The Windows 7 Hustle

[dbhost]

Right on! I've been thinking about changing to Linux because I'm not a big fan of MS. Do you have any trouble finding programs to run on Linux (such as WPs, etc)?
Richard

Since Microsoft went in and messed around and changed up the interface so much with Office 2007, I have completely switched to OpenOffice.org which I find MUCH easier to use. Message to Microsoft here. Don't get me used to accessing things one way for 20+ years then change it all up on me. I won't like it...

Photo Editing is done with GIMP.

Web Browsing is done with Firefox.

Video Editing is done with LiVES.

Audio Editing / Mixing is done with Audacity.

Vector Art is done with Xara Xtreme. It works pretty well, but is not 100% yet. (I get some crashes still, they are working on it).

Only thing I don't have a direct Linux native port for is Sketchup. Blender is a MUCH more powerful, photo realistic 3D graphics suite but it is also MUCH more complex than Sketchup. Google has TONS of requests for a Linux port of Sketchup. I am not sure why they haven't ported it yet. Given a reasonable license fee, I would pay for Sketchup on Linux... I have it working under the emulator WINE, I had to build the package from source code though. The pre built rpm binaries are outdated, and Sketchup finds bugs in the code...

And I should mention, Linux is not the answer for everybody. Yes I can, and do run my version of Draw on Linux, but Xara offers some SERIOUS upgrades in capability which is why I am wanting to use it. It is just a little quirky. Admittedly I am NOT your typical end user though. MCP, Linux+, Network+, RHCT, just to name a few...

Just like Windows, if you want Linux to be happy with your hardware, make sure your hardware is compatible with your operating system. VERY few devices nowadays are incompatible with Linux. And I am surprised that you (Crockett) had problems with print drivers (to use the Windows terminology).

FWIW, my hardware is NOT the latest and greatest. This woodworking thing has seriously sucked into my electronics budget. But my hardware is not ancient either. To give you an idea I have...

CentOS 5.3 x86_64 running on...
Biostar Micro ATX (Model forgotten) Nvidia NForce chipset mini PC.
AMD Athlon 64X2 3200+ processor.
4GB Kingston DDR2 RAM.
Samsung dual layer DVD+-R/RW.
300GB WD SATA HDD
Teac USB 7 in 1 media reader (Floppy, CF, SD, XD, etc...)
Nvidia Geforce 6200 256mb AGP 8x video
Hauppauge WinTV PCI
Realtek gig ethernet copper
Onboard Soundblaster 5.1
M-Audio Duo Pro USB (Audio mixer, connects to my Bass Amp).
Hewlett Packard PSC 1315 (All in one machine sans fax which I don't use anyway).
Hewlett Packard LaserJet 5N (through the network and yes it is ancient).

With the exception of the WinTV card, and the LaserJet everything else was new in 2007.

[Norm in Fujino]

I built my first computer this past summer and loaded Windows 7 (64bit) RC on it; I have the full Ultimate version on order now and will be installing it as soon as it comes. My main reason for going with Windows 7 was the increased speed for photo manipulation. I was also attracted by many anecdotal stories to the effect that Windows 7 is the "vista that should have been," solving a lot of the problems that earlier OS had (I never used Vista and will be migrating directly from XP Home). Also, as others have mentioned, Windows 7 has a "Virtual XP" mode that allows running certain older programs that aren't compatible with W7. On the RC version it's a bit clunky, but workable; anyway, the main programs I use are all working fine under Windows7 so I doubt I'll have that much problem with old, must-have programs.

I'll soon also have 8GB memory on the new computer and several new gignormous (for me) HDD that should solve my photo storage problems for the foreseeable future.