To those who still have Windows, when can you get rid of it? [Archive] - Page 3

nuvo

June 5th, 2006, 04:01 PM

Erm, reasons for not removing XP...
I would say Fireworks MX and Delphi 7 PE as some things are easier to create in Fireworks than in something like Inkscape and Lazarus really hates working for one reason or another, but then there's Xara LX that does shadowing and other stuff as it's not limited to SVG standards and I've pretty much stopped using Pascal as I'm trying to get to grips with Rails now and I can also spend the time I used to use on desktop development on PHP and other web technologies which I knew, but hadn't put so much effort into developing with under XP.
I can't say I'm a PC gamer as I prefer gaming on my xbox, 360, PS2 or PSP (yeah yeah, M$ is evil and such, down with the evil empire... but the Wii isn't out yet and I'll be damned if I'm forking out £400 for the PS3 on launch) so I guess my main reason for not deleting XP completely is laziness.
I can't really be bothered with moving all my old, yet still useful files off of my NTFS partitions (I have 2 HDD's) and going through the hassle of removing XP and formatting the space left over.

Also, I might be tempted to obtain SPORE when it comes out, and I'm guessing there's little chance of Linux seeing it (it's coming to consoles, but later than on the PC).

I haven't used Windows on this PC since the start of this year and I've been running Dapper since it was in Beta form without any issues.
I'm using XGL and though it's not 100% (causes a few things like the theme manager dying when changing control styles and such), it hasn't caused me any major pains... And it makes Windows look basic to boot :D

it_self

June 5th, 2006, 04:03 PM

Well, I was forced to pay for WinXP home when I bought the Laptop. and figure I might as well get some use out of it. That's about it.

I actually like dual booting though. It save a lot of time when I'm trying to figure out if a problem is hardware or software based.

bbrg548

June 5th, 2006, 04:17 PM

3 things.

1. Games.
2. Quicken. Nothing I've found for Linux is anywhere near as good.
3. iTunes.

ushaba

June 5th, 2006, 04:27 PM

i haven't thought about kmfdm in years... are they still making albums?

noneofthem

June 5th, 2006, 05:29 PM

Actually I think they do. For a while they were active as "MDFMK". Also they had a gig here in Dublin this year so I would assume they still exist.

Anyway...

I have been using (K)Ubuntu for a while now after testing SUSE, Mandrake (and Mandriva), Knoppix, Kanotix, Fedora and Kororaa. I think I will be stuck with Kubuntu now as it just seems to be the best one for me. Everything is working perfectly. Well. Almost everything. In DD my IPW2100 wireless card in my laptop does not work anymore. Ubuntu sees it but I couldn´t manage to turn the radar on for some reason. Even with "sudo" and everything else I could think of. But I will work it out somehow. I just couldn´t find the time yet.

Dapper Drake is the fastest and most convenient linux distro I have tried so far and I am pretty sure it will take a while until I change to another system again.

My laptop has been "clean" (from M$) for about 6 months now and I am not planning to change that again. There is just no real reason to go back. I just hope that there will be many more people and companies moving away from Microsoft when Vista comes out next year. Let´s keep our fingers crossed...

Greetz

Amir

isotonic

June 5th, 2006, 05:39 PM

nothing at all...i delete all mine last year.:mrgreen:

HeavyAl

June 7th, 2006, 06:12 PM

My laptop (IBM T40) is running Ubuntu completely. I use it for web dev, videos, surfin the net, a bit of gaming .. everything really. BUT I have several other machines that run Windows only - the reason being that certain games, though they work to one extent or other, simply are not responsive enough under Linux.

I would be more than happy to dump windows altogether except for the gaming issues. I play a lot of lan based games that I also have trouble configuring to work with my Windows-only friends who refuse to make the switch.

Its not like its impossible to make them work but I only have so much time in the day and making the neccesary tweaks to get things going just takes too much time.

michaeljb2005

June 7th, 2006, 06:19 PM

When I travel with my laptop I need to be able to dial out. Most locations that I would travel to only allow for dialout. My family shares an AOL account and I can only dial out on that in windows. Otherwise...nothing really.

acisternas

June 7th, 2006, 06:21 PM

only two things: autocad and landesktop

Fred Doolie

June 8th, 2006, 01:26 PM

Sims 2, GTA:San Andreas, Pirates, Flight Simulator 2004 and my HP 3310 All-In-One Printer. None of these work at all in Ubuntu (Linux).

EDIT: The printer/scanner does work so just the games then.

kalosaurusrex

June 8th, 2006, 02:01 PM

Sims 2, GTA:San Andreas, Pirates, Flight Simulator 2004 and my HP 3310 All-In-One Printer. None of these work at all in Ubuntu (Linux).

Actually the HP 3310 will work great on Ubuntu.

go to http://hplip.sourceforge.net for all your HP printing needs. ;)

Aaron

maddbaron

June 8th, 2006, 02:22 PM

cant set up my wireless connection.

and cant view flash or listen to flash for that matter.

automatix doesnt install

I've tried everything to fix these issues nothing works.

dont i'd gladly leave windows but these 3 r holding me back.

nwgray

June 9th, 2006, 10:18 AM

I can't get an Oracle client running on Ubuntu yet. Once i can get to the database thru sql, then I'll tackle Tora. I use TOAD on Windows now. If I can get that working, I should be MS free.

FyreBrand

June 9th, 2006, 05:05 PM

1. Fireworks
2. Visual Studio to program in .NET
3. Guild Wars

All other programming I do is generally in Linux. It's nice having a dual boot because I can compile my code in both environments and test it.

I just switched from Fedora Core to Ubuntu. Ubuntu is a great distribution. Other than programming I'm fairly new to Linux. Ubuntu is simple enough that it's now interesting to try new things (like KDE). I've been an 80/20 Windows/Linux user in the past. This last Ubuntu 6.06 release has been a pleasant surprise. It's actually a much more fun OS to explore than either Ubuntu or Fedora/Redhat have been in the past.

elephas

June 10th, 2006, 11:21 AM

Just search these very forums for the word "freeze" and you'll see why.

odyssey

June 11th, 2006, 06:02 AM

Work:
Checkpoint SecureRemote VPN Client
Microsoft Project
Microsoft Visio
Microsoft OneNote
100% Microsoft Exchange support (Calendaring, Address book lookups etc.)Play:
Games support

Jeff_From_VA

June 14th, 2006, 04:13 AM

I have been using linux only on my pc for years, I have been using ubuntu now for a few days, and so far I like it alot, everything worked out of the box except for flash, but automatix made it work for me...

My wifes laptop runs windows, because that is what she wants, and I have a server 2003 box in my house as it came to me with server 2003, and I haven't had time to put linux on it, but it's a high priority now as it keeps breaking.

The only wish I had for linux right now over windows is the citrix client which I need for work. There is one but I can't for the life of me get it working, that's probably me vs a problem with it...

AlexC_

June 14th, 2006, 01:17 PM

A good FTP client ( graphical, gFTP makes my fingers drop off because it has no tree view, and navigating through loads of folders is a right pain in the *** )

A good programming IDE ( mainly PHP ) Bluefish is good, but it's lacking some features I like - it's UI is also quite big/bulky ( just like most Gnome apps - Huge tab buttons everywehere that could be much much smaller and yet still accessible - so why use big tabs?! ) Something like PHP Designer for Linux would be bliss

Thunderbird mail notification, when I recieve an email on Linux via Thunderbird I get no Notification - apart from a crappy beep from my PC speaker - Yes I can change that, but why not have it like in Windows where a message pops up saying '1 New Message' - then an Icon appears in the taskbar thingy, you click it and it opens Thunderbird. I'd love to see that in Linux

The GUI of applications, like I said before - huge tabs?! why?! makes my eyes hurt =) Not really preventing me from using Linux, but I prefer the compact layout ( but still very usable ) of my Windows apps.

Oh, and 3DS Max - I do a lot of 3D work and I use 3DS Max so that's my main reason, if I didn't do 3D i'd be free of Windows

kalosaurusrex

June 14th, 2006, 01:23 PM

I SO agree with you about gftp. It drops connections all the time, I can't upload more than a several files at a times, when I try and do over 100 over so it becomes a serious pain. I do use the Firefox extentsion FireFTP which is oddly very stable. but I wish someone would make a strong stable ftp application.

AlexC_

June 14th, 2006, 01:36 PM

but I wish someone would make a strong stable ftp application.

Well you may be in luck, I am thinking of programing a group of programs for Linux, some really good ones that get passed Beta. I currently code PHP/MySQL but I pick up languages very quicky, and I already know how code works so it may not be too hard. I also don't like crap code, if it feels or looks crap - i'll re-write it, think of a different way of doing it, change this - add that etc.

I think I could code a good FTP application, with a nice GUI if I wanted to. After i've learnt some C/C++ of course :p

Most of you are probably thinking I can't do it cos I don't know a language to code apps yet, but I will! trust me =)

dirtylobster

June 16th, 2006, 04:32 AM

Yeah. MSN Messenger & custom emoticons...

hard_i

June 16th, 2006, 06:09 AM

Games
Games
Games

lazyd2

June 16th, 2006, 06:11 AM

Games
Games
GamesYeap, thats the only thing keeping me from completely deleting Windows...

HarabanaR

June 16th, 2006, 10:20 AM

I love ubuntu. All my machines are running it, fileserver (AMD64, 1GB, 1.5TB) is running unbuntu server, my desktop machine (AMD64) and my laptop (HP nc6120). But I have a Win partition on the laptop because I use that one at work, and the software that I need there the most is Photoshop CS2, and thats it.

:)

zAo

June 16th, 2006, 10:22 AM

Getwild2

June 16th, 2006, 10:35 AM

The ONLY reason I cant switch completely is Call of Duty 2. Man I love that game. Funny thing is, when I'm booted in Win2K and playing, it reboots itself midgame at least every hour. [-X

Gary Nored

June 16th, 2006, 10:53 AM

Audio, audio, audio!

It took forever to get any sound at all.

Audacity mysteriously drops channels when exporting multiple tracks.

Gramofile creates dropouts (quick fade down, then back up) when processing long files.

Had to install and try several players until I got one that worked (xmms).

Ditto cd burners. Default didn't work. Gnome didn't work. Finally tried K3D. It works.

It takes an engineering degree to play a Real Player file (I know, I know -- Real Player is bad, but loads of classical stations in Europe use it exclusively). I'm afraid to even try a windows codec.

I've got audio capture, playback, and transfer to cd's working after about 2 months work, but cleanup, scratch removal, track splitting, and other such activities still require Windows.

Sigh ...

Gary

magomago

June 16th, 2006, 11:11 AM

Actually one programme: Breeze Browser/iPhoto. I used F-spot, but that's way to slow, now I use Digicam but is QT-based and can't perform all the pictureadjustments I'd like. So yes, only one small application.

And the responsiveness of Gnome/Metacity/GTK. But AIGLX will solve that (on Nvidia here so I have to wait) :D

You know you can try Picasa. I tried it and t was nice...its now my default picture program. Too bad the integration really sucks insofar as graphics

enyaw

June 16th, 2006, 12:01 PM

I like being in total control, to me that means total access to all platforms which I have with duel booting or triple booting [If necessary]. Also, I can better support my wife's office XP-Pro from home with W2k-Pro or XP-Pro. Besides, I like to try variations in SAMBA and CUPS between Linux and WindoZ. Threre are a lot of resasons why I prefer to keep windoZ around, however, I promote AND prefer UBUNTU dapper. But of course I also prefer listing to internet radio and 1920 big band is my favorite pipe.:p

UKer

June 16th, 2006, 12:01 PM

Games, because Cedaga doesn't run them half as well as Windows (on most games nice effects are disabled), for .NET development I have to do, to access my phone and PDA and for several other Windows-only apps that I can't live without.

Owdy

June 16th, 2006, 01:52 PM

Nothing

Carnwaj

June 16th, 2006, 03:38 PM

I'd really love to sever the link.

Games - My kids love the latest and greatest, shiny and windows only.

Newleecher - I am very, very close to getting hellanzb working.

E-mail - e-mail on Linux is a cinch. But my family has one e-mail account for everything and this is accessed through windows. How do I keep a copy on every account? I'm trying to get everyone to use gmail.

However, I enjoy Linux. There is no way I'm upgrading to Vista. The kids can pay for it if they want to.

maddbaron

June 16th, 2006, 06:54 PM

i dont know how to use wine and my vlc doesnt play and i cant find a easy to use avi to wmv or rm converter and the webcam thing looks difficult and gaim doeesnt support aim video yet and i cant use my mp3 player in linux and i refuse to get an ipod to do so.

i use linux now cuz its fun to use and my system works smooth and doesnt overheat on the keyboard like how it does in xp and i want to extend my laptops life. but until those above issues r solved i have to keep windows

skull_leader

June 16th, 2006, 08:33 PM

A few things:

--I haven't figured out [or looked for] NES, SNES, an DOS emulatiors for Ubuntu, or learned to use Wine completely yet.
--I'm not really familiar with Musicians' or Electronics Simulation software on Ubuntu.
--I like to run a tighter ship than my roommates, but I don't know how to split preferences between accounts perfectly.
--I don't know how to copy DVDs successfully on Ubuntu yet.
--In general, I'm not as confident as I'd like to be in Linux administration. For some reason, knowing what files are where, and what commands do what makes me feel a lot more secure.

