Must switch to Ubuntu in a hurry.

[pcallanan]

Help!

I'm going to have to completely wipe my computer and install Ubuntu. I've been postponing it because there are some Windows files I absolutely can't afford to lose or be unable to open:

1. An Access 2007 database
2. Lots of Excel 2007 spreadsheets
3. My iTunes libraries and synced devices.

Am I going to be able to do this? I tried to open the Access DB with my Windows Open Office installation, but couldn't get it done.

Everything is already backed up.

Thanks,

Patrick

[snowpine]

I'm going to have to completely wipe my computer and install Ubuntu.

Why?

Nothing in your post screams "this user would be better off with Ubuntu" to me.

[DuckHook]

This does not sound good. Ubuntu is not a magic bullet that will bail you out of whatever problem you seem to be having. It may not even be the best solution if your box is relatively old and underpowered. In any case, without knowing your computing experience, your HW, your history with Linux distros, why you are in such a hurry, it is impossible to advise you other than generalizations so broad they are almost meaningless.

1. Access is the hardest app of the MS Office suite to port. Haven't heard too many good stories.
2. Excel all depends on complexity of docs. If they contain macros, you are out of luck.
3. iTunes only works on Windows. I've never heard of successful port to Linux. Synced devices depends on the device. You provide no info.

The real danger here is that you are thinking of Ubuntu as a better Windows than Windows and it isn't. Typical migration strategy is to install as dual boot, get used to the OS over a few weeks if not months, then plot out migratory path for docs, alternate apps, etc.

I've helped dozens of people migrate from Windows to Linux. Frantic must-do-today migrations do not work and bring guaranteed pain and failure.

[Bucky Ball]

+1 to what's been said. You would be better off working out why you can't open your Access files in Windows, the stuff of Windows forums.

You appear to think Ubuntu is a free Windows. It's not. Nothing like it.

[pcallanan]

Why?

Nothing in your post screams "this user would be better off with Ubuntu" to me.

The hard drive is almost full, and every time I try deleting old programs it claims to be installing something. I suspect a Trojan. I booted it up twice without running any programs and the quantity of free disk space was way less the second time. It's down to megabytes free.

And is anybody better off with Windows?

[Bucky Ball]

If everything is backed up why not wipe the drive and reinstall Windows? Better option than switching to an OS you are completely unfamiliar with and won't do what you are wanting anyway.

And is anybody better off with Windows?

Yes. If they want to open Windows files using Windows software. I use Windows for pro-level AV software that won't run in Linux.

[howefield]

And is anybody better off with Windows?

Sounds like you are a prime candidate. But maybe With a bigger or second hard drive. Hope you have your cannot afford to lose data backed up.

I ran ccleaner the other day whilst remote supporting a windows machine, a few megabytes short of 6 gig was freed. I'd say you'd be best fixing the windows/space issue before thinking about using Ubuntu.

[3rdalbum]

These days, iTunes music is unencrypted and will play in Ubuntu, although of course you can't use the iTunes store. There are lots of other worthwhile music stores that are cross platform.

Excel spreadsheets can be used.

Access databases can't be used, as far as I know.

[offgridguy]

And is anybody better off with Windows?

I have searched, but can't find where the prerequisite to use linux
requires you to hate windows.

[pcallanan]

I guess I should have provided more detail. I started working with computers back in the 70s doing electronic music. I was a mainframe lab coordinator in the 80s while doing graduate work in computer science. Then I worked for five years developing DoD web applications, followed by business web applications until the dot com bubble burst in 2001. I managed to hang on till the fall of 2002 developing Access databases for non-profits. During all that time I worked in everything from MS-DOS through Windows to Unix/Linux. I haven't done any IT work since then.

So I go back to card decks and command-line programming. I'm just a stranger to Ubuntu, although I got it on a netbook about five years ago, which I had to do a bare-bones reinstall on because the updates filled up the entire flash memory. So I've got it there, but I can't really work with it much.

I also installed SUSE Linux on an old PC, but partitioning the disk was a nightmare, and I'd prefer not to have to go through that again. However I do have a business to run that lives and dies on the old MS Office files. I'm perfectly willing to build new DBs and spreadsheets in Open Office, but I need to be able to open and read the old ones.

Ultimately I want to build a streamlined customized system to do high quality music recordings, and I'd prefer to do it in Linux because I appreciate the security of Unix/Linux and the fact that it was built from the ground up with good architecture, not cobbled together full of gaping security holes like Windows. And I'm sick to death of bloated anti-virus software that appears to be expanding at an alarming rate. And I hate the feeling that I'm in every virus builder's gun sight.

The urgency comes from the disk filling up and the fact that I'm dead broke and without credit, making it impossible to buy new hardware and expensive new software to shore up a Windows system I hate.

Being an anarchist, I'd rather contribute to the Linux community than continue to line the pockets of Microsoft kingpins. I've seen how they've been trying to take over and rule the world, crushing small, innovative companies along the way. So, yes, I'm in a hurry--and seriously pissed off.

Does that make sense to anybody? Because the Linux community, in spite of its vaunted openness is starting to look like an exclusive club.