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Switching to Linux; how do you not flop back to the world of Windows??

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wreckedcarzz:
OK, I will admit - I love Windows. I can work with it, I know how to manipulate it, and I have reinstalled it more times than I can count.

I have Xubuntu. I had to format over it for an extension of my Windows partition (it was physically in the way, so... yea). I am now using an old 20GB Western Digital IDE drive, and everything is going well (except my X-Fi drivers, but whatever, I have onboard sound). :-\

My problem is - while I like how Xubuntu works, I like the idea of open source and "freedom" software, and how you can get more done with less "Gah what is wrong with this thing *smash computer case*". But Windows has all the games, and all the software that I use. All my settings. I program on Windows - I cant even figure out how to debug a program WITHOUT CODE on this! No code, just a basic GUI with 2 buttons! :o

I am more than happy to go through a somewhat steep learning curve; I would eventually like to be able to walk up to any computer running *Ubuntu and, just as on Windows, say "Oh yes you just do this *two keypresses and a mouse click* there!" And I can, provided I don't have to go _too_ far into the Terminal (I had to go into super user mode earlier because my stupid drivers made a folder read only, and the Trash wouldn't empty unless you were root!). >:(

So I guess my question is: Linux converts, what software do you use that "replaces" what you used on Windows? :tellme:

(For the record, I gave up on Compiz - it was too much of a pain in the a** to setup. Xfce is fine for me :))

urlwolf:
that's the dilemma that all of us face.
There will always be a tool that you cannot have in linux that makes you go back to win.
pdfs display better on adobe acrobat.
onenote doesn't exist.
etc.
And even doing the leg work to find worthy replacements can be tiresome.

There are hundreds of threads on ubuntuforums with the same questions.

I think you have to go cold-turkey... and this is very difficult because windows is available easily everywhere.

Edvard:
Wreckedcarzz: My best advice? Either dual-boot or go cold turkey and start digging...

I mean, sure there's lots of good high-action games on Linux, but there are hundreds, if not thousands of Windows games you can just pick off the shelf and have it work out of the box. There are even more free- and share-ware sites you can download a million utilities for almost any task on Windows.
Loki games seemed to be doing really well and suddenly they went bankrupt and just closed up shop.
Blame it on the MS Monopoly, blame it on Linux's "Geek centricism", whatever. The scene is changing and it's thanks to folks like you who dare to give a spare partition to the Penguin.

What do I use? Well, let's talk about alternatives.
What do you use on Windows that you can't find an alternative for Linux? We Linux users could probably make a few suggestions...

Of course, everyone knows about Open Office and Firefox/Thunderbird, so let's skip those.
I use xplorer2 on Windows when I'm at work and there just isn't an alternative for Linux. Sure, I've tried emelfm, Beesoft Commander, MC, Rox, PCmanFM, you name it. I would kill for a file manager that gave me a tree view and two horizontal folder views. For normal everyday file management, I settle for Thunar.
pdfs display better on adobe acrobat
--- End quote ---
Adobe has released a reader for Linux that looks and works exactly like the windows version.
onenote doesn't exist.
--- End quote ---
'Cause it's Microsoft... The day Microsoft makes Linux software...  :o
The Linux version of Xnview is atrocious. Same goes for Ghostview. Full-featured and easy to use on Windows, but a train wreck on Linux, for no good reason.
Audacity looks and works the same on either, and even has more options on Linux.
Media Players? Text editors? Take your pick, there's a half-million of each...

Please, if you do one thing to flatten your learning curve in Linux, learn to use the command-line tools. The gui tools that exist are easier for new users, but you're missing out on so much power...
from LinuxCommand.org
Graphical user interfaces (GUIs) are helpful for many tasks, but they are not good for all tasks. I have long felt that most computers today do not use electricity. They instead seem to be powered by the "pumping" motion of the mouse! Computers were supposed to free us from manual labor, but how many times have you performed some task you felt sure the computer should be able to do? You ended up doing the work by tediously working the mouse. Pointing and clicking, pointing and clicking.

I once heard an author remark that when you are a child you use a computer by looking at the pictures. When you grow up, you learn to read and write. Welcome to Computer Literacy 101. Now let's get to work.
--- End quote ---

Dormouse:
I use Linux and Windows. I use the software that suits me best. I have no masochistic tendencies, so I'm surely not going to use stuff that doesn't work so well because it will be 'good' for me (or someone else). I dual boot, use VMs, use Wine etc. I expect to switch to Linux more or completely in a few years - but only if the software is there. I won't be switching to Vista (bar the one laptop I have it on). But I may switch to its successor if it is really better than XP. Especially if it brings a really good touch interface and touchscreen prices tumble; don't expect that till at least a version later though.

What I am doing is building up experience of progs that work well under XP & Linux and looking for alternatives to my favourite Windows programs. I think there is still a very long way to go for most power users (in any field) and games players.

urlwolf:
Yes, the problem is that there are huge gaps in functionality that no linux apps are covering well. There are dozens of pdf readers, but they are awful.

Ok, so it looks like what we have is the following.
(1) if you want the best rendering engine, you have to use adobe's
(2) if you want to annotate pdfs, you need adobe acrobat, which is not available for linux

(3) adobe sucks at implementing their products on linux, more so in 64-bit architectures

Ergo: I'm condemned to use windows to read papers. Or Macs.
This is as dissapointing as it gets.

If you -really- want to use one app, you can fight it up and try to get it working under wine, of course. But then you start paying the linux tax: 25% of your time goes to googling and trying config files, patches, etc, and the end result will probably be not 100% functional or estable. I'm thinking about onenote here. For example, onenote uses windows search to index its contents. Forget about such a service running on linux (too win specific).

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