Welcome to my page covering software. I'd like to use it to try to convince you to try Free and Open Source Software (or F/OSS). One thing you need to understand - I'm not talking about "free" software like so many users get hooked into - like Yahoo! toolbars, Gator, etc. When I say "free", I mean it is free as in freedom. You can use the software as you want. And in the case of everything below, it is also free in cost (that is just an added bonus). If you are a Windows PC user, please note that below my "pitch" for Linux, everything else is also available for the Windows PC. Apple users - I don't know. Sorry, but I don't have an Apple PC so I can't test things out on that platform. Feel free to donate to the cause if you want!
As you can see, it is very similar to what the typical Windows PC user is used to looking at. It works the same way as the Windows GUI.
If you decide to try Linux, you can pick from many different "distros". I run one called SuSE 9.3 on my desktop PC and SuSE 10.0 on my laptop. As I mentioned, I run KDE on both of them for the GUI. Once all of that is installed, both of them just boot right up to the "desktop" and I'm ready to work - just like a Windows PC. One really good option is to try a "LiveCD" version of Linux. This is one that is contained on a CD-ROM. You put that in your CD drive, then reboot your computer. You can then boot the computer so it loads the Linux operating system and desktop GUI that you choose.
Coming soon...more info on Linux and sections on other F/OSS software that I recommend.
Linux
I am assuming most of you reading this are running Windows PC's. If you are already running some flavor of Linux or even Mac OS, you may want to skip on down. Before we get too far into things, let me define a couple things. First, operating system. For so many people, this is Windows. It is the software on your computer that keeps everything running and working together. Linux is also an operating system. The second term is GUI. This stands for "graphical user interface". Basically, this means all the stuff that you actually SEE on your computer screen and how you interact with it (e.g. colors, icons, mouse clicks, drag and drop, etc.). On a Windows PC, you are provided with a single choice for the GUI - what Microsoft ships with the operating system. My understanding is that Microsoft has actually merged components together quite tightly. On a Linux computer though, you have a choice of GUI. Probably the two most popular are called GNOME and KDE. You will find that they are actually quite similar to the Windows GUI. There is a Start button. Icons. Task bar. You can drag windows around, minimize, maximize, close, etc. Below is a screenshot of my desktop(I run KDE) with all of the applications minimized (I have actually configured my taskbar to appear along the top of the screen). Please note that it is so wide because I run dual monitors (that is, two monitors placed side by side and functioning as one giant monitor).
As you can see, it is very similar to what the typical Windows PC user is used to looking at. It works the same way as the Windows GUI.
If you decide to try Linux, you can pick from many different "distros". I run one called SuSE 9.3 on my desktop PC and SuSE 10.0 on my laptop. As I mentioned, I run KDE on both of them for the GUI. Once all of that is installed, both of them just boot right up to the "desktop" and I'm ready to work - just like a Windows PC. One really good option is to try a "LiveCD" version of Linux. This is one that is contained on a CD-ROM. You put that in your CD drive, then reboot your computer. You can then boot the computer so it loads the Linux operating system and desktop GUI that you choose.
Coming soon...more info on Linux and sections on other F/OSS software that I recommend.
