linux newbie wants help and information

[jagdeep]

Hi

I am from New Delhi, India.
For the past some time I have become really interested in Linux and want to install it on to my PC! I do not know Linux properly, and therefore seek your guidance. Please advice me on the following:

1) Which Linux version/brand should I go in for? Should I download it from the net or buy a CD set. (I am more comfortable with the graphical version, anything that is command line operated scares me). Would I need to take a special course to learn Linux or would I be able to understand it simply by navigating through it.

2) I chiefly work on these softwares on my computer:
-GRAPHICS : adobe Photoshop, illustrator, PageMaker, Corel draw, macromedia freehand, 3D studio max and flash
-OFFICE : Microsoft office, adobe acrobat
-INTERNET : opera web browser

After I switch over to Linux would i be still able to use these softwares????

3) Does Linux have special softwares and games specifically for it and are they very costly (or freely downloadable).

4) If I get CD’s or floppies with windows files inside it would I be able to access them properly on my Linux PC. Again if would need to get files printed shares on windows machines would I able to do it smoothly.

5) Is it possible to keep windows installed along with Linux while I get my hand set over it?

6) Anything else important that I should know before I finally take the plunge into LINUX????


Following is my computer configuration:
INTEL P4 1.7 GHZ
INTEL D845GBV MOTHERBOARD
256 MB RAM
40 GB HDD
SAMSUNG CD R/W


I WOULD BE ENORMOUSLY THANKFUL FOR ANY GUIDANCE!!

THANK YOU

[AndrewLubinus89]

Originally posted by jagdeep
Hi

I am from New Delhi, India.
For the past some time I have become really interested in Linux and want to install it on to my PC! I do not know Linux properly, and therefore seek your guidance. Please advice me on the following:

1) Which Linux version/brand should I go in for? Should I download it from the net or buy a CD set. (I am more comfortable with the graphical version, anything that is command line operated scares me). Would I need to take a special course to learn Linux or would I be able to understand it simply by navigating through it.
THere are many brands for many different purposes and it should be ok to just download them off the web. I would highly recommend Mandrake for a new user. You can find out more about them at www.mandrakesoft.com . You will not need to take a special course but it will take some learning. THere are many great resources on the web for learning about linux and many good books. With a little reading and patience you can learn a lot about it.


2) I chiefly work on these softwares on my computer:
-GRAPHICS : adobe Photoshop, illustrator, PageMaker, Corel draw, macromedia freehand, 3D studio max and flash
-OFFICE : Microsoft office, adobe acrobat
-INTERNET : opera web browser

After I switch over to Linux would i be still able to use these softwares????

Well, most of that software won't run in linux but there are several solutions to this. First you can always run windows and linux on the same computer. So when you need to do graphic design you can just turn off linux and boot into windows. There are also lots of free alternatives that you can find to replace this software. Also there is a program called wine that implements some of the windows APIs so you can run some of them in linux although your milage may vary in this subject. A third option would be to run windows on top of linux using vmware.


3) Does Linux have special softwares and games specifically for it and are they very costly (or freely downloadable).

Linux has lots and lots of free software. Not as much as windows but you might be surprised. Most of it is free but there are commercial programs for linux as well that can be cheap or expensive (ie maya). You can find some games that are great and free as well as run some ported games (like quake). Another alternative to games is winex which is a version of wine made to work better with directx.


4) If I get CD’s or floppies with windows files inside it would I be able to access them properly on my Linux PC. Again if would need to get files printed shares on windows machines would I able to do it smoothly.

Well, it would all depend on what printer you have and how it is set up but I would say it is fairly easy. You can access you windows files just like you would in windows. (NOte: Linux can't write to ntfs file system so don't expect linux to write to your favorite ntfs drive).


5) Is it possible to keep windows installed along with Linux while I get my hand set over it?

Yes, very possible. Look up "dual booting"


6) Anything else important that I should know before I finally take the plunge into LINUX????

Read the manual, back up your data, don't be afraid of the command line.

Following is my computer configuration:
INTEL P4 1.7 GHZ
INTEL D845GBV MOTHERBOARD
256 MB RAM
40 GB HDD
SAMSUNG CD R/W


I WOULD BE ENORMOUSLY THANKFUL FOR ANY GUIDANCE!!

THANK YOU

[jagdeep]

hi

thanx a lot !!!!!!!!
thank you so much for all the extremely useful info and advice you have provided me with. I really feel better and more confident about starting my linux journey now.

once again thanx
bye

[MasonS]

Table of Equivalents (http://linuxshop.ru/linuxbegin/win-lin-soft-en/table.shtml)