linux and windows?

Question

I am very impressed with LINUX but I am worried that all my family have windows xp will I still be able to email and Skype them and will documents made by office 2003 be able to be wread by LINUX

Answer 1

Yes, with the exception of games you will be able to do everything a Windows user can do and more. With OpenOffice.org and StarOffice you are able to read and write MS Office documents. I know for a fact that Xandros Linux comes with Skype pre-installed. There are several E-Mail applications that work just like Outlook. And you can use Gaim or Kapote to set up all of your Instant Messenger accounts (Yahoo, MSN, AIM, ICQ, and IRC) to be used with one program in one window.

The most recommended distributions for people migrating from Windows are:

Ubuntu: uses the Gnome desktop enviroment, is free to download, updates frequently, and is based on the very stable Debian Linux.
http://www.ubuntu.com

Kubuntu: same as above except it uses the KDE desktop enviroment.
http://www.kubuntu.com

Xandros: uses KDE, is based on Debian Linux, cost about $60 and comes with a users guide and stickers to place on your PC. The home Primium edition is packed with proprietary features and a security suite.
http://www.xandros.com

Mandriva: uses KDE, is based on Red Hat Linux, comes with Cedega (allows you to play Windows games), Kapersky Anti-Virus, and LinDVD (the only legal Linux DVD player), it comes in a Linux for beginners package with a manual for people new to Linux and a Linux poweruser package with a manual for advanced users. Figure spending about $40 for the beginner package, and between $70 - $90 for the powerpack.
http://www.mandriva.com

Linspire: uses KDE, has lots of free and commercial software. It is designed to look as much like Windows as possible. It was originally called Lindows until Windows sued them.
http://www.linspire.com

The KDE desktop is a Windows like enviroment. The Gnome enviroment is something different and is prefered by many advanced Linux users.

If you want to know more about Linux distributions go to http://www.distrowatch.com

Yes, you can dual boot Linux. It is very easy and you don't need to buy any additional software, Linux distributions already come with everything you need to set up a dual boot computer.

I'm currently dual booting Windows XP and Xandros Linux 4.0. Before I got Xandros I was dual booting Windows XP and SuSe Linux 10.1.

I will walk you through the steps to dual boot your Windows XP system.

1. Windows must be installed on your hard drive first before you install another OS. This is because Windows will only take over the entire hard drive.

2. Disable Windows Virtual Memory.

3. Defrag your hard drive.

4. Put the Linux boot CD in your ROM drive.

5. Restart your computer.

6. Linux will analyze your system and suggest the number of partitions and partition sizes. Some like SuSe will suggest a Windows partition, a root partition, and a user or home partition. Others like Xandros will just create a Windows and a Linux partition.

7. Accept suggested partitions. Believe it or not Linux really does know best.

8. Finish installation and reboot.

9. After your PC goes through post you will see a screen that ask you what OS you would like to boot.

10. Use the arrows to select Linux or Windows. If you do not choose an OS after a few seconds you will automatically boot into Linux by default.

While it is true some installations of Linux are extremely hard to do, other distributions are as easy as selecting left or right handed mouse, keyboard layout, setting date and time and checking for updates.

SuSe took me a couple of hours to install. While Xandros was about 4 mouse clicks and a total of maybe 20 minutes.

If you have any other questions feel free to e-mail me and if I don't know something I can at least point you in the right direction.

Answer 2

Dude, don't go hasty to scare of people and even maybe yourself.

With this great technology of virtualization you can have you windows apps run on top of Linux so that you may enjoy the stability and security of Linux and still allow slow addaptive users to use Windows.

This thing of 3D windows, fading and transparent windows, wobbling windows and alot of cool stuff are already available in linux and Vista is only catching up now? Search for Xgl and view some screen shots.

If you need a step bu step instructions, drop me an email at [e-mail]

Answer 3

No worries! Skype is about the easiest installation ever for Linux, Open Office is 99% compatible with MS office and Linux has shed loads more eyecandy than XP and email is very easy to set up in Linux. Go for it.

Answer 4

You might find occasional problems converting documents, but I think in general the experience should be fairly equivalent and stable.

While your doing this, make a partition Vista and load it up so you can have some real fun with 3 systems.

Wish I could send you my desktop picture, it;s a penguin, with an Apple bite on both my XP & Vista pc's. Too fun

Answer 5

see dude i too am a great linux fan, and as fas as viewing documents are concerned open office will handle them but if you are a complete noob i do recomend dual booting!

Happy Linux!