But I'm getting there.! ;)

lynnD

June 16th, 2006, 10:03 PM

I need my Windows Media Center to stream video, music and pictures to my Xbox 360. I also just installed Office 2007 Beta and I am really liking the new UI.

welders4linux

June 17th, 2006, 12:59 AM

Whats windows?....I heard it was a virus that microsoft made.
Took all your paitence and money!:-$

W4L

aussiedini

June 17th, 2006, 01:09 AM

A large invisible carrot called trevor......damn you trevor....

darkvador

June 17th, 2006, 07:08 AM

I got rid of windows on my thinkpad when it suddenly stopped working a few months ago (somehow it managed to fragment the hd so bad it couldn't boot anymore even though I scheduled nightly defragmentations EVERY night).
Now I'll have to install it again (using that damn IBM Rescue and Recovery thing that erases the entire hard drive) to be able to watch all the world cup games for free on TVUPlayer (which doesn't work on wine nor on cedega) :'( (But that's about all the use that windows install is going to get)

Naglfari

June 17th, 2006, 09:01 AM

One word.,....modems

Broadband in this neck of the woods is relatively new (7 months) and it's still kind of "iffy". It has the occasional outage, and even though dial up is painfully slow now days, it still lessens the withdrawal symptoms :D

apocalypso

June 17th, 2006, 11:55 AM

Well, the one thing that's keeping my Win2000 partition is... my wife!!! She's still a little reluctant to fully switch to Ubuntu, mainly because she's a Sims 2 addict and as far as I know, Wine isn't an option for that game yet. :confused:
She's also too used to MSN winks and emoticons, so you see, it's a family affair... :-$
Btw, I have two hard drives and one's for Win2000, while the other one's for Ubuntu. ;)

Spif

June 17th, 2006, 12:13 PM

Mainly Guild Wars, but also games in general. Emulation is simply not good enough.

fridayxiii

June 17th, 2006, 03:48 PM

My fiancee. I haven't been able to get her to switch to Firefox yet, I don't think it'll ever be possible to get her on to Ubuntu. My hope is to eventually get a laptop on which I can run Ubuntu exclusively & leave the XP desktop to her. Now if I could only get her to update the anti-virus & spyware on XP herself & run the regular sweeps...:-k

Dural

June 17th, 2006, 04:06 PM

The things keeping me from removing Windows XP are

a. Wireless support: Every time I have tried Ubuntu (Hoary Hedgehog & Breezy Badger), setting up that Linksys WUSB11 v 2.8 card has always been a pain. I'm not a newbie to computers, but I am fairly new to Linux. I only hope that Dapper Drake is better about this.

b. Games: Not so much the latest games, but rather emulators and a lot of imported games do not seem to work at all in Linux, even with emulation (ex. ABA Games). Also, I hear Linux has trouble with Flash.

c. Family: My mother is willing to switch to Ubuntu after my older brother explained to her the various security risks in Windows (she does banking online), but my father is very close minded. Basically, if he has trouble with a computer he does not search for help or post on forums like this; instead, he screams at my siblings and I to come fix the computer and I really hate it when he does this. Neither of my parents are very computer literate, and going by the troubles I've had getting things set up in Ubuntu, I would not feel comfortable having either of them use it. Windows XP isn't any easier for them, but they can at least figure their way around. Also, I don't know how my older brother (he's currently in the Army, but he does visit every now and then) would react to finding Ubuntu as the primary OS on the computer he built and left here. He's not an OS fanboy, but he doesn't seem too fond of Linux and I think there are things he does in Windows XP that he may not be able to do in Ubuntu. I'm not sure.

d. Hardware troubles: I'm still trying to get my sound card to work properly in Dapper Drake and the 3D acceleration does not seem to be working right, though at least it doesn't freeze up like it used to in Hoary Hedgehog. I have a Nvidia card right now, so maybe when I can get the wireless to work I'll look for some better drivers.

e. File format support: I don't mind using OGG Vorbis since when I burn CDs on my Windows laptop, I don't use .mp3 anymore since .ogg sounds a lot better and takes up less space on my hard drive. OpenOffice can open pretty much any major format without much trouble, so doing school work is no problem. So listening to music in Ubuntu has not been a huge problem except deciding which player to use. However, I use Winamp in Windows due to the numerous file formats it supports. I like to listen to video game music, so I download files such as .spc, .vgm and .vgz. However, I think these are not supported well in Linux and I do not want to have to open an emulator or switch back to Windows whenever I want to listen to music from Sonic the Hedgehog or Chrono Trigger. In addition, I don't know how Ubuntu handles formats like .zip, .rar, and .cbr.

f. Applications: There are some programs that I like to use in Windows such as BridgeM1 (arcade game music player), CDisplay (.cbr file viewer), dbPowerAmp (music coverter), and Macromedia Flash. I don't know if there's any alternatives to these yet. Also, while I love OpenOffice, some of its files (particularly Impress) always look a lot worse when I open them in Office 2003, even when they're saved in the Powerpoint format (.ppt I think). They lose all their transperancies. I would use the default templates, but they are not very good. Also, there doesn't seem to be a way to play music throughout a presentation.

Castar

June 17th, 2006, 04:41 PM

1. M$ Powerpoint

2. Specific Scientific software

3. Games (Half-Life 2, World of Warcraft)

4. My linux noobness and the need to do something up when I screwed up Ubuntu :D

sicofante

June 17th, 2006, 07:03 PM

I try Linux every six months. I must say these days I just try Ubuntu, because it's the only distro that seems to be heavily focused on regular people. Version 6.06 is almost there, but my network hardware (onboard NVIDIA NIC) is not well supported and my system started to fail connecting to the internet too often. I don't use my computer for amusement; it actually is the center of my business (selling computers) and I don't feel Linux is reliable enough for me or my customers. Sure, I can fix most things coming here for help, but what I really need is an OS that works right out of the CD. I know other people might have no problems at all (I didn't for the first few hours, until those NIC issues arised), but I'm not using any esoteric hardware here. I'll keep trying though, because I believe using free software is a moral issue beyond simple convenience.

ozgur

June 17th, 2006, 09:03 PM

Today I've had enough of slow booting of Windows(about 2 mins-installed 2 weeks ago) and decided to go with Ubuntu solo. I have a feeling that I won't regret what I did \\:D/
Long live Ubuntu!

scotartt

June 17th, 2006, 10:17 PM

Ableton Live 5.0.

Fallom

June 17th, 2006, 10:51 PM

The fact that the games Cedega/Wine are supposed to support refuse to run.

I really want to play the games and I know all I have to do is boot windows to play them but it's too much of an inconvenience so I just don't bother :( The partition just exists to taunt me.

steveneddy

June 17th, 2006, 11:29 PM

I don't have any windows on my machine - I just wish I had a DVD player/reader on my PC so I could install Fedora Core 5 on the other partition.

BTW - <b>IF</b> I have to use windows, I have installed VMware on my Ubuntu machine and use Win2K as the windows OS. Works great, but a little slow, but I don't care, I hardly use it for work anyway.

One more bean for me......

bluej774

June 17th, 2006, 11:40 PM

Absolutely nothing. :D

mayamaniac

June 18th, 2006, 08:26 AM

its a Windows world and it will be for a while, both hardware and softwares. You can't get away from it or can't do without Windows. OSX is much more popular than Linux, yet even Mac users can't do without a Windows machine. Apple even released boot camp to boot Windows. And its not like MS is standing still, with released of Win2K, WinXP, and Vista soon, they are in position to continue to dominate the OS market for the next 10 years.

I'm typing this on Dapper, I'm trying to like Linux. I've tried RedHat, Fedora Core, Suse, Linspire, Gentoo, and Ubuntu. I've been learning it. But for the last 24 hours. I just managed to get the nvidia driver to install and UT2004 to work in Dapper. Its been pain stakingly difficult to get just these things to work, to get Dapper to do what WinXP does. My Lexmark X5150 still doesn't work and I just found out that the Flash plugin for Firefox doesn't support Unbuntu for AMD64. Bummer.

I'm quite impressed with Dapper and think the Ubuntu team has come a long way to get it working the way it is now. But replacing WinXP, I think its far from it. While linux's strenght is that it is free, meaning the OS and most softwares don't cost money, the real cost is time. Time is money and it takes too much time to make things work in Linux and I don't see how this will change, how hardware and software vendor will change, its not happening anytime soon.

UbuntuniX

June 18th, 2006, 08:29 AM

A few things:

My mom is a n00b and can hardly even use windows lol
I need Photoshop and Flash 8
Haven't got Cedega to work :(
I have a lot of data and downloads stored on my XP partition

That's about all,
when I get a new computer I won't even bother with windows unless I need something on it :D

philetus

June 18th, 2006, 02:25 PM

what is PREVENTING you from deleting your Windows Partition?

My wife.

walterius

June 18th, 2006, 04:14 PM

To me, imho, y'all are missing the point. I use both Ubuntu and two flavors of Windows and I love all of them. I'm about to add a virtual machine so I can play with even more stuff. I tried a live CD Windows clone this morning and if it hadn't been too buggy to use, I'd be using it now.

The point is: I love computers. I'm not about to go only for the good new stuff at the expense of my beloved old stuff.

I betcha many more of you feel as I do, esp. if you are older. (I'm a retired aerospace software developer.) What say you?
:mrgreen:

cor2y

June 19th, 2006, 03:06 PM

two things gaming and the proprietary drm in the windws media video and audio.
Yes i was a sucker to buy inot it but now that the darn thing is tied to your PC hardware /software and getting drm files to work on linux is impossible (thank you dvd-jon for solving the itunes problem) i'm stuck with my windows partition , and for gaming i've heard about cedega but it would be useless anyhow since i'm stuck with a windows partition might as well use it.

pito

June 19th, 2006, 04:41 PM

Nothing...
I do not use the MS-Win at all for the last 1.5 year. I did not miss it at all.

But I understand the situation and I agree that the MS-Win has an adventure.
As long as the big companies use MS-Win the people workign there get used to it, despite if it is a better or worse OS. Then going home the majority of these people will use the same system at home. Convinent, is'nt it ?

The latest releases of Ubuntu, suse, and other distros are pretty compatitive, and there is a chance that more casual user will join the Linux stream

Good luck...

/piotr

rai4shu2

June 19th, 2006, 05:08 PM

My Windows hard drive is not currently connected to my computer. :p

WeldingMarathon

June 19th, 2006, 06:52 PM

56 Pages, come on...

(VS.NET, MSSQL and clients who think this is the only combination to use):roll:

Giffo

June 19th, 2006, 07:35 PM

Ummmm. sorry guys, new user here with Ubuntu. can anyone advise please with a MAJOR problem just happened? I have been using DAPPER DRAKE 6.06 now (better than 5.1) but still learning. Tried today to ammend GRUB to play with PCLInuxOS. Result, cannot access windows at all now. Unfortunately, I would love to ditch Windows altogether but have some programmes I use that I have not yet migrated to UBUNTU (PAGEPLUS, SKYPE etc...). The following is the result of me trying to edit GRUB... oh dear....
giffo@giffo:~$ dmesg | tail
[17179608.728000] Bluetooth: HCI socket layer initialized
[17179608.740000] Bluetooth: L2CAP ver 2.8
[17179608.740000] Bluetooth: L2CAP socket layer initialized
[17179608.748000] Bluetooth: RFCOMM socket layer initialized
[17179608.748000] Bluetooth: RFCOMM TTY layer initialized
[17179608.748000] Bluetooth: RFCOMM ver 1.7
[17180736.544000] NTFS-fs warning (device hda1): is_boot_sector_ntfs(): Invalid boot sector checksum.
[17180736.544000] NTFS-fs error (device hda1): read_ntfs_boot_sector(): Primary boot sector is invalid.
[17180736.544000] NTFS-fs error (device hda1): read_ntfs_boot_sector(): Mount op tion errors=recover not used. Aborting without trying to recover.
[17180736.544000] NTFS-fs error (device hda1): ntfs_fill_super(): Not an NTFS vo lume.
giffo@giffo:~$ sudo mount /dev/hda1
mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/hda1,
missing codepage or other error
In some cases useful info is found in syslog - try
dmesg | tail or so
Sorry to bother you with this but I am stuffed with this one. Since editing GRUB I have not gone anywhere near windows.... Thanks ! Peter

amunimanghi

June 23rd, 2006, 01:17 AM

Unfortunately, I would love to ditch Windows altogether but have some programmes I use that I have not yet migrated to UBUNTU (PAGEPLUS, SKYPE etc...).
There is Skype for linux. Try this link out:

http://www.skype.com/download/skype/linux/

aysiu

June 23rd, 2006, 01:19 AM

I would love to ditch Windows altogether but have some programmes I use that I have not yet migrated to UBUNTU (PAGEPLUS, SKYPE etc...). Is there something special that PagePlus does that Scribus doesn't?

se7ensamurai

June 23rd, 2006, 01:33 AM

Hey guys, Update here.

I haven't booted Windozze in about 3 weeks since i updated to Breezy. The only thing i will use it for is The Matrix Online, as I need to help out a friend of mine with somethign, but have pretty much abandoned the game.

I had the chance this afternoon to check out AmoraK, and it does everything wanta music player to do, and sound juicer is great, although slower than Windows media player for ripping, but it does so in flac lossless, which is awesome. and the MP3 player I'm thinking of buying supports multiple file formats, including flac! the player in my car dosent, but it does have an input feature, si I'll be ok on that front.

Ubuntu kicks ***, thats all have to say.

(I did have a slight problem these last couple of days because of Amule...my internet slows WAAAAY down when using it)

moncsco

June 23rd, 2006, 12:29 PM

:-k Not ready to give it up yet. im still trying to get to know linux first before completely using it. Just installed my very first linux 10days ago with Ubuntu distro, 3 days later intalled KDE desktop which is very impressing but as they say it is still unstable, it crashes sometimes mostly when booting maybe bacause ive been experementing with it. Another reason is that my whole system is not yet fully functional, it is not yet running on its full potential. Specially the driver installtions . I dont know yet what softwares to use. And lastly for games.

xp_newbie

June 23rd, 2006, 01:42 PM

Windows Media Player.

