[SOLVED] Move from Windows7 to Linux

[ejones]

Computer experience 1982 to present starting with CP/M and all distributions on windows from DOS to Windows7. No fear of the command line or terminal as Sudo or SU.

I have made many attempts, starting with Redhat (when it was free) and this time with Ubuntu 10.10 and OpenSuse 3.11 both gnome and kde to make the change. None have been satisfactory.

Needs:

Website development:

I need a package that will support Dynamic Web Templates (DWT) I have several sites built with Dreamweaver using DWT. So far I have not found a package that will do the DWT updates - think cookbook - over 200 pages to update on a page menu change. I know about PHP and used includes before DWT. I don't want to go back to that!

Genealogy:

I used Family Tree since it came out. I could use the open source package but it lacks the "Bells and Whistles" ((Ancestry.com Link) I have come to depend on.

Finance:

I can work with gnucash and Open Office spreadsheet and document editor. My problem is a stock trading program "Quotetracker" (provided by broker) that I have not found a replacement for.

In the past I tried using these programs in wine with little success.

If there is an answer to the Website development problem, I will probably go with the OpenSuse distro unless there is a better suggestion.

Thanks for any/or all help and comments
eddie

[ved]

i m not suggesting many thing but this link is may be useful for you
http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/new...e-posting.html

[jmadero]

Unfortunately for those specific needs I suspect you'll need to either a. stick with Windows or b. run a virtual machine inside of Linux.

If you're dependent on proprietary software and they are "a must" such as quotetracker and that family tree software, it's unlikely that you'll find a replacement which will interact in the same ways. I suspect if your first issue is the biggest you can find software and workarounds but if you want everything that you have stated, I doubt you're going to find it.

[zenwalker]

An addiction to Windows is obvious here. Cold-turkey it and start fresh or go back to your addiction!

[jmadero]

An addiction to Windows is obvious here. Cold-turkey it and start fresh or go back to your addiction!

Agreed. It sounds like he is highly dependent on it, especially for stocks which I suspect may contribute to his livelihood. I'd suggest a virtual machine, use Linux for everything other than those few pieces of software that you absolutely need, for those just run Virtual Box or even VM Player (I've been told VM Workstation is free now, not sure if someone can confirm this as I haven't used a virtual machine in a long time).

They are easy to set up and if you need/want help just ask and someone (including myself) can put the steps forth

[ejones]

Unfortunately for those specific needs I suspect you'll need to either a. stick with Windows or b. run a virtual machine inside of Linux.

Thanks for the responses. Sorry I can't go "Cold Turkey" right now. Made my living from 1988 to 2004 (retired bean counter) with the windows platforms and windows applications. Got way too much data to throw away or start over, I am an old man and don't have the time! I just want to beat Linux before I die.

My last serious attempt moving to Linux was in 2006-7. At that time I tried using a virtual machine with several Linux distros. It was disastrous!

This time my test/experiment machine is a home built ASUS AM3 MB with:

• dual core processors AMD 6000 64bit
• 4 gig ram
• Nvidia 9500/1gig ram dual dvi monitor graphic card
• 3 hard drives (SATA 250G w/win7 installed, SATA 320G for data storage and an IDE 120G w/ubuntu10.10 installed)
• read/write dvd player
• multi-card reader

Starting with a clean Win7 install on the 250G drive and Ubuntu 10.10 on the 120G drive I plan to install the same programs as far as possible: Xampp, Filezilla, Komposer, Mplayer, VLC, firefox, thunderbird and so on. Document and Data storage on the350G to be accessed by both OSs.

Where the mis-matches occur such as with: Dreamweaver, FamilyTree Maker and others, I will try using VirtualBox.

If I can access the data drive from within the virtual box there may be hope of this working.

I hope VirtualBox has improved as much as Ubuntu has since 2006!

Thanks again
eddie

[Jonathan183]

If I can access the data drive from within the virtual box there may be hope of this working

You should be able to get shared folders to work.

If you intend doing a dual boot then install Windows first, then Linux (Ubuntu defaults were use whole disk so just watch for partition options during the install).

Set yourself up a user for virtualbox and copy files over to the home area and try the apps you want in virtualbox and check they work.

btw ... are you sure there are not equivalent Linux apps for most of your requirements?

Anyway - good luck and let us know how it goes

[lomcevak]

I recently installed VirtualBox on my laptop which is running Windows 7 and I like it. The install of VirtualBox worked without a problem. The creation of the Virtual Machine (VM) was easy since it’s all GUI. I installed CentOS on the VM without any problems.

You can share a Windows folder, as well as the clipboard, with the VM. You have to specify which folder to share in the VM’s configuration. You also have to install what is called ‘Guest Additions’ in the Linux OS. It’s all documented in the User Manual and a script is provided to install it. You then mount the folder as a disk, the documentation provides the mount options that you have to use. If you want to mount the folder automatically during boot then you’ll have to place an entry in /etc/fstab.

Make sure you install a Linux that is supported by VirtualBox. Which ones are supported is in the User Manual.

[ejones]

btw ... are you sure there are not equivalent Linux apps for most of your requirements?

That was my original question. The killer is a WYSIWYG editor that will update dymanic web pages (DWT) like Dreamweaver CS5.

You can share a Windows folder, as well as the clipboard, with the VM.

I will test this.

Thanks
eddie

[jmadero]

Quanta Plus | Open Source Alternative - osalt.com

check that out for your WYSIWYG editor, should work great from what I'm reading