkpad-t61-part1/

Oh, and make sure you try several distros to see which one fits your style. =)

 

Sorry if this is offensive to some ppl here.

But I find it a bit tiring that the answer to questions like these from Linux nOObs is something like "yes, you can do this using wine or ____" (insert your favorite virtualization soft here).

If those answers lead to some new Linux converts, great. On the other hand, I would prefer an answer such as "you can do all of those things on Linux" (including Visual Basic, btw) but expect things to work _differently_ than on Windoze. Apart from a few special cases, why switch to Linux if you want to have everything the same as on Windoze?

Somewhere in the forum, there is this great link to an article discussing how things work differently on Linux...

And if someone asks "will I lose my data?," he/she certainly hasn't done the google-ing one could expect before posting (or, for that matter, read one of the dozens of messages of similar spirit in this forum). I have serious doubts that person will be able to successfully install and configure Linux--at least if he has not only standard hardware and software needs.

 

I agree with you there.

I wouldn't link someone who doesn't know a bit about computers to Linux, except if it's its first OS. (For someone who has never used a computer, I wouldn't think it would be harder than first timers with Win95/98)

 

What about running UBUNTU live off a SD card? Will that work faster than using a cd? I save it to an iso on the card...

 

That won't work.

You can install it on the SD Card if your BIOS allows booting from the SD card. You can also on a USB pen drive (I'd suggest at least a 4GB though)

 

thx again for your comments...

well, right now im on ubuntu, and it looks GREAT

i installed flash player only... and i try to get used to it... and yep, its quite different

so ill be doing some searching around here looking for some tips and stuff like that.