Is there any player on Linux that can play everything that Windows Media Player can play?

bruce89

June 23rd, 2006, 01:44 PM

Windows Media Player.

Is there any player on Linux that can play everything that Windows Media Player can play?
VLC, but not WMV10 videos, plus it plays more than WMP. (Vorbis etc.)

joe_lace

June 23rd, 2006, 02:16 PM

My wife uses microsoft money to keep the checkbook in balance. It interfaces directly with Wells-Fargo and synchronizes with our account, I'm pretty sure that none of the GPL programs do that. But, she can do money stuff off of VMware Player/Qemu so I think I almost have her convinced... My computer doesn't have an XP partition, I just have VMware Player with an image made in qemu. It works well without lag because my computer has enough memory and is fast enough to handle it.

egorgry

June 23rd, 2006, 02:36 PM

the only thing keeping me on windows is video games. until Linux has the games released natively and in a reasonble manner I'm stuck with windows. When I want to play a game I don't want to be messing with glx issues and wine.

facefur

June 23rd, 2006, 02:49 PM

Four programs:

Noteworthy Composer - no, there is no other Linux program of similar cost that does music composition. Do not know if it can run with WINE.

Quicken - converting to GnuCash so far seems not to be worth the effort.

TurboCAD - which is unfortunately tied solidy to Windows and won't function under WINE. Someday I'll sample the Linux CAD programs, but fewer useful ones are any less expensive.

Windows Media Player - too many .wmv files to give it up.

Peripherals:

While both my Epson and HP printers work with Linux, they do NOT work as efficiently - the Epson drivers seem to force me into a single resolution and print at half the speed as the Windows drivers.

My scanner doesn't work at all.

cokhavim

June 23rd, 2006, 03:07 PM

yahoo instant messenger. you have to admit. it's way better than skype or gaim. (or msn, for that matter.)

forrestcupp

June 23rd, 2006, 03:44 PM

Windows Media Player - too many .wmv files to give it up.

Did you install the win32 codecs and they still don't work? I play .wmv files all the time because my brother sends me dumb email forwards. The only windows media files that you can't play in Linux are the licensed ones. This is Microsoft's way of controlling how you use your purchased media. A great reason to not support MS.

I don't have a windows partition on my computer, but my wife's laptop has XP on it. The only reason I want to keep it like that is because I can't find a Linux app that will print entire checks on blank check stock. I'm not talking about just the date, payee and amount like gnucash does; I need something to print the entire check including MIRC routing and account numbers. If I could find that, I would never have a need for Windows again.

Kouya

June 23rd, 2006, 04:06 PM

Games. Also I have lots of stuff in windows and they are all NTFS drives...would be a bother to switch them all to FAT32.

But I haven booted into windows for 2 days...an achievement for a noobie like me..haha. I'm liking ubuntu more and more. My only gripe is i wonder why my drive size keeps decreasing. I install programs to try then i uninstall them but the same amount of space is not returned to me. Weird. Do i need a cleaner or something like in windows? Mayb when I unstalled those programs the additional dependencies did not get uninstalled.

Anyone got suggestions?

Nonno Bassotto

June 23rd, 2006, 06:23 PM

I install programs to try then i uninstall them but the same amount of space is not returned to me. Weird. Do i need a cleaner or something like in windows? Mayb when I unstalled those programs the additional dependencies did not get uninstalled.

Anyone got suggestions?

You're right, dependencies won't get uninstalled. If you want this you should use aptitude, which is quite ugly but cares to remove dependecies. Otherwise do it manually. In synaptic you should have a cronology of what you installed, so you can see: when I installed X, I also got Y and Z as dependencies. Well, now manually remove Y and Z.

aysiu

June 23rd, 2006, 06:38 PM

Yes, use aptitude from now on, and to clean up the mess from before, use gtkorphan.

citizenkeith

June 23rd, 2006, 08:05 PM

New to Ubuntu... formerly using Fedora (Cores 3 and 5). I'm still dual-booting. Reasons:

Half-Life 2 Deathmatch / Steam
Sound Forge
Acid
Vegas
CD Architect
Quicken
Exact Audio Copy

I finally installed Ardour, so we'll see if I can put Vegas away now. I'd like a decent audio editor (I'm not a fan of Audacity). And nothing allows you to master a CD like CD Architect, but I'm willing to try other methods. :) And while I like CD Paranoia (usually with Grip), it ain't no EAC.

aebacon

June 26th, 2006, 03:57 PM

Document to Go for my palm zire.

sbergman27

June 26th, 2006, 04:45 PM

What's keeping from deleting my WIndows partition? The fact that I don't have one. I deleted mine in 1997 in favor of Redhat 4.2.

-Steve

GuitarHero

June 26th, 2006, 05:41 PM

Games, and ubuntu is horrible at networking, i cant get internet on my ubuntu box. so annoying.

joe_lace

June 26th, 2006, 05:50 PM

Games, and ubuntu is horrible at networking, i cant get internet on my ubuntu box. so annoying.
???? I got internet on my box without even configuring anything. Even file sharing wasn't too difficult.

GuitarHero

June 26th, 2006, 06:20 PM

Im trying to use an internet connection from a windows box with an ethernet cable, its not as simple

joe_lace

June 26th, 2006, 06:54 PM

I'm networked with a Windows box. Are you using a crossover cable to connect directly to the windows box or are you using an internet router? Or are you using a standard straight through ethernet cable to connect to you windows box, because that won't work anyway.

jerrylamos

June 26th, 2006, 09:35 PM

mrshawn

June 26th, 2006, 09:55 PM

I produce video both as a hobby and professionally, using...
- Sony Vegas and DVD Architect
- Adobe Photoshop
- Adobe GoLive for web sites

Also love my Halo and Half Life 2.

I'd love to ditch Windows totally, dual booting now with Kubuntu, using Ubuntu 6 desktop. Haven't yet found software for Ubuntu that comes close to the power of the above and is free. Can't afford another round right now.

Other than that Ubuntu does everything else I need beautifully. Love it. Sick of the Evil Empire Monopoly. Love Mac but not looking forward to shelling out 2 grand.

atenlaugh

June 26th, 2006, 10:23 PM

As a (film) photographer who depends on being able to scan negative and transparency materials...well, I don't think a single scanner that I could use is currently supported at any level. When that happens, I'll have very little use for the Windows partition.

gschoper

June 26th, 2006, 10:29 PM

I'm a general user, retired computer engineer - ubuntu does a lot of what I do, Internet mail, word processing, spreadsheets, digital camera pics, exchange files with Windows 98 & XP on my local network, etc. but:
1. Ubuntu can't play the news video's on ABC, NBC, CNN, etc. I do get the news videos on BBC and Australian ABC with Real Player. A few music video's work with downlevel flashplayer 7, most don't. So I switch to Windows on another computer. I've spent too many days trying to get dual boot to work reliably with linux (Red Hat) trashing partition tables:-? to attempt it on ubuntu. I think much of the future of the Internet is video.
2. Printer support. I can print to my Epson stylus Photo 820, but I can't change ink cartridges or clean nozzles. I use an old painfully slow laptop with Windows 98 as a print server and running Epson printer support software. Maybe Wine could handle this if I take the time to figure out how.
wiping
Number 1. is the real stopper for me. I don't have any hope either. Thanks for asking the question anyway.

I have no problem watching video on CNN (or any other Windows media player site) using the mplayer plugin for FF. I had never tried to watch video on ABC or NBC until reading this post and I see your point. I generally don't have a problem viewing any kind of videos off the net (using flash player, wmp, qt, realplayer or another plugin) but neither of these site's worked for me.

This can be a big issue for Windows users trying to convert as it generally works automagically for them in Windows and in Linux it can be a real headache to get some of these seemingly simple things up and running.

To answer the original question posed in this thread, the ONLY thing preventing me from totally WIPING windows from my life is being able to play the latest gaming titles on a PC. I have never been a console gamer. I play all of my video games on PC, and 99% of them are only available on M$.

gschoper

shakespeare

June 27th, 2006, 06:35 AM

My windows partition was deleted a couple of weeks ago. It had languished unused for some weeks before, so I could be sure I no longer needed it. My Sony VAIO VGN-A117S laptop now runs on Ubuntu Dapper only.

The key events were:
* Linux beta version of Noise Ninja 2.1 (www.picturecode.com (http://www.picturecode.com))
* Linux release version of Bibble Professional 4.7 (http://www.bibblelabs.com)
Quite kindly, both companies indicated that existing licenses for their professional bundles covered Linux as well as Windows and Mac. The Linux version of Bibble even recognized the Linux beta of Noise Ninja, so advanced denoising can be integrated into Bibble's automated workflow. This allowed me to migrate my raw photo processing completely to Linux. It's nice to see commercial Linux applications where there are no adequate free solutions.

The only remaining irritants are
* DVD authoring - making menus is more limited and lacks ease of use in Linux. OTOH, all of the windows solutions tend to be limited in different ways and often are buggy also.
* MTP-based mp3 players - minimal function today, but improving rapidly.
These are not show-stoppers, and arise infrequently.

apocalypso

July 2nd, 2006, 08:09 PM

I had posted before about my wife not being used to anything other than Windows, but I must also add that I'm leaving my Win partition because of the games and some music production apps I use, not to mention I'm way to used to working with stuff like Nero for making CD's and DVD's, haven't tried Linux equivalents yet, but I sure will. \\:D/

Jhodytropical

July 3rd, 2006, 12:08 AM

Hi all,

I am ready to ditch windows as soon as I master how to do my adobe Software (Studio 8) with wine because I've paid for the suite. I am starting to use 'Nvu' but I am lacking the full functionality of Dreamweaver and Flash.
And also I plugged my Nano and try to play it in different application (like Amorok - Totem - gtkpod etc...) for some reasons I lost all my music when I unplugged it from my system. I had to go back in Windows using Itunes software to erase and upload the songs again.
But I am willing to learn more until I find ways to be totally Windows Free.

theturtlemoves

July 3rd, 2006, 12:34 AM

Right now it's three things:

Games - I like to play Rise of Nations, and I suspect it's performance will be crappy at best under Wine.

MathCAD 13, which I need for a course I'm going to take and which won't run under wine (though I'm playing with QEMU/KQEMU)

Visual C++ which I need to finish a short project I started a little while ago, and for which there is no quick port possible.

SebastianM

July 3rd, 2006, 12:39 AM

Nothing really. I guess my command and conquer games (just bought C&C The First Decade). I guess I see if they'll run in Wine...but I really don't care. My copy of XP is legal (came with the laptop) so I keep a small partition if I ever want to play while I'm on the road. Then there's always the "just incase" factor.

ckonrad

July 3rd, 2006, 12:40 AM

Whats preventing me? Well so far ubuntu sucks. It doesnt detect my graphics card, my printer, my wireless on my laptop, it doesnt even load a GUI on my laptop, i cant play any music etc etc. the list goes on and on, everday i find something else that i cant do with ubuntu. I've asked on this forum many times for help and i always get plenty of responses from really nice people but i havnt found any real solutions to any of my problems yet from anyone. I have used other linux disto's and havnt had any of those problems. Like Suse 10, detects all my hardware, loads on my laptop, music plays great. Its just a crappy os thats why i keep windows around. That and i need it for school, but i have been using windows for years and i have never had to troubleshoot anything in it. Everything just works great all the time, even back when i had windows 3.1 i dont recall ever having to troubleshoot anything. Regarding viruses i never get any, i dont go to shady places on the i nternet, i dont look at porno sites etc. I dont open spam etc. So i never get viruses, i also dont run from root in windows i run on a limited user account and type in my password just like in linux to install things etc. Thats the main thing that i just cant stand about any linux is the installation issues and ubuntu is really the worst out of all of them so far. You have a small list of things to install which is a start but when something isnt on that list that i need to or want to use with any linux distro i have to spend hours trying to troubleshoot things just to get a single program to work. I think linux/ubuntu has a long way to go before people will want to use it as there main operating system. For those of you that havnt used windows in years you really dont know what you are missing, everything just works all the time. Macs are even better than windows. If i was going to go all out and never use microsoft again i would go with mac anyday. Linspire is really the only linux distribution out there that i would say has actually made a quality product where people can just use it. If linux does catch on and become the most popular os to use, linspire is going to get the market share. They know what they are doing.

fluffington

July 3rd, 2006, 01:01 AM

I've already dumped my Windows partition, but before that, the only thing holding me back was the fact that I hadn't beaten Oblivion yet.

Dazaablack

July 3rd, 2006, 07:56 AM

i got a notebook to run windows use for work and stuff. So Ubuntu is now my desktop/games/internet/fileserver/webserver/ftpserver/phpdeveloping/python editing/sqldatabase.

need I say more?

Scarabomb

July 3rd, 2006, 08:36 AM

I use Windows XP for a few DVD viewing programs like PowerDVD and some other stuff. I also use a program called Pinnacle that works well in Windows.

Here's the thing. I would be Ubuntu exclusive if I could use CrossOver Office and XGL AT THE SAME TIME for those kinds of applications. I'm pretty picky at the programs I use.

Another thing is I don't want to convert things on my harddrive over to FAT32 or anything else. I like NTFS so. Anyway, if it weren't for these restraints, I would be Ubuntu exclusive.

bruce89

July 3rd, 2006, 08:41 AM

And also I plugged my Nano and try to play it in different application (like Amorok - Totem - gtkpod etc...) for some reasons I lost all my music when I unplugged it from my system. I had to go back in Windows using Itunes software to erase and upload the songs again.
You have to unmount devices before removing them, as Linux writes the data to the device when you unmount it. Just right click on the device and select unmount or eject.
Even on Windows you have to do the "remove safely" thing.

w_r_cromwell

July 3rd, 2006, 09:02 AM

I have not had a windows partition on my computer for a number of years. I am getting the rest of my family off Windows, too. I am either getting the required WIndows apps running in WIne or finding Linux apps to replace them. I'll be a happy camper when I no longer get interrupted to go and repair their Windows installations.

