Vista vs. Linux Matchup

Brad R Wednesday 21 March 2007 - 16:56:14  

"In this multi-part series, DesktopLinux.com columnist and operating system curmudgeon Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols pits Microsoft's latest wares -- Vista -- against Linux's fair haired boy -- Ubuntu -- to see how the pinnacle of commercial desktop operating systems stacks up against the free, community-developed Linux upstart." (Currently four parts are on-line.)
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Getting started with Mandriva Linux

Brad R Monday 19 March 2007 - 22:28:15  

What PC? offers "Linux academy", a five-part series, which walks you through a Mandriva (formerly Mandrake) Linux installation. (Three of the five parts are currently on-line.)
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"If You're Going To Steal Software, Steal From Us"

Brad R Wednesday 14 March 2007 - 13:33:06  

Information Week reports Microsoft business group president Jeff Raikes saying, "If they're going to pirate somebody, we want it to be us rather than somebody else."

Market dominance is so important to Microsoft that they even want to own the bootleg market. Because they recognize that the real threat isn't bootleg copies of Windows or Office, it's legal (and free) copies of Linux and OpenOffice.

My position: don't pirate anything. Use Free Software instead.
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Microsoft's Strong-arm Sales Tactics

Brad R Monday 12 March 2007 - 20:17:34  

Microsoft is now threatening their customers with license audits in order to sell more software. Computerworld has the story.

Note that this was a fully-licensed, 100%-legal, long-time customer of Microsoft. Perhaps not a customer for much longer, though. He's now investigating how to switch to Apple.
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Google Apps: Should You Switch?

Brad R Sunday 11 March 2007 - 14:48:56  

Another Office alternative is Google Apps, a web-based office suite. Wired News takes a balanced look at the pros and cons vs. Microsoft Office.

(My recommendation is still OpenOffice, but Google is a viable alternative for some users.)
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Upgrade price: Vista vs. Linux

Brad R Saturday 10 March 2007 - 09:49:19  

Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols looks at the cost of upgrading his computer to run Vista, or to run the latest version of SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED). (Written Sep. 2006, but still accurate.)

So, bottom line time, it will cost you $724 per PC to upgrade to Vista. Or, you could pay $170 per PC to get SLED. That's a savings of $554 per user desktop.
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HowToForge - Linux Tutorials

Brad R Saturday 10 March 2007 - 09:43:54  

Linux hands know that SourceForge is an Internet site where source code (software) is "hammered out" in cooperative development. (Many open-source programs are developed there.) Now comes HowToForge, where Linux "How-To" guides and other documentation are being created. Here's an example: "The Perfect Desktop - Part 3: Ubuntu 6.10 Edgy Eft", a step-by-step guide to installing Ubuntu 6.10, including screenshots. (See also Part 1, for Fedora Core 6, and Part 2, for Mandriva Free 2007 distributions.)

(Thanks to Jeff and Andrew for the links.)
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Evolution for Windows

Brad R Friday 09 March 2007 - 11:21:20  

Evolution is a Linux replacement for Microsoft Outlook, considered by some to be one of the best email and calendaring clients for Linux. ITWire reports that there is now a version of Evolution for Windows. This lets you replace Outlook on your Windows system, gaining security without loss of functionality. Note that Evolution for Windows is still in beta-test status.
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OOXML Translator for Open Office

Brad R Thursday 08 March 2007 - 12:28:51  

Novell has announced an Office Open XML (OOXML) translator for Open Office. This gives Open Office the ability to read and write documents in Microsoft's new Office 2007 format. It's available for both the Linux and Windows versions of Open Office, so now there's one less reason to buy Office 2007 for your Windows PC. Story here.
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Linux Distribution Chooser

Brad R Wednesday 07 March 2007 - 13:36:36  

Another great tip from the folks at DesktopLinux.com

Daniel Eikeland, a project leader at Norwegian open-source consultancy Zegenie Studios, has created an online quiz called the Linux Distribution Chooser to helps users choose the most compatible desktop Linux product for them. The quiz consists of 16 questions and takes about five minutes to complete.

Participants are asked to rate their own technical ability, whether they plan to use wireless devices, and whether they have an older or newer computer, among other questions. When the quiz is complete, the Distribution Chooser recommends one or more particular Linux distributions and explains why others may not be right for you.

Take the quiz here.
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