Ubuntu help

[vxedcc]

I am going to be installing a version of linux on my machine, most likely ubuntu.

I would like to know hwat sort of platforms are supported, as well as programs, and more importantly, what is not supported...

for example Steam for games, Ventrillo, msn, Dreamweaver, roxio, winamp and itunes.

Any help with this will be greatly appreciated as I am a first time user of ubuntu, but i have had a fiddle with redhat and debian before!

 

[GarethDW]

I am going to be installing a version of linux on my machine, most likely ubuntu.

I would like to know hwat sort of platforms are supported, as well as programs, and more importantly, what is not supported...

for example Steam for games, Ventrillo, msn, Dreamweaver, roxio, winamp and itunes.

Any help with this will be greatly appreciated as I am a first time user of ubuntu, but i have had a fiddle with redhat and debian before!

Not sure what you mean by what platforms are supported. Do you mean the architecture? If so, there are Linux variants for i386, AMD64, PowerPC, Amiga, AS/400, etc...

As for applications - some of them you'll have to switch to use a Linux equivalent. For example, use Gaim instead of MSN, or Nero (or K3b) instead of Roxio, xmms or Amarok or MPlayer instead of Winamp, etc...

For gaming, have a look at Cedega, but it largely depends what games you play as to whether this is a viable option. Otherwise, just keep a Windows partition and dual-boot for your gaming.

 

[blairw]

What is your main motivation for going to linux

Vista was annoying me, thats why I installed, but i still have vista on my comp, as a full switch over is hard to do after many years, and you might 'need' something you can only get on windows

I suggest you dual boot to be honest

As for applications - after using itunes i switched to Rhythmbox player which ships with ubuntu, i really like it, functions similar to itunes, just way faster, and no ipod support (as far as i know).

games - id keep a windows install for that!

Ventrillo - there is a skype client, which is similar, but im not sure on vent msn - gaim rocks!
Dreamweaver there is some wysiwyg software on linux, but if you need the specific features of dreamweaver, wine should prove to be ok, but again dual boot
roxio - plenty of burning programs! (some installed, some on easyubuntu or Automatix

I have been using linux 2 - 3 days now, its made a big impression on me, and i hope to get some old hardware to mess really indepth with it, maybe some server work

Blair