reasure me. this is the right choice

[twiitch]

Ive been debating switching opoerating systems ever since vista started to disapoint me (go figure, eh). linux has been in the forefront of that thought process, and Ive decided to take a deep look at it.

Im running a hewlett-packard (hope that doesnt make a diference)
core 2 quad 2.4 ghz Q6600 64 bit processor
3 gb of ram
256 mb nvidea video card
500 gb HD

Ive come to the comclusion that what i need to switch away from vista is an operating system that will run everything. Ubuntu has been my choice for that. Ive ralized that most of my primary programs are run in wine. thank god.

what I want from linux is to be able to run:
-warcraft 3 multiplayer (with minimal diference in gameplay or multiplayer information transfer
-Itunes
-photoshop
-video files of all types, especially DivX codecs
-any form of torrent file sharing

that being said, thats a small list. its just the few things i NEED from windows, and apparantly itunes, photoshop and warcraft 3 all will work fine with wine.

other than these few specific programs, i think I'm fine. Linux comes with a wealth of freewares to do just about anything else i need.

The only other thing I am concerned with and its an easy concern, is keeping my current media library, as I am a photographer/musician and cant afford to lose information switching over. am I better off Backing up my media on some sort of external source and transfering back post-switch. or will a partition be enough to just sit aside untouched until the switch is over?

All im looking for is rasurance that Im making the right switch, and that My assumptions that this will be effective and not let me down, and that I can still play my games, and work on my photos. Thanks in advance to anybody who can tell me im right, or the right path to take.

[Cabhan]

So as far as I see it, you have three concerns:

1) Will your computer be sufficiently powerful to run Linux?

2) Does Linux have the applications that you need?

3) Are there any concerns about the partitioning process?

So, in order:

1) Your computer will be fine. Linux has waaaay better support for 64 bit than Windows does, even though you probably won't see much of a difference between 64-bit and 32-bit distros at this point. Linux can run on boxes that are 10 years old, so you will be fine with yours. Nvidia is also the right choice: both Nvidia and ATI support Linux, but Nvidia has historically had better support.

2) For applications, the general rule is that you have a specific application to run, you may be out of luck, but you will always find an application to do what you want.

For instance, iTunes does not run on Linux, and I wouldn't even bother running it through wine. We have music library and playing applications of our own! Ubuntu, I believe, come with Rhythmbox by default:
Rhythmbox - The music management application for GNOME

I suspect that it will do everything you need.

For Warcraft 3, either Wine or Cedega will work for you (Cedega is a fork of Wine geared for gaming; it is not free, but as a result has officially-supported titles that it guarantees full compatibility with: Warcraft 3 is one of these).

For Photoshop, we tend to use GIMP under Linux:
GIMP - The GNU Image Manipulation Program

If you're a photographer, it's conceivable that you may need some features that Photoshop has that GIMP does not, so I believe that Photoshop runs under Wine (if it does not, Crossover Office might work).

As far as video players, we tend to use either MPlayer or VLC. Both support every codec you've ever heard of, and many that you haven't.

And for torrenting, Azureus and many other clients run on Linux, so you're set there.

3) Partitioning is a pretty stable process these days, and I personally have never lost data when partitioning. However, that is no guarantee that you will not have trouble. The recommendation is to always back up important data before messing with your partition tables and formatting. This is the only way to guarantee no data loss.


So as far as your assumptions about what you can do on Linux go, I think you're clear. However, although Ubuntu is very new-user friendly, Linux is still an entirely different philosophy from Windows. Ubuntu comes as a LiveCD: this means that you can run Ubuntu off of a CD without making any changes to your hard drive. I recommend doing this just to get a feel for how applications work and what the filesystem looks like. If you're uncertain about the switch at that point, you can always dual-boot, where you run both Windows and Linux on the same computer so as to make sure that your programs work and until you are fully comfortable with Linux.

I hope this helps.

