Partial threadjack - you are correct :)
Posted on 03/07/2006 7:08:01 AM PST by N3WBI3
I agree. Once that occurs, then Linux will be acceptable to most people.
Under what rock do you find a total computer newbie in 2006?
No you wont!
What about Microsoft Project files?
If you really want to get the full available power out of Linux, that's true. For many things though, a lot of the stuff works more or less like you'd expect. I saw an interesting usability study done about 6 months or so ago that had complete Linux newbies set up in two groups. This was done at a corporation that was wanting to switch over to Linux, and they were trying to find out which window manager they should roll out to newbies. One group had a default Gnome desktop, and the other had a default KDE desktop.
One of the interesting things that came out of it was that Gnome was more similar to MS-Windows for users, but it was more difficult to get used to. It seemed that because it was so similar, the small differences were more annoying to the users than those who used KDE, which has a much different look and feel. Apparently, because KDE was obviously different, users were able to more quickly learn the new ways of doing things because there was less expectation that they'd be able to do things just as they did before.
One major difference between MS-Windows and either window manager was the feature of multiple desktops. Having separate workspaces can be confusing at first, but once you get used to it, there is really no going back to a single workspace for everything. It's kind of like tabbed browsing. I can't imagine having everything in separate windows anymore. It just seems downright counter-intuitive to me now.
Not everyone is going to like doing things the Linux way. That's cool though. Those of us who do, and have found it to be a much more productive environment in which to work are just glad that we have the choice.
Well, then, Mepis is just a short drive up the road for you.
Personally, I've never needed to work with them. However, it is possible to read those files in Linux. I don't think there is any software that will produce *.mpp files.
There are project planners available for Linux, but they are not compatible with MS Project.
When I do have to run Windows, I use a neat little tray program called VirtuaWin. It allows me to have up to 9 desktops under Windows.
I have one computer that boots XP and Mepis, too. I went a little graphics crazy on the Mepis side, and now, even with 2gHz and 512 mb of ram, it's a bit slow. Of course, everything is transparent...window decorations, taskbar, terminal, etc. Even my start button now fades from black on one end to transparent on the other...
BTW, am I to assume from your nickname that you're a proud Fender owner?
XP didn't recognize and configure my wireless automatically, either. But, having done it myself on two different laptops (one with a Linksys card and one with built-in wireless) with two different operating systems, I can tell you it isn't difficult using the "ndiswrapper" program if your card is supported. Not "plug-in-and-go", but much quicker than installing device drivers in Windows.
But, I'm not making any suggestions...just saying that if it can be done relatively easy in a few minutes, it might be worth considering...once you learn how, you can install pretty much any Linux you want that has ndiswrapper and get the wireless working.
I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "go between" programs. Photoshop CS2 , I don't really know anything about it. The GIMP works fine for the graphics I need. I've recently started playing with POV though. It rocks for making realistic models using raytracing.
I've heard of that, but in those really rare instances when I must use ms-windows, i'm not in it long enough to make it useful, as I'm usually just cleaning up virus infections from someone's PC.
POV :) you should try wings3d(its free), I have Rhino 3D its pretty good, Gimp is ok in a pinch, but not a replacement for Photoshop IMHO. Don't you need like "wine" or something to run windows programs?
Industrial Light and Magic uses Film-GIMP for preprocessing, so it obviously has it's place :-)
<Joe user mode>
WTF is "ndiswrapper"? My head hurts. What to do I click to get online?
</Joe user mode>
That's my requirement. Admittedly, Windows XP really didn't do this well until SP2.
another reason I prefer Photoshop to Gimp I know it better.
No kidding! Especially since Linux resellers like IBM and Novell haven't even been able to complete their transitions yet, and refuse to even give a schedule. How many years behind is that city in Germany too? Obviously even legitimate experts in Linux can't make the transition gracefully or timely, meaning anyone recommending it for "newbies" has some sort of agenda and is limited to opinion pieces rather than facts. Kudos to the author for admitting it, since most Linux pushers won't.
Partial threadjack - you are correct :)
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