Lindows Version 4: User Reviews and Tips for Compatibility with MS Office

[BoulderHead]

There is a version 4 of this operating system available and I'm wondering if anyone has played with it. I heard a comment that it was pretty nice but required some other program? to enable functionality with applications such as MS Office.

Anyone try it yet or plan to?

 

[dduardo]

let me make this crystal clear:

Lindows = Crap.

1) Security wise, it is a lot more insecure than other distros.
2) They make you pay for click-n-run apps
3) The president is Micheal Robertson

If you want to get into linux start with red hat, suse , gentoo, knoppix or slackware.

If you absolutely think you need microsoft office then you want to install Wine (winehq.com) or buy crossover office. If not go with open office. Their lastest version is amazing. The open office suite comes with spreadsheet, word processor, presentation , project management , vector graphics( like visio ) programs. It supports xml, mysql, microsoft office documents, etc. Info about this is at openoffice.org . There is even a windows version, so you can try it before you go into linux.

 

[BoulderHead]

Is Lindows more secure than WinXP?

What are your thoughts on Winlinux?

I installed it with Win98 but cannot look at it long because the flickering screen will give me a migraine. I don't have a clue how to increase the refresh rate...

 

[dduardo]

I'm starting to see a pattern here. Why are you drawn to distros that promise to be like microsoft windows?

If you are in linux and want to run windows : emulation is terrible unless you are willing to put in some time recompiling wine and playing with dlls.

If you are in windows and want to run linux : emulation is is a little better, but it still not worth it to the beginner.

Do not try to mix linux and windows if possible.

Here are a few things I would like to find out to make your linux introduction as smooth as possible:

How computer savvy are you? From a 1 to a 10 do you consider yourself an aol brain dead computer user or a uber power user.

Do you feel comfortable with getting nitty-gritty in software? (Ex: Playing around with partitions, recompiling software, running under command line, etc )

What type of computer do you have? (Please be specific about the hardware components such as video card, monitor, etc..)

What type of software do you need? (Office, photoshop, etc)

 

[BoulderHead]

Originally posted by dduardo
I'm starting to see a pattern here. Why are you drawn to distros that promise to be like microsoft windows?

Familiarity is my reason. I’d like to experiment but don’t want to jump into deep water if I can avoid it. What I am primarily hoping to find out in this thread is whether anyone else has used these operating systems and had a chance to see how they worked. I’m curious if these ‘hybrids’, for lack of a better word, are likely to catch on with the general public. With that said, if I can get some help finding out how to alter my display setting it would be a big help.

If you are in linux and want to run windows : emulation is terrible unless you are willing to put in some time recompiling wine and playing with dlls.

If you are in windows and want to run linux : emulation is is a little better, but it still not worth it to the beginner.

Do not try to mix linux and windows if possible.

The winlinux creates a shortcut on the Win98 desktop, and double-clicking the shortcut will cause the computer to reboot and load Winlinux. It doesn't look or feel like a mixing going on, but it's not something I can tolerate looking at long enough to get a feel for it because of the flickering brought about by a low refresh rate. I had loaded Red Hat 7.2 once upon a time and had the same problem (on a different computer). The book that came with the disks covered plenty of ground but never seemed to explain such a simple function as what I need to do.

Here are a few things I would like to find out to make your linux introduction as smooth as possible:

How computer savvy are you? From a 1 to a 10 do you consider yourself an aol brain dead computer user or a uber power user.

Do you feel comfortable with getting nitty-gritty in software? (Ex: Playing around with partitions, recompiling software, running under command line, etc )

Not knowing what a 10 would entail I'd be disinclined to rate myself. I'm comfortable in a DOS environment and can navigate (create directories and files, moving things around) with only a keyboard, though it is a burden to do so. Partitioning, minor editing of system files, etc. are things I have plenty of experience doing.

What type of computer do you have? (Please be specific about the hardware components such as video card, monitor, etc..)

