Ubuntu, a user-friendly edition of Linux, has been running hence nicely on my home PC that i decided to do a great experiment. I wrote down a directory of tasks I normally do with Windows xp and decided to see how most of them I could do regarding Linux.
Here’ s what my list appeared to be: 1) Write this column; 2) Browse the Online; 3) Get new software and do the installation; 4) Download files; 5) Participate in music and video computer files; 6) Burn CDs; along with 7) Print my docs.
Of all these, the 1st was the easiest. Ubuntu incorporates OpenOffice. org 2. 0, an outstanding personal productivity suite that works similar to Microsoft Office, with its word processor, spreadsheet, repository and presentation programs. The idea reads and writes computer files in MS Word, RTF and various other formats, so discussing your files with mates who use Windows or possibly Mac PCs won’ t certainly be a problem. Unlike earlier versions, too, the program seems to load and run much faster.
OpenOffice. org 2. 0 generally seems to run much faster nowadays. I open up XMMS to be controlled by some music while When i work.
Browsing was equally easy. Ubuntu lets you take your pick from several Web browsers, which include Firefox. I experienced some glitches initially with Video hosting sites – the videos were playing without sound – but that worked itself out when i rebooted the system.
Pertaining to Windows users, downloading and installing different software on Linux might be rather daunting. Where’ ersus the. EXE file? What now ? with the downloaded register (called a package, throughout Linux)? What file does one run? Fortunately, Ubuntu covers most of these problems on your behalf. A program called Synaptic Package Manager covers finding new programs and installing them for you. These are sorted by just program types, but the sheer number might be overwhelming. When I jogged Synaptic Package Manager, it happily reported that there are more than 18, 808 packages available, only 1, 221 which I had installed.
Getting music and videos? Check out. My favorite BitTorrent purchaser, uTorrent, isn’ t available on Linux but KTorrent, which works quite similar way, already comes having Ubuntu. I put this software through its paces and found it held up quite nicely against my own trusted file-sharing utility.
For you to play music and films, Ubuntu comes with numerous multimedia players. For MP3 files, I like XMMS, which appears to be WinAmp. Downloaded AVI documents won’ t play properly for the default Movie Player, but installing VLC Marketing Player (using Synaptic) will manage that.
Burning CDs turned out to be trickier.
Ubuntu is smart enough to detect an important blank CD when it’ s inserted all of which will ask if you’ d love to burn a data and / or an audio CD. In case you choose data, it will open a window into which you'll drag files you’ deborah like burned. Burning a data CD this way is simplicity itself, but it is a bit too very simple. The program, Nautilus, doesn’ t even show you how much disc space or room you’ re using.
If you opt to burn an audio NEW CD, Ubuntu will start a program called Serpentine, which permits you to add audio files to an audio CD compilation. Your puzzling thing is, Serpentine will never accept MP3 files by default! All is not sacrificed, however. You need to run the LAME encoder to your Gstreamer package (gstreamer0. 8-lame), yet again using Synaptic. Once you’ ve accomplished that, Serpentine will burn ones MP3 files into an audio CD and not using a hitch.
Serpentine burns a good audio CD.
Burning the VCD from AVI records is even trickier. Throughout very broad strokes, you’ ll should install K3b, a COMPACT DISC burning program, and a package called VCDimager, along with tell K3b where it’ ersus located. You’ ll also have to have a command-line program called FFmpeg towards convert AVI files to help MPG, which is any format that K3b functions. Sounds complicated? It is, but it’ s doable.
Finally, I wanted that will print documents on the Epson Stylus C50 ink jet printer. Simple as the item sounds, this last task almost stumped me. Though Ubuntu detected my printer and said it had been using the correct printer driver with a program called Gimp-print, our C50 kept spewing out garbled, unreadable text. Hours of online groundwork about Gimp-print only confounded me further with what was gobbledygook. Many sheets of wasted paper later, I remembered a snippet of information coming from a mailing list. It was written prior to the C50 driver was available and suggested that the driver for an before Epson model, the C44UX may work. I went to help Ubuntu’ s printer setup software program and told it to work with that driver and – voila! — I was finally capable to print. Frustration faded away and also a sense of satisfaction occur. I had survived any weekend without Windows.
