The real problem for many people is the hardware and software needs.
I still have some USB hardware that does not work on Linux. No working drivers.
Then there is the problem of having to use certain software, for work or pleasure, that you either
cannot find a good Linux alternative or you MUST use. There is the option of WINE, but some
software seems not to want to work under that. Personally, I have never gotten WINE to work for
me, but that is just me.
I made a personal choice and used Ubuntu when I bought my last "default" desktop. I had to adjust
to some of the software though. I still have the Windows laptops [single or dual boot] to deal with the need
Windows software. My Epson printer prints on DVD media, but I have not found any replacement for its Windows
software to do that work. There is a graphic program that I bought for Windows that works much easier that
GIMP, so if I have trouble with an image/graphics, I need to work on it with that Windows software. BUT,
most most of the work I do, Ubuntu and the free software for it works for me.
So, even though I use Ubuntu as my default system, I still need to keep Windows around for those
things that I cannot find drivers and software version for in Linux.
Even version of Linux differ.
The scanning part of my Epson printer does not work at all with Ubuntu 10.04, but will work on
12.04. I updated the software and drivers I use for it on my 10.04 system, but still not luck.
Something in 12.04 makes it work that I seem not to be able to get with 10.04.
On 07/24/2012 08:37 AM, Tom Davies wrote:
Hi :)
Virtualisation is good but if it's a question of drivers for a particular piece of hardware then it
might not work. It might, but it if the underlaying OS can't see it then i don't see how the
virtual machine that is sitting on top of that OS is supposed to see it.
It is possible to use emulators or even better is WINE (stands for "Wine Is Not an Emulator") but
that is a lot more sophisticated and hence slightly harder to set-up initially for some programs.
The worst way around is to have a Gnu&Linux in a virtual machine on Windows because then the stability
of the unix-based systems is sitting on top of the flakiness of Windows so you end-up adding the worst of
each OS. A dual-boot means each is directly on bare metal so it gives a fair comparison. Windows inside a
virtual machine inside Gnu&Linux sounds like it's going to be ver stable too.
Ubuntu and Puppy and possibly a few others have a magic way of installing inside Windows. It avoids 1 of the layers
between bare-metal and the OS because it avoids the virtual machine bit. The Ubuntu magic way is called the
"Wubi". Again you are adding the worst of each OS and in addition the "drives" are really
compressed files but it's fast and easy to install and many people keep using such things for years with no problems.
Obviously it's not made by Microsoft and so every once in a while someone has troubles with Windows trying to reject it
but that is fairly rare. We used to get about 1 question per month that was specifically about the Wubi and solved by
moving to a dual-boot.
So, there are tons of different ways of avoiding wiping Windows and that seems to be the best way
to make the migration much more gentle and less stressful. Throwing yourself to the lions is the
fastest way to learn to deal with lions (or die) but there is no real need to create so much stress.
Regards from
Tom :)
--- On Tue, 24/7/12, Simon Cropper <simoncropper@fossworkflowguides.com> wrote:
From: Simon Cropper <simoncropper@fossworkflowguides.com>
Subject: Re: [libreoffice-users] Migrating from Windows; take it slow
To: users@global.libreoffice.org
Date: Tuesday, 24 July, 2012, 11:05
On 24/07/12 19:36, Keith Bainbridge wrote:
On Sun, 22 Jul 2012 13:41:59 -0400 webmaster-Kracked_P_P
<webmaster@krackedpress.com> wrote:
Anyone who really wants to learn how to use Linux as a replacement
for Windows, try dual booting a system if you do not have a spare one
to try Linux with as its only OS.
G'day.
The other option for the odd trip back to windows is virtualisation.
Mostly, you can tell the system to let windows use a device as if you
had booted into windows
Regards
Keith Bainbridge
PO Box 324
BELMONT Vic 3216 Australia
+61 (0)408 522 706
keith.bainbridge.3216@gmail.com
Visualization also has the added benefit of a shared clipboard and being
able to work on the same data at the same time (well nearly).