Just do it!

Bill

Tomosaur

July 3rd, 2006, 11:00 AM

Ubuntu shouldn't be about replacing windows - this is what's holding Linux in general back - this mentality that Windows is somehow bad and wrong and should be replaced. What we REALLY need is to show people that linux isn't just for nerds, or hackers, or computer experts. People should know that the kind of thing they're paying for can probably be replaced by something which will work just as well, for free. The whole thing is just about choice. Some people will always prefer windows' way of doing things, while others will prefer linux'. Microsoft's real problem is their intentional crippling of functionality - forcing people into a 'this is how you do this' frame of mind, whereas in linux they can do pretty much anything from a terminal as they can in a WIMP system. I'm in favour of multi-booting. I don't believe that any one system is perfect for everything, so why shouldn't I just keep the ones I like?

BlaineM

July 3rd, 2006, 11:52 AM

I currently run Linux because I am enjoying the learning process of an OS that is not like Windows. I have been running Windows since I first started to play with computers, so the new OS is fun for me to configure and change. I have a separate Linux machine, that is networked to the other two XP machines. I run XP for the multimedia stuff like Music and Movies, since I haven't yet taken the time to get those to work right on the Linux machine. Otherwise everything else I do on the Linux machine. I also like how XP seems to run more smoothly with regard to the choppyness of moving the windows around and such with using the hardware correctly. Otherwise, I really enjoy Linux. It is fun to play with. I like the fact that I don't know how to run it all yet, and have to try and figure out how to do it right.

BlaineM

July 3rd, 2006, 11:55 AM

Does anyone read 60 pages into a thread anyway? I think that posting 60 pages in only adds beans to the bean count... Especially on a thread like this one. How many times has this kind of thread been started anyway? That was a Rhetorical Question by the way.

reacocard

July 3rd, 2006, 12:00 PM

only two reasons i keep windows:

software for my classes.
no good way to back up all my data so i could redo my partitions.

cblanquer

July 4th, 2006, 07:15 PM

I think several hardware comes with better drivers so if one already has a partition with W-XP it may be worth keeping it.
So for HP multifunctional prnting system, especially scanning I feel more comfortable with my current W stuff.
Also I have the computer hooked to the TV to use it as a multimedia system, including an iMon VFD & remote control (Soundgraph).

Regarding Ubuntu I still feel a pain to configure the TV-out from ATI Radeon cards and I am not satisfied with the results. Samething to configure LIRC for iMon. Regarding the DVB hybid TV card I am still working on it to get channaels.
Then I shall install MythTV hich looks better than iMedian (Soundgraph)

I hope 2006 will be enough to get them fixed in Linux, then I suppose I shall be using W only as a legacy partition, but as I said it is still a pain to configure... Hopefully it is also a pleasure to do it, just too much time if you are a family man.;)

MonkeyNet

July 4th, 2006, 09:11 PM

Every application that I used to run under Windows has a Linux alternative, so have been quite happy. If there is something about a program you don't like, simply edit the source :)

The only thing that is keeping me from deleting my Windows partition is Quickbooks 2004 (Australian Edition). Nobody seems to have got it working under linux :(

Was seriously considering building a SQL based database instead and using ColdFusion for a internal web based front end. At least I could design more features that I really wanted out of Quickbooks :) If anyone is interested in helping me design this, e-mail me

fluffington

July 4th, 2006, 09:50 PM

If there is something about a program you don't like, simply edit the source :)

Easier said than done. For example, I don't like that The GIMP doesn't support arbitrary color models (RGB, CMYK, HSV, Lab, LMS, etc.). Simply editing the source to fix that would require rewriting a substantial portion of the app from scratch; something I don't have the time for.

Also, editing the source and recompiling breaks compatibility with the package manager if you don't get your change in the repo (either by maintaining your own package or getting it committed upstream); as soon as a new version hits the repos, the next apt-get upgrade will wipe out whatever you did.

Not that I'm against being able to change the source, mind you (I've edited the source quite a bit on a couple of apps). I just think it's a flawed argument, as many (most?) people don't have the time and/or skill to do it.

krazykirk

July 5th, 2006, 01:25 AM

Hmm... My reason is I'm not completely confident in ubuntu yet, and theres still a lot of things in linux that you can't do but in windows you can.

kpolice

July 5th, 2006, 01:34 AM

The most important: GAMES ;) , Photoshop CS2 and Nokia PC Suite.

Waste

July 5th, 2006, 03:44 AM

I still have my Windows partition for my games and certain erraneous programs.
I'd love to make the swith, but the fact that I own around 90 games that will only work on Windows reliably, I have to keep my Windows partition.
And Vista is going to make my dreams of gaming on Linux just a dream. :(

sonnywise

July 5th, 2006, 05:25 AM

Unfortunatly I have some win programs I need for cell phone sync and mp3 player upload/download.

Another thing... actually my laptop card reader doesn't detect my xD cards :-?

dimitrif

July 5th, 2006, 06:33 AM

Java...Java...Java...

As a travel agency I need to use a Java applet in a browser for a reservations system and it breaks horribly on ubuntu with null pointer exceptions.

Interestingly exactly the same app works 100% on Windows with Firefox used as well....

Blind-Summit

July 5th, 2006, 07:50 AM

TERRIBLE audio setup has really put me off ubuntu
lack of drivers because M$ dominates the market
awful audio / video editing packages

Ubuntu has very little for me at the moment compared to windows. I have been using this for several months now and I've not used windows XP at all so that I can really give Ubuntu a fair go. I've installed loads of packages and given them a good go. I do like the simplicity of installing and upgrading - that part is perfect.

I can't connect my iPod properly and send over m4v videos, and sending music is slow and cumbersome.
I can't connect my digital camer via USB
I can't use the extra keys on my keyboard or mouse
no games (not that I played them much on windows)

Sorry - XP stays as Ubuntu needs a LOT of work in my books

pchr

July 5th, 2006, 08:44 AM

Raw file support (for my Canon D350) isn't quite good enough, I lose the EXIF data in the resulting Jpeg when importing using UFraw and the proprietary software I used (can't remember the name for it off the top of my head) didn't really work for me. Once I've converted to Jpeg I use Gimp (usually on Linux) to do any other tweaking.

There are a few other things that I do on XP because I've been too lazy to work out the Linux route, but not many.

flarkit

July 5th, 2006, 08:47 AM

Gaming is my primary reason for still having an XP drive. Most of the other activities are fine under Ubuntu
:D

Moodel

July 5th, 2006, 08:58 AM

One word. Gaming.

filterpunk

July 5th, 2006, 07:24 PM

I keep a WinXP drive hooked up mostly for recording/sound design, gaming, and graphic design. I've yet to find truly good replacements for Native Instruments Absynth, Reaktor, or Magix Samplitude.. gaming for the obvious reasons (and i'm not going to pay a subscription to play them).. and as much as I try to work with Gimp, I just can't get anywhere with it. While i'm sure I could get used to the interface, I can't help but feel that it's just a usability nightmare.

Frankly, I also realllllly miss Foobar2000 and Exact Audio Copy. I'm not sure why things like gapless playback and replaygain are so rare, but eh.. so it goes!

Regardless of all that, my girlfriend and I both use Kubuntu for our day-to-day stuff. It's probably the biggest breath of fresh air from Linux i've ever felt, having used Red Hat 6.2 and 7.0 (horrrible), FreeBSD 4.9 (fantastic but time consuming), and Gentoo 2006.0 (fantastic but even more time consuming). We'll be sticking around :)

Polygon

July 6th, 2006, 12:32 AM

One word. Gaming.

exactly. none of my favorite games are linux ports sadly... (counter strike source, half life 2, battlefield 2, americas army 2.6, source mods)

srunni

July 6th, 2006, 12:39 AM

MSN will never port it's messenger to Linux for obvious reasons. You can always send those files to your friends using bit torrent, E-Mail or another p2p software. I still have a windows partition because I like Sim City 4 and I already paid for Windows XP and am going to use it. Also some times certain multimedia software in Linux is still a little buggy and gets annoying to deal with. Other wise Ubuntu could easily be my only partition.

Go FTP!! It's one of the best ways to send file. As far as paying for XP goes, why don't you just build your own computer? It's cheaper, better, and you aren't forced to buy Windows.

babis85

July 6th, 2006, 07:01 AM

I took the decision and i got completely rid off windows. Now i have installed only ubuntu and i spare for it 30GB. There are many alternative programs to winblows under linux. Check this (http://www.linuxrsp.ru/win-lin-soft/table-eng.html).
But i need matlab that i found it here (http://www.mathworks.com/products/matlab/tryit.html) which needs login and maybe this isn't free. Is there anyone who has obtained this program and could send it to me?

3rdalbum

July 6th, 2006, 08:40 AM

My video digitiser doesn't work on Linux, unfortunately. But then, it's my own fault - I bought it to work on Windows. And it does, but the software you need to use with it has annoying bugs.

fluffington

July 6th, 2006, 05:47 PM

But i need matlab that i found it here (http://www.mathworks.com/products/matlab/tryit.html) which needs login and maybe this isn't free. Is there anyone who has obtained this program and could send it to me?

Matlab isn't free (the student version will run you $99.00, or you can get a corporate license for $1,900.00), but signing up so you can log in and get the trial version won't cost you anything.

furieh

July 6th, 2006, 06:46 PM

To put it in simple terms: I am a musician and sound designer.
Linux sound soft sucks SO MUCH I'm just stuck on god forsaken planet Windoors and fighting against the evil viruses and (mostly wannabe) hackers that teem all over the place.
So I am starting a degree in Programming and Sysadmin (did I mention I am also an experienced sound designer?) and try to team with other people so I can make a decent program or die trying.
And, NO, Demudi, Agnula and Musix didn't work for me... sorry
I also must mention I am working in the sound of GNU games for blind folks. Ironic huh?

:-({|=:cry::cry::cry::-({|=

GuitarHero

July 6th, 2006, 10:52 PM

because damn ubuntu wont work on my good computer

jfjj

July 7th, 2006, 10:22 AM

I don't have a windows partition...forgot to install it when I put ubuntu on :mrgreen:

Blind-Summit

July 7th, 2006, 02:30 PM

suribe

July 7th, 2006, 05:12 PM

in one word: SPSS
in one word and one number: 5.1 sound

janformanek

July 7th, 2006, 09:35 PM

nothing proventing me i have no windows partition. linux has all the programs i need.. i only wish i would have found gnu/linux sooner......

Im with you! Just deleted my win-partion after getting vpn and webcam up and running in Ubuntu, my /home directory lives in my former windows partiton now :P.
No need for games, real life too exiting for the moment.

dewclaw82

July 8th, 2006, 10:53 PM

Just a little time. There are a couple of games that I love and can't use on Ubuntu yet. I just have to get some more familiar with Wine or use the VMS solution that I found here. My desktop is now 100% Kubuntu and my laptop is dual boot only until I find the answers.

Allegheny

July 8th, 2006, 11:22 PM

Lack of a good/solid financial package for small businesses (like Quickbooks) for linux.

We would switch all of are machines entirely over but find ourselves stuck because we have been using Quickbooks under Windows for years, currently up to Quickbooks Premier 2006.

Although there are some small business financial packages under linux - none that we have seen can convert our data over from Quickbooks Premier 2006. We just can not afford to lose all that data.

We contacted Appgen (MyBooks) because they had a press release a few years back about being able to import Quickbooks data. Once Appgen finished laughing at our request we were told basically "It currently just can't be done" with the newer versions of Quickbooks.

Some have suggested just leave one Windows machine set-up with Quickbooks and switch the others. But that is just not an option in a small business where everyone in the office does something with Quickbooks (Sales, Billing, Inventory, Payroll, Taxes). Quickbooks is loaded and running on almost everyone's machine all day.

Dual booting is getting old - So, in our case the question is really "why have'nt you deleted your Linux partitions?" - Sorry, just frustrated.

aysiu

July 8th, 2006, 11:55 PM

Why not just invest in Crossover Office?
http://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/browse/name/?app_id=73

The professional edition is only US$70--it's cheaper than a Windows license.

Allegheny

July 9th, 2006, 12:40 AM

I'd be happy to but there is no support for Quickbooks 2006 versions in CrossOver Office (to my knowledge, anyway). Last one I think they mention on their website is 2004 and there is a huge difference between the two (internally, anyway).

If there was a way to get our datafile back to a version of quickbooks that CrossOver Office would work with I'd would. But Intuit has now made sure that you can not go backwards with your datafiles and of course for us, its to late.

Intuit is doing its best to keep its customers locked in. Its gotten so bad that even when you install a simple patch to Quickbooks 2006 it changes your datafile. So, lets say you use Quickbooks 2006 and its patched and up to date. But as typical in a windows world you have to reinstall for some reason. Well, you pull out your data backup file and try to load it into your re-installation of Quickbooks 2006 from your cd. Guess what - that's a big no go. You then have to get your re-installion of Quickbooks 2006 up to the same patch date (or later) as your backup file. Because they keep changing something in the file format with each patch, I guess....

They would call these security patches. But I think its to make it hard for linux or windows competitors to get a handle on their file format for import/export reasons.

So, the user becomes stuck using Quickbooks.

Thus, giving Intuit security.....

and or course they do not mention any of this to you when they sell you their products.

There has got to be some way to get out from under them. Ubuntu (linux) has given us a good alternative to Windows. Now, if someone could just give us an alternative to Intuit.