The computer with Winlinux on it is a 400MHz (overdrive processor in a PI socket 7 motherboard) Dell Optiplex Gn+ with 256MB of PC66 EDO memory, onboard S3 Trio64 video (2MB RAM). Come to think of it I should check the Dell Support website for a possible driver to run, though I’m still going to come up way short of understanding the procedure to install it. The monitor is a 17-inch HP71.

What type of software do you need? (Office, photoshop, etc)

Exactly those things you mentioned plus CD burning software, music and video format converters, etc. But I’d be happy for the time being just getting the display the way I want it.

 

[dduardo]

double damn it! First i spend close to 45 min making a long reply, but "submit reply" eats it up. Second, try, accidently closed mozilla and lost work.

Third try( Very impatient):

If you want to fix your refresh rate then you need to got into runlevel 3 and edit xf86config file. Read "XFree86 Video Timings HOWTO" to find out which parameters you need to change.Go back to runlevel 5 and hope your editing works.

Redhat way of changing refresh rate - see attachment.

----------

The initial install of linux may be easier with winlinux, but more popular distros will be better in the long run. Honestly, the new mainstream distros have gotten to the point where it is so easy to install if you got your paritition setup the way you want it.

 

[BoulderHead]

dduardo,
Well thank you anyway for all your efforts. I'm sorry your first two responces were lost (I could have used them) but I will try to do what you have suggested in your last post and see if that helps any.
BTW, I always (well, most of the time) type my replies in a text editor because I've found that it is too risky and you might loose all your work if you simply type in the reply box.
I'll report back (probably for more help) when I'm feeling a little better and get the chance to work at altering the refresh rate.
Thanks again,
-BH

 

[renedox]

From what I can tell, you're quite ready for what Linux has to offer.

Do not worry about the familarity part of things, depending on what desktop environment you use, it will look/feel almost exactly the same. Also, do not forget that Microsoft copied the interfaces of other operating systems :)

 

[abhishek]

Originally posted by BoulderHead
Familiarity is my reason. I’d like to experiment but don’t want to jump into deep water if I can avoid it.

Jump! Jump! It's not really that deep. And as dduardo says, the newer distros are easy to operate by themselves; forget falling back on Windows or Windows-like software. IME, it's much easier to get a good grasp of Linux if you dive into the deep end and commit yourself to it, or else you'll find it a tedious process to getting used to and will probably stick to Windows most of the time.

Originally posted by BoulderHead
Not knowing what a 10 would entail I'd be disinclined to rate myself. I'm comfortable in a DOS environment and can navigate (create directories and files, moving things around) with only a keyboard, though it is a burden to do so. Partitioning, minor editing of system files, etc. are things I have plenty of experience doing.

That should be more than enough. It's not hard at all, particularly if you start with one of the "easier" distros like RedHat 9, SuSe 8.2, etc. Anything else you'll need to know, you'll learn as you use it.

Originally posted by BoulderHead
Exactly those things you mentioned plus CD burning software, music and video format converters, etc. But I’d be happy for the time being just getting the display the way I want it.

Almost all types of software available on Win is available (in one form or another) on Linux. Except for a few biggies: Adobe/Photoshop, Macromedia/Flash products and some more. There is The Gimp, which is a powerful program in its own right, but it's nothing like PS. You might, though, be able to run PS on Linux under CrossOver Office.

Good luck!

 

[Tweek]

Try knoppix std! It's so cool and it fits on a cd. Down load it, use nero to burn it, reboot and stand back and be amazed. You don't have to reconfigure your pc. All you do it boot the disk. I love it! I think its a great way to jump into the world of Linux. It's fast and has more tools then you will use.

 

[BoulderHead]

Say, that's a very nice tip about Knoppix (never heard of it before). I'm running v3.3 right now; it booted from the CD, found all my hardware devices, and has me intrigued. Unlike WinLinux, the refresh rate may be set by default to a higher value as the screen doesn't flicker at all. One thing I'd like to know is; how do I increase the text size in the web browser? The text is too small for my poor vision.

[edit]
Nevermind, I just found out how. The description said that this disk can boot with a 486, and I'm going to put it to the test in a day or two.

THANKS !