[twiitch]

wow, thank you very much cabhan, that was very useful.

i feel pretty secure about this now. im a fairly intermediate user and Im sure i can figure out linux. I will give the live cd a try for now, with hopes it proves well for me.

the main concern i had with Itunes is for my Ipod. if rythm box has support for syncng those up, then I wont need Itunes, otherwise, it sounds like there's multiple windows emulators gear'd at diferent programs and application usage. and I will definately try the one for gaming (i demand the best whether it costs or not)


I know in the end, that I can always wipe and start over, so Im very willing to make this switch.

as far as backing up, maybe I will just fill an external harddrive as backup. so that when i do make a full switch, i can make new partitions and wipe 500 gb clean.

You have really given me the confidence to go ahead with this, thank you again

[KingX]

Another key thing is being patient when using or switching to linux, it will take a little time getting settled in a completely different environment, as Cabhan also noted. Not to mention finding alternatives to the programs you used in windows, will take some time. But overall I see nothing wrong with your system and you should take the plunge into the world of linux .

As far as backing up the data, creating a parition or getting an external drive both will do the job. If you can afford it, buying a external drive will help you keep your media separate from your system. It will give you the peace of mind and bit of freedom when playing around with the sytem, without having to worry about losing data.

Depends on your comfort level with creating partitions etc.

[twiitch]

If i partition off my harddrive and use it as storage. when I finish the switch it will read the partition and let me use it as per norm. (it did with knoppix last time i used that one) the big concern is that partitions still work the way they used to. all things go wrong, and i crash linux bad (knock on wood), that partition still stays relatively untouched, and i can wipe the OS partition, re-install and pick up the old partition. I have all of my photography backed up in my safe deposit box, so information loss is not a worry, its just the work of getting it back.

[reed9]

the main concern i had with Itunes is for my Ipod. if rythm box has support for syncng those up, then I wont need Itunes, otherwise, it sounds like there's multiple windows emulators gear'd at diferent programs and application usage. and I will definately try the one for gaming (i demand the best whether it costs or not)

Rhythmbox and Amarok are both able to sync to most ipods. There are also some standalone applications for use with ipods. I believe the exceptions are the ipod touch and iphones.

I don't use apple products, so beyond their existence, I don't know much about these programs, but they may be worth looking into.

Yet another iPod manager - Home

floola.com - Wiwi - Home

gtkpod - a GUI for Apple's iPod using GTK2

Hipo - iPod Management Tool

Ubuntu probably has some or all of these in their repositories.

[MikeTbob]

I'm a big fan of Amarok but at the present time Amarok is undergoing same major changes so I would advise waiting until the end of Summer before you get too excited. But as long as you have ipod support I think it may still work. I'm not sure if your distro supports it but on my distro (Gentoo) I have a package named gtkpod, which I think provides support to Amarok and Rythmbox. Will anyone check to see if it is available in other distros?

app-pda/gtkpod
      Latest version available: 0.99.14_p20090710
      Latest version installed: [ Not Installed ]
      Size of files: 1,504 kB
      Homepage:      gtkpod - a GUI for Apple's iPod using GTK2
      Description:   GUI for iPod using GTK2
      License:       GPL-2 FDL-1.2

As you can see, I don't have it installed since I don't use an Ipod. Hope this helps some. And for what it's worth, I have a /media partition that I keep all my music and videos. I have managed to not format this drive or lose data even though I crashed the installer and just made mistakes in general. But it's always best to plan for the worst.

EDIT: D'OH! I just notice reed9 already included gtkpod.

[Daniel_B]

Quick question, what model of video card do you have? I have found though my recent installation experience that Ubuntu (nor Knoppix or Damn Small Linux) support the Nvidia 7800GT properly. I ask because that is a 256mb card, I know its a longshot but on the off chance you have that card it could save you a few hours of hair-pulling. I ended up having to swap it with a newer Nvidia card I had on another computer and it worked perfect.

And as a recent former Vista user, Ubuntu kicks Vista's butt like you wouldn't believe.