Cephus

July 9th, 2006, 12:43 AM

I am getting closer to deleting my Windows partition. Today was an absolutely banner day, and I'm totally stoked!

My Atheros wireless now works flawlessly on my Sony notebook in Dapper. It was always properly recognized, but would not acquire a DHCP address. That problem has been fixed through the help of these forums, and I'm happy it was fixed without resorting to ndiswrapper.

I successfully downloaded and installed Nero Linux, so I can properly burn CDs, DVDs, and work within the same familiar interface as windows. I can successfully link to my desktop machine, still running WinXP, and successfully connect to and print to the Windows printer. I found a Linux photo print package and installed it, and can remotely print photos from the Linux notebook to the Windows network printer. Print quality is as good as running on Windows itself. Real Audio has been installed, and the plugins work in Mozilla. So I can watch BBC news, etc. What doesn't work is ABC news and CNN news. Seems they require ActiveX, which I don't know if Linux supports.

Left to do: I need to research to see if it is possible (legal) to download from iTunes through Linux. I don't want to run Wine. When I eventually break away from Windows, I want to do so as completely as possible.

I'm actually a newly returned Linux user. My first exposure was via Slackware back in 1995 or so, and was frustrated that most of my hardware at the time was not supported. Distributions have come a LONG way!!

Today was a very good day!

Cephus

DSn0wMan

July 9th, 2006, 11:54 AM

rickg

July 9th, 2006, 02:51 PM

Would Quickbooks Online (http://oe.quickbooks.com/product_info_qb.cfm?%3Fsc=QBC-V51-HME-HMEPGE-TSTA-060213) work for you?

Allegheny

July 9th, 2006, 05:18 PM

Thanks! for your input;

DSn0wMan: Yeah, it's not the fastest thing in the world when multiple people are using Quickbooks at the same time. Quickbooks Premier 2006 seems to be using a propietary format (I could be wrong). The main data file rests simply on one workstation and is shared with the other workstations through Quickbooks multi-user mode (set-up with permissions). The data file has its own extension .qbb or something like that. Like you stated, it will probably cost a whole lot of money either in-house (payroll) or externally (contractor) if we try to recreate are data in some other package.

Cephus: I checked into that to. The online edition is not equipped with the same features as the Premier edition. I think its just a basic edition. I belive, it also requires Internet Explorer. I know we could run IE through CrossOver office - but, I want to get as far way from Microsoft as I can.

gruvsyco

July 9th, 2006, 06:27 PM

a lot of things really.

1. Apps I have invested in that don't work on Linux or have no solid equivalent: Photoshop CS, Illustrator, Silo, Lightwave, Macromedia Studio MX, ArtRage2. And yes, I've tried Gimp, Inkscape, Xara, Wings3D, Blender3D etc... While they are usable apps, they are IMO nowhere near the quality of my licensed equivalents. When finances permit, I may buy the Linux version of XSI though and there are rumors of a Linux version of Silo3D. They won't move me completely to windows but, they'll get me closer.

2. Lack of a distribution that does everything I want. There are things I like each about Gentoo, Ubuntu and SuSE. Gentoo seems to have the most cutting edge repositories of any distro and I like that it can be custom configured to each machine but... Ubuntu installs easier and quicker than any others. Ubuntu out of the box seems easier to use than the others. SuSE has the best eyecandy and integration IMO. Out of the box, SuSE looks professional and KDE and Gnome feel like they were meant to work together. This is the thing I like least about Ubuntu... Ubuntu and Kubuntu really look and feel like 2 completely different ideas. From a user point of view, if I want to run apps from KDE under Gnome or Gnome apps under KDE, the OS should try to make this as transparent as possible. Having said all that, I currently use Ubuntu for my distro.

3. Linux as a whole for the user experience just doesn't feel very mature to me. The nextgen Gnome and KDE versions look to be a giant leap in the right direction though. XGL and Compiz are a move forward IMO. Geeky spinning desktop wobbly window stuff aside, the way windows are actually drawn (I don't know if it's just drop shadows or what) look so much nicer.

I've been in and out of the Linux community for something like 12 years. I can remember when there wasn't all the choice that there is now and yet, back in 95, I ran linux exclusively. Things are coming along and I remain hopeful that one day, there will be, at least for me, enough incentive to switch completely.

ishimaru_kaito

July 10th, 2006, 01:25 PM

There are a few programs I use : Propellerhead's Reason (awesome music production tool - I would pay for a Linux version), my Sony Ericsson P910 Software and connectivity (any ideas?) and also the three favourite (but old) PC games - Homeworld, Splinter Cell and Deus Ex. Apart from that, everything else is done on my Linux systems.

sagarhshah

July 10th, 2006, 06:46 PM

I am a programmer
And I'd like to keep my applications platform independent.

and well football manager 2006 tried it in wine,crossover and cedega. couldnt get it to work at all.

It runs in vmware though so I use ubuntu pretty much all the time except when I need to port and test out my apps in windoze.

oh yeah and right now I dont have broadband at the moment(just moved house) and my dialup modem does not work in ubuntu.

themoebius

July 10th, 2006, 10:38 PM

* Flash MX (I'm a web developer)
* Photoshop is still loads better than gimp and is industry standard, not truely compatable.
* Flash player in amd64 (even the 32bit one isn't nearly as good as the windows one)
* Linux skype lags way behind windows
* dual monitor support is much less user friendly than in windows
* Games
* Sync with my Windows Mobile PDA
* Decent book keeping software like MS Money
* On linux I spend more time fixing things or getting stuff to work right than I do being productive

netkid91

July 10th, 2006, 10:45 PM

Nothing, my PC is pure GNU glory. I do miss my UT, and EQ, but I got my mom's PC for that, which is better anyways ;). If I ever install Windows on my PC again, it will be the day I commit suicide.

ErikTheRed

July 10th, 2006, 11:08 PM

netkid91

July 10th, 2006, 11:13 PM

Games are really the only thing holding me back. I actually started a thread on hardocp's forums about how it sucks that almost all games are windows exclusive. I got no support from them, everyone attacked me for "Microsoft bashing". I don't understand why some people think it is a crime when you don't like windows.
Beats me. I hate M$ to the core, I refuse to Windows for anything I don't have to. My mom hates it when I bash M$ stuff in front of her, even when I'm not doing so. The most annoying part is, Ubuntu and Linux in general is FREE!!!! Not that her pirated copy of Windows XP isn't either!!!! I think it's fear of the unknown. "Can I still use Microsoft Office?" "Can I still use my GoToMyPC?" "Does it run Media Player?"...face it...the world is a bunch of trained M$ monkeys. Crap...sorry for going O/T...

notanatheist

July 11th, 2006, 01:28 AM

What's a Windows partition? Isn't that yet another OS? I just deleted my Suse 10.1 partition tonight. I think that was a record. I used Suse for over a week before dumping it!! I even dared to try it on the desktop. Long story short, the desktop got rewiped the other day and Gentoo reinstalled so I can play my games properly and Ubuntu was placed back on the laptop tonight. Good thing I've got my ClarkConnect server in the garage so I can rsync back and forth and not worry about my bookmarks, email, pictures, etc.

dipswitch

July 11th, 2006, 11:16 AM

I can't get the sound to work when playing UT2004. Until then I'll keep my Windows.

alexandermimix

July 16th, 2006, 01:58 AM

I spend more time getting things to work in linux then i ever spent keeping my computer stable / spyware free in windows.

Also why would I want to run something in wine or some other emulation program that just works natively in windows? I use vmware sometimes however native is still faster. I dont get spyware / viruses in windows anyway.

tastefulasever

July 16th, 2006, 02:26 AM

Nothing. I deleted my Windows partition within a year of switching to Linux. If one continues to run Windows, one continues to be locked in, strengthening the M$ monopoly, and weakening the push for better Linux support. Flame away.

palmdoc

July 16th, 2006, 03:01 AM

Battlefield 2

heheh

seriously, no still waiting for Palm syncing which was broken in 6.06 to be fixed....

wieman01

July 16th, 2006, 03:27 AM

schermozzel

July 16th, 2006, 07:20 AM

I use windows only for doing work. There are no decent CAD tools in linux so I use windows when I need to use AutoCAD, Vectorworks, 3Dstudio and sketchup. Oh and GIMP isn't good enough yet to replace photoshop [in my opinion]

bailout

July 16th, 2006, 07:40 AM

Raw file support (for my Canon D350) isn't quite good enough, I lose the EXIF data in the resulting Jpeg when importing using UFraw and the proprietary software I used (can't remember the name for it off the top of my head) didn't really work for me. Once I've converted to Jpeg I use Gimp (usually on Linux) to do any other tweaking.

Have you tried digikam? It has support for raw files and I would be surprised if it didn't handle Canon files.

AndyCooll

July 16th, 2006, 12:44 PM

Nothing keeps me from do away with Windows.

Nonetheless there is a big BUT:

>> Ubuntu has cost me dearly. Timewise it has easily made up for the last couple of years of troubleshooting Windows.

>> Secondly it has cost me a considerable amount of money simply because I had to replace a number of compenents that "just would NOT" work under Linux.

>> Thirdly there are a number of useful programs that either don't exist under Linux or have limited functionality (Skype).
That said I conclude that Linux has a price, it anything else but free. So last but not least it's a question of attitude whether you make a decision in favor of it or not. I don't regret I ditched my Windows partition, however, I don't blame people who don't.

Cheers!

Your "big BUT"'s are not necessarily typical of most users on these forums.

I agree with your first point ...to a point. Linux can take up a lot of time, but it depends on how much tweaking you want to do. There are distros out there that work out of the box and require very little "cost" timewise.

Your second point is also moot. For most new Linux users hardware costs are going to be zero. Although there is hardware that it is difficult to get working with Linux, most works and this is getting better all the time. I consider myself to have "typical" hardware. A couple of laptops, boxes, cameras, scanner, printer, USB hardware, MP3 player and I've NEVER had to replace ANY components.

Finally, your third point. It is true that there sometimes can be software issues. This is definitely where the "depends on your attitude" you mention becomes most prominent. For some people, they require certain software for work. However for most of us it is a matter of choice. Most software (apart from games) DO have a Linux equivalent. True, they might have less functionality, but I suggest this isn't going to matter to the majority of new users. Again, I consider myself to be typical everyday general user and there is nothing that I can't do with under Linux. Be it surf the web, email, IM, listen to a radio station, tag my music, watch a movie, edit photos, download software, scan a document, edit my CV, design a poster etc etc.

In conclusion, there was nothing preventing from deleting my Windoze partition. In fact the only reason I kept it was for one game, Football Manager. And thanks to VMserver even the reason for this disappeared since I could run XP as an image. So now that's what I do.
So it's now Linux all the way, no ifs and buts, and at no cost except that of time. And thats been time well spent.

:cool:

wieman01

July 16th, 2006, 11:40 PM

Your "big BUT"'s are not necessarily typical of most users on these forums.

I agree with your first point ...to a point. Linux can take up a lot of time, but it depends on how much tweaking you want to do. There are distros out there that work out of the box and require very little "cost" timewise.

Your second point is also moot. For most new Linux users hardware costs are going to be zero. Although there is hardware that it is difficult to get working with Linux, most works and this is getting better all the time. I consider myself to have "typical" hardware. A couple of laptops, boxes, cameras, scanner, printer, USB hardware, MP3 player and I've NEVER had to replace ANY components.

Finally, your third point. It is true that there sometimes can be software issues. This is definitely where the "depends on your attitude" you mention becomes most prominent. For some people, they require certain software for work. However for most of us it is a matter of choice. Most software (apart from games) DO have a Linux equivalent. True, they might have less functionality, but I suggest this isn't going to matter to the majority of new users. Again, I consider myself to be typical everyday general user and there is nothing that I can't do with under Linux. Be it surf the web, email, IM, listen to a radio station, tag my music, watch a movie, edit photos, download software, scan a document, edit my CV, design a poster etc etc.

In conclusion, there was nothing preventing from deleting my Windoze partition. In fact the only reason I kept it was for one game, Football Manager. And thanks to VMserver even the reason for this disappeared since I could run XP as an image. So now that's what I do.
So it's now Linux all the way, no ifs and buts, and at no cost except that of time. And thats been time well spent.

:cool:

Good discussion.

In general Ubuntu works out of the box, no doubt. But if you have certain requirements that are not so much "out of the box" (e.g. Voice over bluetooth, WPA2, etc., wide-screen) it becomes a bit tricky. Otherwise we would not have this forum.

All I am saying is that every user switching from Windows needs to be prepared for it. Time is an investment that can make up for the 70 US$ you spend on your Windows licence. So whether Linux is free or not, you have to invest in ti one way or the other.

All that said, Linux has all the advantages that have been addressed in this forum. That's why we love it so much.

He

kornelix

July 19th, 2006, 03:47 AM

I have found no good photo-stitcher for Linux. I use the excellent Windows package Panorama Studio. I asked the vendor if they are considering a port to Linux. The answer was NO because there are too many flavors of Linux to support.

crag277

July 19th, 2006, 02:00 PM

It took two months and about 7 fresh installs, but my laptop is now Windows free, and I see no reason to go back.

I still have windows on my desktop for two reasons:
1) Gotta keep up with Half Life 2
2) It's an MSI MEGA mini PC that has severe compatability issues. The CPU fan control is left up to a software driver, not the BIOS, so the fans constantly run at full speed in linux. Very annoying.

mik9dt

July 19th, 2006, 06:48 PM

I have only just had my eyes opened to the free software world so these are the comments of a complete newbee just one week in.
From the Digg website I clicked on a link to Ubuntu and decided to take a look.
The Dapper Drake Live CD is certainly a convincing demonstration of the growing capabilities of free software.

Microsoft Windows has been most of my computing experience; inevitably most of my comments measure performance subjectively against this experience.
IMHO people just want their computer to work.
However versatile the command line interface seems to the “geek”, most people will not now or ever be comfortable with it.
“Can my Mum use it?” If not, then this project has some way to go for universal acceptance.
Clue. a graphic user interface and the ubiquitous presence of wizards enable ordinary people to use a software platform.
Many of my Ubuntu problems have been to do with getting existing hardware to work, lack of drivers is not the only issue. I have followed several “how to do it- get your hardware running” threads on this forum and have ruined my Ubuntu installation on more than one occasion. I do not have the command line skills to get me out of trouble and have been faced with both broken MBR and re installation issues. Some of that hardware is still not properly installed. (Nvidia graphics card). I'm sticking with it folks....

There is still an overwhelming feeling on these forums that people like me should get a grip and learn command line skills. Well, here is the news, until I NEVER have to see the Terminal Ubuntu will not become a realistic alternative to microsoft or apple.
I am excited by the whole free software ethos and will stick with Ubuntu. It is now dual booting on my desktop and my Laptop, I also just installed it as a dual boot on my daughters desktop. We seem to have the basics working well now (office aps, gimp and photo browsing, msn-GAIM, etc) and she feels pretty happy to give Ubuntu a whirl.

If I had a computer that was built to work well with linux most of my issues would not exist as they would have been dealt with by the builder. I intend my next computer will be for Linux, but where will I buy one? Microsoft seem to have the market sown up with windows pre installed on almost every computer and a financial incentive for the builder to do so.

We need open source hardware and software to make a truly open integrated system, this will not happen without a critical mass of users.....
So, well done to everyone who has contributed to the project so far, but there is still a considerable way to travel in ease of use....... Soon I hope to be able to buy my Mum a computer she can use..... it would be nice if it was a Linux computer.

Phixion

July 19th, 2006, 07:22 PM

Ventrilo is stopping me atm... Without that I can't talk to friends and as it stands there is no Linux Client.

harisund

July 19th, 2006, 07:33 PM

Let me see...

If anybody can play Yahoo! music videos, music from http://raaga.com and http://musicindiaonline.com I will gladly swithc to Linux full time.

VoiceOvGod

July 20th, 2006, 11:11 AM

The only reasonS I have not banished my window$ box is because of the following:

1 - Games
2 - Visual Studio.Net
3 - It's a sony vaio - the thing won't accept it.

TecnoVM64

July 20th, 2006, 11:31 AM

In fact, dunno, It's just that I feel that I'm not *ready* for that yet.
I haven't used windows for a few months and I don't have the need to, considering that the only Windows games that I like to play (GTA3, GTAVC, GTASA), work perfectly with Cedega.
And I'm used to all my Linux apps now.
Probably when I need some space I'll delete that partition (I've been thinking these days about it, considering that I just have 6gb left here :P)

jd65pl

July 20th, 2006, 11:42 AM

The possibility I may have to use a windows program at university

ricardo06

July 21st, 2006, 04:43 AM

I love Ubuntu, unfortunatly:
* printing is quite unreliable, when it starts not functionning i am done for windows.
* after hours of efforts, reading and experiencing all the how to's and so on, i still can't use my wifi adapter (yakumo, with zd1211), so my distant PC has to be windowzed.

Cheers

Richard with Dapper.

gigaferz

July 21st, 2006, 05:19 AM

I got one...The fact that sometimes in many machines the Ethernet does not work???, thats why you need windows..you can go to any hotel..and pug it in with no problems at all...

grim1234

July 21st, 2006, 07:53 AM

1. Games - they are still better in windows, although native ports are nice.

2. EAC - exact audio ripper, haven't found anything like it in linux

Reasons not to go just use windows :

XGL / Compiz
xBoard
terminal

pchr

July 21st, 2006, 09:54 AM

I got one...The fact that sometimes in many machines the Ethernet does not work???, that's why you need windows..you can go to any hotel..and pug it in with no problems at all...

Wow that surprises me, I know wireless can be dodgy but never had trouble with wired network card. When I'm reinstalling a PC and can't get windows drivers for the network card I'll stick knoppix in so I can download the windows drivers off the internet or copy them off another computer (the only other way would be floppy and some of the old computers I have to fiddle with eat floppies for breakfast)

Boggles3

July 21st, 2006, 11:07 AM

only thing thats keeping me on windows, is games.. its just way easier to install and play them there.. im sure one day linux will delve into the game relm.. especially with the way ubuntu is making waves..
i did run wine a while ago to play counter strike, but i couldnt get a reasonable fps. so i ditched it..
im was trying again the other day but im having issues getting wine to install correctly.. its not creating the face c drive folder and stuff when i install it and i dont know why..
maybe im forgetting something, but last time i did it i dont remember having to set all that up

mejohnsn

July 21st, 2006, 04:25 PM

The fact that I love Windows font rendering. It's so clear and everything.

I have noticed this, too. I have been running Ubuntu on a laptop using the liveCD for a little over a week now, and the font-rendering of Ubuntu is really beginning to get to me. I do not understand, for example, why, in Firefox, if I select FreeSans (or was is FreeSerif? I forget), I start seeing a little 'ligature' connecting 's' and 't' whenever the two letters appear together. What is even worse, when I try to type 'st', it erases the 's' when I type the 't'!:eek:

How do people live with this? I can't. I don't have either of these problems with DejaVu Sans, but letters appear blurred in this font, at least for Russian. And I have tried the various options in System>Preferences>Font, nothing seems to really help; there is nothing there corresponding to WinXP's font smoothing/rendering controls.

gurgle

July 21st, 2006, 05:20 PM

i got the font packs included with automatix and my ubuntu looks great

dantx24

July 21st, 2006, 06:45 PM

My Lexmark X3350, my visioneer paperport scanner and my Veo Advance connect camer all keep me dependent on windows ...
as none of them are supported.
I understand that the default answer to this is:
d00d your hardware sucks, go out and buy stuff thats linux compatible...
But sadly thats not much of an option for me.

Blind-Summit

July 25th, 2006, 05:58 PM

I can't get the sound to work when playing UT2004. Until then I'll keep my Windows.

Hey dipswitch - I'm a UT player as well - I found that you can get the sound like this:

terminal - cd to your ut2004 folder, then cd to System

then type:

aoss ./ut2004-bin

And that woked perfectly for me. What's your player name? Fancy a game sometime? I'm [APR]Cerberus

Alex

rdd

July 25th, 2006, 06:12 PM

For me it's laziness. Haven't booted WIndows in Months. Just have to take the time to look through that partition an then kick it.

Although I am tempted to keep a 10 gig Windows partition for the odd game. Hmm..

rdd

punkinside

July 26th, 2006, 01:55 AM

I'm only keeping my win mce partition for sim city 4, M$ office , dreamweaver. And I've never got TV out to work on my ATI card so ...

IM with whatever is at hand at the time amsn/live messenger

I would say I'm 90% ubuntu 10% windows these days.

Pitmairen

July 27th, 2006, 09:11 AM

The fonts in ubuntu (and any other distro). I have tried make them better, but its not working. It hurt my eyes so bad that i can't use ubuntu. So i have to use xp, and just test things in ubuntu.

If the fonts had been like on windows, i would have used only ubuntu.

SixApes

July 27th, 2006, 09:13 PM

This is my first post on a linux forum. However, I have been playing with a variety of linux flavors for a few years.

Fedora
SuSe
Gentoo
Mandrake
and last but not least..... Ubuntu.

Even after trying all of the different flavors, I still remain with a partition of windows. It was 98 for the longest time, and now its XP.

I love the linux environment. The ability to customize the desktop is above and beyond that of Windows and OSX in my opinion.

What holds me back?

I'm a musician and freelance artist by trade. A few of my works can be found at my web site http://www.richardcompton.net

I'm seeking a windows alternative....

I need unified support from a program for VST's, VSTi's, and Soundfonts that can be used in conjunction with my Kurtz Grand Electric Piano. I need a solid Multi track with support and options for recording multiple tracks on different channels. I need a program for instrument patches, and effects processing. Soft/Hard bus mapping....... And finally, I need a program suited to the fine mastering of tracks that are finished and ready to be burnt to a CD.

I've read countless articles on multiple linux sites that refer on how to setup a DAW on linux. Even after piecing the information together from all of these sources, I simply can't match the effective and professional quality of my Windows driven DAW.

I've tried packages such as;
Audacity
Ardour
ProTux

So..... alas. It seems I'm thrown back into the windows OS. Sucks to pay for liscensing. :-x Especially in a studio with several PC's. Ill keep my fingers crossed, and pray the linux community provides me at some point, with a solution to the professional audio workstation. Until then......

BlaineM

August 7th, 2006, 02:31 AM

yeah, Linux has not seemed to provide very much in the area for really great music recording and engineering software from what I have found. there are a few sequencers that work really well, and audacity seems to be the best multitrack recorder that I have found so far. have you done some looking through sourceforge, it has tons of freaking software there. maybe you will find what you are looking for. Linux to me seems like it leads to the developer, from the noob, if you keep using it. getting the computer to do exactly what you want it to do, this is what I like about it... but art tools do seems to lack, only ever so slightly.

gruvsyco

August 7th, 2006, 02:35 AM

muz1

August 7th, 2006, 06:46 AM

At the moment, the only thing preventing me from deleting windows is I still have some work to do that needs windows programs. Eg. Photoshop CS2, Illustrator CS2, and Rapid PHP (Although using bluefish now). I know about Inkscape and Gimp but I have problems opening the files. As soon as this work is done. No more windows. Man it will feel great. I was planning on getting a mac. No need now. Ubuntu Linux does it all and if it doesn't at any time, I am not going to jump ship. I would rather try and help to make it better.

For all the hardcore, I salute thee.

Bigtime PropZ
muz

Blind-Summit

August 8th, 2006, 08:53 AM

I think the web design packages have a bit to go as well. I have tried bluefish and a few others out there - but I like to have the WYSIWYG element to it. I prefer to rough out designs and actually see how a page looks and then to be able to edit the code by hand. Once I can visualise the page (without having to preview it - think of borderless tables!) I can then work with the raw code better. Anyone know of a decent WYSIWYG editor like frontpage for windows?

I am getting used to GIMP and for my level of graphics - it does the job.

Still really pissed about iPod connectivity - I want to be able to transfer music AND m4v video files across. the gtkpod is so damn slow on my 30GB - takes ages to list the audio files - and it ends up crashing after 10 mins or so. This is no good. where is a decent iTunes alternative?!

ringmaster

August 8th, 2006, 09:09 AM

I think the web design packages have a bit to go as well. I have tried bluefish and a few others out there - but I like to have the WYSIWYG element to it. I prefer to rough out designs and actually see how a page looks and then to be able to edit the code by hand. Once I can visualise the page (without having to preview it - think of borderless tables!) I can then work with the raw code better. Anyone know of a decent WYSIWYG editor like frontpage for windows?
The one you are looking for is Nvue; NVue--a dreamweaver/frontpage competitor that is open-source and free. And it runs on a Mac.
It is very easy-intuitive to use and you have tabs with the preview, source, tags, etc and you can edit code by hand/improve it. Is my favorite web editor (it lacks some powerfull features but is very capable).

nwgray

August 8th, 2006, 11:04 AM

Halo PC.

roberthr

August 9th, 2006, 10:46 AM

Since I use both Windows and Linux (Ubuntu) on 3 different machines, I'll write my reasons not to delete Windows Partition.

For main programs I use Firefox, Thunderbird and OpenOffice.

1.) OpenOffice's spreadsheet on Ubuntu works very slow. When you delete column or row that has data in it, it takes about 2-3 minutes to recalculate formulas. On Windows it takes 2-3 seconds. So editing larger data fields cannot be done quickly on Linux.

2.) I have to use CorelDraw and sometimes AutoCAD. Would be nice if there would be programs that could at least open such files on Linux, no need for editing. QCAd seems nice but does not import DWG files.

3.) DivX Subtitles Editing. On Linux there are some programs but they are more or leas a real pain and useless.

4.) DivX playback with subtitles in Windows 1250 (or any other non UTF-8 or ISO-8859-1) encoding. Totem and Gstreamer doesn't have a clue about setting the correct encoding. *CORRECTION: You have to use Xine engine to make it work with Totem*

5.) nVidia TV-Out setting. It worked out of the box on OpenSuse. On Ubuntu I have to manualy edit (to) many things. Forum instructions usually don't work correctly. Well, without proper subtitle encoding (above) I can't use this thing either.

6.) For files operation I love TotalCommander on Windows. Linux's closest thing is MC, but far far from real thing. GMC crashes a lot, Krusader (like most of Linux FileOp programs) does not work with SMB shares (without mounting).

7.) Printing. Horrible thing with Linux! I use Canon i865 and Pixma 3000, Samsung ML-1710P and Kyocera FS-9120 printers. For both Canons I had to buy Turboprint to make it work, but hey, I still can't print on printable CD/DVDs - can't find suitable program. Samsung works with CUPS drivers but sloooooooooow. It takes about 3 minutes to start printing (normal text from eg. OpenOffice), then it prints empty page followed by usually crappy real thing and it uses about 1-2 minutes delay between pages. Does not work with Samsung PPD. Kyocera works like a charm with their PPD!

8.) MSN support. I admit addiction to Double Klondike (or is it Solitaire) game under MSN which I play with a friend after long working day. None of Linux clients can't use them. It's a Macromedia Flash game for God's sake!!

9.) My online banking require use of Smartcard reader. There are drivers for both of them (one Omnikey USB and one I-don't-know PS2). But Firefox shows empty slot even when card is inserted - the same with Windows so I am FORCED to use, God help me, Internet Explorer for banking!!!

10.) On Laptop I have Wlan key (kill switch). None of linux distribution include kernel module (FSAM7400) for this key. TV-Out also does not work on this baby with onboard Intel GM855. *CORRECTION: Ubuntu DOES have FSAM7400 kernel module, so this also works!*

11.) SPDIF support is lousy. It tooke me hours to make it work. Can ordinary person tell which IEC xxx is for what? Make it human understandable first.

Those were my main problems. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE linux and I try to do as much work as possible with linux rather than boot to Windows!

McLaughysSN

August 9th, 2006, 11:40 AM

Games and my vast collection of .m4a files i've still yet to be able to play on linux

ym4546

August 9th, 2006, 01:00 PM

Games and my vast collection of .m4a files i've still yet to be able to play on linux

amarok latest version can play m4as.

in response to original post:
i just keep my windows partition because i'm not at the level of competency in ubuntu that i am in windows... having used nothing but windows (mac once in a blue moon) since i was born, ubuntu takes a little getting used too, which is expected... in the event that i need to do something in an emergency really quickly, i like the comfort of knowing that i can boot up into a more familiar (tho hated) OS. as i get more proficient with ubuntu, i think that this will be less and less the reason i keep windows around

also, there are other people in my family who occasionally use my computer and it would be unrealistic to expect them to use anything else, so until college, windows will probably have to be around, even if it is not used often

Snowmayne

August 9th, 2006, 01:01 PM

I'm still just getting my feet wet in any Linux environment (my boss is pestering me to learn it because half the servers at work on on redhat or sco), but so far the main drawback that's preveting me has got to be Dark Age of Camelot. The only bloody game I play online (which uses linux on their servers even!) and I can't use Linux :( oh well, at least almost everything else I can think of using in WinXP I've seen on Ubuntu.

louis_nichols

August 10th, 2006, 05:52 AM

As of one month ago, when I graduated the uni, NOTHING!!! :KS :D

graabein

August 10th, 2006, 07:28 AM

I'm like everybody else -- sorry about that mr. Ray Davies (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:9zadqj3bojsa) -- it's in the games. Right now:

Civilization IV
City of Heroes
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Jheric

August 10th, 2006, 12:26 PM

Creative art.

I use the Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, InDesign, GoLive) and these programs just can't be effectively ran or replaced in Linux. Possible replacement programs can't run the files right, or at all, that I receive from clients.

I use Cakewalk's Sonar for audio recording. Rosegarden, Audacity, etc., are getting better but they still are too unstable and don't work with my hardware or VST plug-ins.

Frontpage. I hate it, but I HAVE to use it for my job (web-master for a very MS-centric website). No way to run it in linux, including Crossover.

Games. This may be lessening (gonna get the Wii!) but, for now, most of the games I play won't run on linux with Wine or Cedega.

Printing. Printing absolutely majorly bigtime sucks at printing. Unless your printer has full linux drivers and software (few consumer printers do), your in for trouble. I actually boot to windows just to print.

Video. Cinelerra is looking great, but it doesn't hold a candle to Premeire. Doesn't support video hardware. Doesn't support important formats.

How's that?? I love linux, but it is a far-cry from a full desktop for creative enthusiasts and professionals.

Jheric. :-({|=

h3mlock

August 11th, 2006, 09:34 PM

I have to use MS Access for work. I also like the convenience of Itunes in spite of all of their proprietary crap. I rip the cds into Ubuntu, which is kind of a pain. Maybe I've missed something? Ubuntu for everything else though.

SeaRox

August 12th, 2006, 01:19 AM

I'm fairly new to linux, so for now my comfort level with Windows is much higher. My wife is all for the simplicity of Windows. I see our family totally converting to linux except for two things, a couple of games, which I will probably be able to do without in the very near future, and work. Everything at work is Windows. There are some internet portals I have to go through that only work in Internet Explorer. So we will probably have a house full of Linux boxes and one Windows machine in the office for those few tasks that just cannot be done on linux.

I've been reading through the thread and I use Photoshop, Premiere, etc (Adobe). I foresee this being another reason that I will keep Windows running somewhere in my house.

woody_green

August 15th, 2006, 11:43 PM

I am a moody person who likes to try Windows one day and Ubuntu the next. I am spontaneous and I easily get tired of using the same OS over and over again. That's why I still keep my Windows partition. :D

quantboy

August 16th, 2006, 12:04 AM

Is there a QQ client for Ubuntu? And also, does pplive work with Ubuntu?
If these two apps can work on ubuntu, Windows is going to the landfill.

wild77

August 16th, 2006, 03:27 AM

DVD programs are all that keeps Windows on my machine!

DVD Decrypter and Ripit4Me (to rip)
DVD Rebuilder with Cinema Craft Encoder and Avisynth (encoders)
VOBlanker (editing)
ImgBurn (burning)

Some of these programs will run under Wine, but I have had no luck with that so far!

VideoLinux looks good on the Live CD,still needs a little more developement.

renebe

August 16th, 2006, 05:29 AM

We have four pc's at home (and three C64's and two Amiga's :)).

The two main pc's, proudly located in the living room, both run Ubuntu and nothing else. We haven't had running Windows here for over a year now.
I like Ubuntu; it reminds me of my Amiga-days (getting old here :)) and both my wife and I can do most anything we want (though it regularly costs me loads of time to get something working).

Then there are two old pc's, one running Windows XP and the other one running Windos 98 (seriously!). The one running 98 is in my son's room. He needs it for his school work: the software school provides doesn't run on Linux (yes, I heard of Wine, but haven't had the time to expiriment with it yet).
The XP machine is for work. I program in Progress 4GL, and sometimes use this machine to test some programming, or to make contact with my pc at work. I know Progress 4GL supports Linux (I believe they support Red Hat, but it is reported to work fine on other distributions too), but I haven't got the money to buy myself a license and my boss won't pay it for me. Also, I didn't manage to get my connection with work up, using Ubuntu (yet). I keep the XP machine way up in the attic and only take it down when I need it.

René.

rhomp2002

August 16th, 2006, 12:55 PM

Gorgeous country house. Just wish I could have seen the flash pictures. I can almost taste that pizza in the photos there. Gorgeous.:-D

cord

August 16th, 2006, 02:46 PM

Photoshop, Visual Studio.NET, some games, video playback

rhomp2002

August 16th, 2006, 02:52 PM

GarethMB

August 16th, 2006, 02:56 PM

Guitar Pro 5. Runs in Wine, but not to my liking, I await the linux port eagerly :)

And possibly flash 8 (though i'd never keep windows JUST for flash 8).

ubuntu_demon

August 16th, 2006, 03:41 PM

I haven't booted into windows for a really long time. The only reason I left it on there was because my scanner isn't supported in Ubuntu. But I just wiped my windows partition a couple of days ago anyway :)

ケイト

August 18th, 2006, 05:26 AM

Flash, printing two sided documents - can't get it to work on Linux - and the necessity for transferring a bunch of stuff over from the Windows partition. I have a ton of bookmarks on Firefox on XP and some photos that I can't replace. I was thinking of attaching the photos to emails and then reading them in Linux and that may work. The Flash and the two sided printing (also printing from the back of the document first) are the biggies. I use AMD64 version of Ubuntu and I think that is the problem with Flash.](*,)

You can set up firefox32 to use the Flash plugin on AMD64 Ubuntu.
http://doc.gwos.org/index.php/AMD64_Firefox32

As for your bookmarks in Windows, open Firefox and click on Bookmarks, and then Manage Bookmarks. This opens the Bookmarks Manager. Inside it, click on File, and then select Export. You will then be able to export all your bookmarks to a file which can be imported in Firefox in Ubuntu, by doing the same, but selecting Import instead.

Now, if you've got many photos, can't you mount your Windows partition in Ubuntu, and copy those over? I think it should show up in the Discs Manager, which is found in System → Administration. If that is too complicated, you could also burn them to a CD, perhaps?

As for the two-sided printing thing, that probably depends on your drivers, but I don't know much about it, because I don't have a printer.

fraction

August 18th, 2006, 09:30 AM

I'm just about to delete my windows partition and use VMware instead.

All I need is to work out how to delete the windows partition and merge the freespace into my main partition.

atrophic

August 18th, 2006, 06:00 PM

.Net development in Visual Basic (I work in an almost completely microsoft shop, sadly), mbas just isn't a good enough compiler yet to try to get it to work through mono, and a lot of the stuff I have to do id asp.net anyway.

Lightscribe labeling. Tried to get this to work on win2k through vmware but haven't succeeded yet. No crashes or anything, just doesn't recognize the discs as lightscribe, which I had problems with from time to time in Windows too, so it's probably just bad discs. Still, I have to use Windows in VMWare for it simply because there is no linux support for lightscribe.

xpod

August 19th, 2006, 12:07 PM

nothing proventing me i have no windows partition. linux has all the programs i need.. i only wish i would have found gnu/linux sooner......
The finding linux sooner that is

DITTO......4 or 5 months of M.E & XP was enough for me but if it had`nt been for all the probs i had with them i might never have found my way first to FF then to the complete new OS...Still needed to use the photoimpression i had in there the other day though as the gimp was a bit tough for the avatar edit i wanted at the time.

The rage i was feeling for it recently(XP.O.D) had me swearing to be rid of it ASAP but in hindsight its not a prob now and it will obviously come in handy at times so for now....I`ll let it stay:-#
.

mscad

August 24th, 2006, 10:37 AM

To fraction,

He wants to use VMWare to run Windows, but first, reclaim the space taken up by Windows.

Use gparted. See sourceforge.net. It's a Live Boot CD where you can delete your Windoze partition and then resize your Ubuntu partition. Hint: Windoze will be a NTFS or FAT32 parition type.

It's completey graphical and it is b'tching.
The help '?" icon list it's capabilities.

The only reason I keep my Windoze partition around is for the occasional game and my Canon scanner. I hope to resolve the scanner today hopefully.

iampoch

August 24th, 2006, 12:09 PM

Four reasons:

1. iTunes
2. My Motorola Software
3. Visual Studio Development
4. My sister. She finds Ubuntu too technical for her (it also has something to do with my not being able to fix my screen resolution, which is stuck to 640x480)

Drenhead

August 24th, 2006, 12:14 PM

For me, I can't get flash videos to work right no matter what I try. They either freeze or the sound is out of sync. Also, I can't view my .tivo files from my tivo. I can't figure out how do turn them into .mpg files like I can easily on XP. My Canon MP130 Printer won't work. Linux also needs to have a personal finance package that is compatible with MSMoney or Quicken.

scottbakertemp

August 24th, 2006, 12:32 PM

My big problem is simply hardware support. If the big companies (linksys, Dell, etc....) would make Linux drivers available; the invidual distro communities could make there own little how to's for each company's drivers and I'd be using Ubuntu more than windows. Right now I'm only using Ubuntu for servers and to play around with. My main systems are all windows.

A_608

August 24th, 2006, 11:53 PM

I can't part with Sibelius notation software and Sony Soundforge 8. I now use the internet on Ubuntu. 98se is no longer supported.

nazgulord

August 30th, 2006, 11:50 PM

Foobar2000. Nothing like it on Linux.

Also, I find that sometimes you have to play around with stuff a bit (and sometimes a lot) to get it to work in Linux. That's all well and good if you have a lot of time on your hands, but if you don't...

nazgulord.

dolphinsonar

August 31st, 2006, 12:22 AM

Wow, I feel like a pioneer. I had a windows box, and was sick of it. Didn't let me do anything I wanted to. I felt trap-ed.

I ran the Ubuntu live CD and it asked me if I wanted to delete windows? YES! Man, that was a satisfying feeling. Kinda laughed psychotically a little, to myself. My housemates now think I am a nut.

I just loaded libflash in the Ubuntu universe to view flash without Macromedia. I feel like I am really helping to liberate the world from propreitary software! Muhahahahhahaaa!

Leonivek

September 3rd, 2006, 04:15 PM

Why I can't let go of Windows...

- Logitech hardware (media keyboard and mouse) drivers/support
- MixMeister Pro: Nothing like it in Linux
- Microsoft Money (I know there's alternatives, but they lack serious features)
- Microsoft OneNote
- Motorola ROKR E1 iTunes cell phone support

There's probably a few more, but the big one is MixMeister Pro. It's an amazing and expensive piece of software for DJs. Even if all the other points above were resolved and only MixMeister was left to port to Linux, I would still keep Windows for it.

But, in reality, I will always have to have Windows on my system because of my line of work in IT.

AppleNick

September 3rd, 2006, 05:05 PM

What kept me from deleting Windows when I still had it? Other people in my house. I completely avoided it myself, and the Linux partition was completely mine.

groberts1980

September 3rd, 2006, 10:11 PM

Work keeps an XP partition on my laptop. I test C code modules with using program called VectorCast. While there is a Linux version of the software, they don't use have it, or use it. :(

That's pretty much it. That, plus a random game or two.

audioboxer217

September 4th, 2006, 11:39 AM

My TomTom. The software that goes with my TomTom (TomTom HOME) is only available on Windows and Mac. I've thought about deleting anyway as I don't use it that much and could manually add updates if needed. If that happens then my Windows partition is gone.

It was BF2, but with ET:QW coming out...forget BF2

Jerubaal

September 4th, 2006, 12:21 PM

I have XP on one drive and Linux on another, so that it will bea easier to switch when I am ready. I have to prove to my wife that it is actually ok to use, so until I know Linux well enough, that won't happen! I only have a trial version of the modem software, so I am limited to 14.4k (joy oh joy). Needless to say, I have so far downloaded all my .deb files at work and taken them home:). XP-wise, I paid for Office and some games, so sort of feel reluctant to throw them away.

Declan Moriarty

September 4th, 2006, 12:33 PM

I have XP on one drive and Linux on another, so that it will bea easier to switch when I am ready. I have to prove to my wife that it is actually ok to use, so until I know Linux well enough, that won't happen! I only have a trial version of the modem software, so I am limited to 14.4k (joy oh joy).

You mean that you had to pay for you modem Linux drivers?

DoctorMO

September 4th, 2006, 12:44 PM

Man thats just plain wrong and posibly illigal (GPL violation) who produces the modem software?

kopilo

September 6th, 2006, 07:14 AM

Games, also I believe it is best to be flexible enough to use the most amount of OSes possible.

You know, (unfortunatly the) need to keep windows savvy for work, study, etc.

glenndavy

September 10th, 2006, 09:01 AM

my windows partion has gone - the only thing I HAVE to touch from ms is sqlserver and access - and I do that in vmware. But I hear what you're saying re sending files on instant messaging - now why is that we just cant get that to work on linux?
glenn

AlexR1

September 10th, 2006, 11:43 AM

Answer is simple and short,
My Wife.

raintheory

September 11th, 2006, 08:16 AM

Two things for me:

1. Sony's SonicStage software so I can upload my Hi-MD recordings.
2. My EMU-1616m

fabittar

September 11th, 2006, 04:26 PM

AutoCAD.

Autodesk is Microsoft's puppet. AutoCAD is supported by one single OS, and that is Windows. No MAC, no linux, no nothing except Windows.

I am an architect. Where I live, AutoCAD is the standard for everything. So there you go. I would rather live without it tho - but I can't. Monopoly over the industry sucks, everyone knows about it, the fenomenon is world-wide, yet nothing is done to prevent it from going on.

Bah. Now I am sad.

BeachBuddah

September 11th, 2006, 05:33 PM

I'm more of an Ubuntu liker and hoper right now. I am still
learning just about everything re: Linux - 20 years+ working with M$ OS's. The partition will leave when I can do what I can in XP in Ubuntu. Like Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin - that's when, not if.

DOD1951

September 11th, 2006, 05:52 PM

Not being able to use my IPOD in the same way I can under Win XP using Itunes. Not being able to play most PC games.

ago

September 11th, 2006, 06:43 PM

Nothing, all windows partitions are gone except on one machine out of 3, "just in case". Last time I used it was to try coubuntu/andlinux. Before that I used it to try google earth when it first came out (before the linux version).

blx_286

September 11th, 2006, 09:45 PM

There is an old Windows game called Jacks that I have to have for my grand daughter. You know, the throw the ball up and pick up the jacks while the ball is in the air. Anyway, I have been unable to find anything similar in Linux. Here is the info from the Windows version.

Symantec Game Pack
Jacks Version 1.0
Copyright 1991 Charles Timmerman

If I could find that program and get my VPN working, I could get rid of Windows. Ok, off to search the forums some more.

djcaston

September 11th, 2006, 10:20 PM

i did delete my windows partition. Got rid of that crap right away.

Zyzzyx

September 11th, 2006, 11:09 PM

Just getting going on the Ubuntu and Linux stuff m'self, got it installed this weekend on a new HD. Admittedly, I first put a new install of XP on that HD, as my previous XP install has been getting a bit wonky. Then I installed Ubuntu on the rest of the drive. My old XP is on the old drive. Main reasons I'm going to be leaving XP as a dual boot option is games. Currently hooked on PlanetSide, and still dabble in FarCry. That, and as an IT Tech Support guy, I do need to still know and play with XP and such. Thus, this system will pair with my Windows 2003 Server. Though sometime soon I hope to get an Ubuntu server up and going as well.

alecjw

September 12th, 2006, 06:12 PM

Yay! The first post in this thred was posted on my birthday last year! Yay!

Well, i'm mainly using Windoze because my wirless card (bcm4304) isn't compatible with linux. I ordered a linux compatible atheros from amazon and it should arrive in about a week. But i'm still not wiping my Windoze partition because I haveto use SonicStage to transfer songs to my Sony Walkman.:(
So i'll probably keep it on a 3.2GB hard drive on a dusty shelf somewhere, only to be removed on special occasions.:)

Glimps

September 13th, 2006, 12:46 PM

My laptop is running exclusively ubuntu and everything I need works like a charm. When I absolutly need tu run windows (ie: work/school dev in windows) I use VMWare to run a copy of winXP. Runs like a charm, I don't need to reboot my laptop everytime I'm done using windows. As for everyone else when I want to game I use cedega.

I feel Linux is the only desktop that can fully use my hardware potential when usng my desktop. XGL is running full feature when I want to impress ppl with eye candy tricks to prove them Linux is in fact better then windows ;)

I still use windows at home because since I sometimes fix neighbor's computer I want to be up to date in the everlasting list of windows bugs. That aside Linux is all over the house.

Seiti

September 13th, 2006, 02:01 PM

Work. I need MS Visual Studio + SQL Server to develop web applications.
I use Debian at college and on my old notebook, and now I am tasting some Ubuntu on my new notebook :cool:

ivan.cukic

September 14th, 2006, 06:35 AM

What is preventing me from deleting my Windows Partition?
The fact that I do not have it. It is a bit sad 'cause I remember that while deleting it you get that near nirvana feeling :)

almostlinux

September 14th, 2006, 07:41 AM

I still have windows around for the occasional game that I may want to play ...

roderikk

September 14th, 2006, 07:43 AM

Hm, I don't have the time to do a full reinstall of everything but will probably do so since I never use it anyway. I have switched to ubuntu and I found it could fullfil my 'every need'. :-)

Now, when I use Windows at uni or at someone elses place I understand why I made the switch. Not that it is horrible, I just love the feeling of being able to control everything, and perhaps contribute a little to this wonderful community!

epsileth

September 18th, 2006, 03:57 PM

currently using kubuntu installed on a laptop drive in an enclosure, learnign to tinker without windows getting in the way.

main point for me presently is to allow me to go wherever i want, find a machine that can boot from usb and have my way without interfering with their setup :)

and learning how to have world of warcraft anytime, anywhere is a plus hehe

motin

September 18th, 2006, 05:40 PM

Monster thread!

Would be rather interesting if somebody would provide a summary of the - say - top 50 reasons expressed in this thread.

Anybody care to do that for the goodness of mankind? :)

aysiu

September 18th, 2006, 05:42 PM

I don't think there is a top 50.

I can sum it up, though:

1. Nothing. I've already deleted it.
2. I just want to keep it because I paid for it, even though I don't use it.
3. My family needs it.
4. I need it for games.
5. I need it for some other Windows-only program

xhaan

September 18th, 2006, 11:19 PM

Um.. it's got stuff on it that I don't care to move.
I might want to play a game... like F.E.A.R.
I like to have a fallback system.. though one day I'm going to set up a more robust Linux fallback system... but I'll probably still keep Windows around... :p

artisan

September 21st, 2006, 05:43 AM

what is PREVENTING you from deleting your Windows Partition?

Take a look at these forums, would be my answer.
Would it be unfair to call ubuntu buggy? Or that you need to be a progammer to use it.
There was the problem with the X server upgrade and now do a search in these forums for flashplayer.(It don't work in ubuntu)
I don't think I am a total retard and I am not afraid of the command prompt but, if it wasn't for the kind people who help out in these forums, the ubuntu project would be dead.

I for one have started to migrate back to windows.

mons

September 21st, 2006, 12:21 PM

Sorry to hear that, artisan.
I was also caught up in that xserver problem, but in my case a simple "apt-get update" followed by "apt-get dist-upgrade" fixed it (admittedly after a day or so wait). Those things are a pain, I agree.
Although I must add, I am having problems getting rid of a very persistant auto-dialer worm/spyware (not sure which it is) on my windows partition. So at one point I was almost tempted to destroy both partitions...

Now that my compiz-gnome ubuntu is back, I am thinking the only problem left is to get my Nebula digiTV USB box' remote control to work, so that the TV experience is as good as it is on Windows. The digital TV itself work, but not the remote control, which means I go back to Windows to watch TV most of the time.
So if anyone knows how to configure this sort of USB based (DVB) TV remote, I would be very greatful.

So that's it. A fully working digital TV on my Ubuntu partition and Win XP is history ;)

Mons

rengolin

September 21st, 2006, 06:43 PM

Apart from Flight Simulator 2004... nothing... never use it for other things, only to fly a while... FGFS is not as good as MS, but the rest is more than enough for me, or better on Linux.

motin

September 21st, 2006, 08:52 PM

if it wasn't for the kind people who help out in these forums, the ubuntu project would be dead.

It sure is great with such collaboration I agree.

I for one have started to migrate back to windows.

Feel free to do so. If your computer setup isn't well supported it just isnt worth the hassle.

Feel free to come back and try Edgy in a month - it may run smoother. And you might feel comfy enough not to spend $200-$300 on Vista.

jeremy

September 22nd, 2006, 02:31 AM

The only thing that is stopping me is the fact that I don't have one!

JohnnyVW

September 23rd, 2006, 07:37 PM

There are two things stopping me from deleting my Window$ partitions:

1. Total Recorder
2. My Pinnacle 700-USB video capture device.

I think that 's about it. ;)

I am finding myself booting my desktop PC to Ubuntu more and more.

The little Dell Latitude CPX-J is All Ubuntu All the Time! ;)

quickq111

September 23rd, 2006, 09:37 PM

iTunes, Instant Messenger, Games, and I use an INCREDIBLY fast wireless card in Windows that is simply incompatible with Ubuntu, so I am forced to slower internet speeds in Ubuntu.

aristotlewilde

September 24th, 2006, 09:36 AM

I am one of those users who jumps headfirst into Linux for a bit, then jumps back into XP when something isn;t working right and teh hassle seems too great.

I've traced my main isses to the following:

1) iPod support/iPod video conversion
2) Battlefield 2

My iPod isse can be solved easily enough when I upgrade my PMP to a Cowon or Creative that won't have such issues.

As far as Battlefield goes, I may just have to forego it until it is able to be run properly thru Cedega or Wine.

Battlefield gives me the upgrade bug real bad, trying to keep up with the Jones' system wise...

With the release of Edgy, I may go ahead and go Linux only on my PC, while giving my wife the XP.

ClarkePeters

September 24th, 2006, 03:46 PM

My printer driver for HP3920. Sure, I have one in Ubuntu but it is very limited, ie I can't print odd only and even only pages, and in my work, I need to do that a lot, can't control the quality as well either i.e. draft, fast draft, normal, high quality, photos etc.

second, I'm sure there's a way, but I can't access my HPIpaq when I need to load files. I'm not a techie, I'm working family man who doesn't have time to go searching around and configuring all my little needs.

That being said, I still think Ubuntu rocks, and one day, I'll be 100%, just not anytime soon, I think

Xzallion

September 24th, 2006, 08:14 PM

At this moment,I need windows for my Database & Query class. I thought of trying MySQL in Ubuntu, but I figured I would need to stay familiar with the darn windows tools for in class tests. :(

bobmct

September 25th, 2006, 03:14 PM

](*,) Running *nix servers and Kubuntu on three desktops. When trying to upgrade Linux on my "older" workhorse laptop to Kubuntu I experienced several incompatibility issues. So, I said, time to replace and get a new fangled notebook, which I did.

So what's keeping me form scrapping Windoze??? My fancy new notebook has a Broadcom Wifi chip and I CANNOT get it to work! Heck I cannot even get the nVidia onboard LAN chip to work under Kubuntu!

Maybe someday... 'cause I HATE Windoze!:evil:

Blario

September 26th, 2006, 01:23 PM

I have two things keeping my NTFS partitions intact.

1) I have about 500-600 gigs of media on ntfs partitions that isn't completely organized. not to mention that I use regularly including adding to it. I just dont have the dough to buy more hd's to transfer ish over to JFS. My drives are basically full too so it's hard to move stuff around. Plus would take forever to try to burn enough stuff off. Just dont have the free time for it.

2) My Treo 700w. I need to sync it. It's soo much ez'er to enter stuff via keyboard then sync than trying to put eveythign directly into the phone. Is there a solution for sync'ing calendar, contacts, notes, tasks, etc. with ubuntu? I would love to hear what that is! Notice this is Win Mobo 5 btw.

Jerubaal

September 27th, 2006, 07:23 AM

You mean that you had to pay for you modem Linux drivers?
Well, I would have to pay $20 for the software, if I was willing to pay for it. It is a software winmodem with no free linux driver that I can find. The company charge for theirs...

Jerubaal

September 27th, 2006, 07:33 AM

Man thats just plain wrong and posibly illigal (GPL violation) who produces the modem software?
Linuxant (http://www.linuxant.com/drivers/hsf/full/downloads.php) do the drivers, but say they that since the drivers are not entirely open source they need a sustainable business model...

Gotterdammerung

September 27th, 2006, 10:11 AM

I would remove Windows from my HD instantly if I had Windows installed.

Rhubarb

September 27th, 2006, 10:58 AM

I still use windows at home because since I sometimes fix neighbor's computer I want to be up to date in the everlasting list of windows bugs. That aside Linux is all over the house.

Glimps, there's a simple way to get around this like I have done:
When your neighbour's computer dies because of an infestation of virii and turns into a botnet zombie during the process, simply wipe the lot, install ubuntu, then when you're over the other side of the world (like I am now), just VNC in when ever something happens. In my neighbour's case, this is usually a few stray icons and a menu bar that'd moved "by itself". All these "problems" were between the keyboard and the chair. Much much less problems (no severe ones either) since moving to ubuntu.

I've spread ubuntu onto 7 computers not owned by myself so far, I've got 2 laptops running ubuntu currently.

I just need to install XP whenever there's a firmware / BIOS update for my laptop (windows only installers - grrrrrr). Then it's good bye to xp and hello to ubuntu again.