Open Source on Windows

As I can't have a fully functional system with Linux at the moment (till I convince my partner to allow a second tower in the house or I get around to buying an EeePC) I've had to settle with a few Open Source apps that I can run on Windows. I've downloaded a couple so far these are Open Office (OOo as it's referred to) and Pidgin. Of course there are many more Open Source apps out there but I've only gotten around to these two so far.

Open Office is similar to Microsoft Office, it has all the usual apps such as word processing, Spreadsheets, Database, PowerPoint and Drawing. The great thing about OOo is it works in the same way as the Microsoft version so it's simple to use you don't have to relearn everything, also you can open Microsoft documents with it and vice versa, it's compatible with most systems so you don't have to worry about converting files if you use OOo at home and Microsoft at work. The best thing about OOo compared to Microsoft is that it's FREE!!

Pidgin is a chat client that allows you to send instant messages using many existing clients so if you have more than one account you can bring them altogether using this one app. Pidgin works with these IM clients..........

AIM
Bonjour
Gadu-Gadu
Google Talk
Groupwise
ICQ
IRC
MSN
MySpaceIM
QQ
SILC
SIMPLE
Sametime
XMPP
Yahoo!
Zephyr

Both Open Office and Pidgin come already preinstalled with Linux OS so although I can't have the full version at the moment at least I can still have a taste of Open Source on Windows.

Ubuntu Features

As I said before I have managed to have a go with Ubuntu on an older system and I'm very impressed. The amount of features available from the offset is a lot more than what you get with a cheap Windows OS. Some Apps include open office, Pigeon, FireFox virtually any open source application available and the list of games are also impressive even with a more expensive version of Windows I haven't seen as many games in one menu.


I had a go Playing Chess and the "GNU" (as it's referred to in Linux) keeps beating me, any time I play against the Windows "CPU" I always win. This just shows you how much more care has gone into developing even the smallest feature available in the Linux OS. Another thing I quite like, is when you click the shutdown option. In Linux once you've clicked on shutdown the computer just turns off in an instant, whereas in Windows once you've clicked shutdown it comes up with messages "application still running do you want to close", then it says "Logging Off" followed by "Windows is shutting down". Basically twenty minutes later and finally the computer turns off.


I've barely scratched the surface with what this OS can do but so far it has me hooked. Not much more has to be done now to convert me from an everyday Windows user to a dedicated Linux die hard.

VM WHERE???????

I've had to install Ubuntu onto an older system. I'm a bit disappointed in this as all my files etc are on the new system and my partner won't allow me to....

A. have both systems in the house and

B. completely get rid of Windows on the newer system.

I tried a different route. I found out that you can download a free bit of software from VMware called VM Player. This allows you to create a virtual machine on your computer and allows you to run a different OS within your current system. So I thought cool! I logged onto the site and downloaded the software, once I had installed it everything seemed to be going fine but then the computer crashed (a Windows fault not Linux). I tried using it afterwards but it wouldn't work so I thought I'd uninstall and reinstall it.

After uninstalling VM Player I click on the program to reinstall and guess what happened. NOTHING that's what happened NOTHING HAPPENED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm still determined to use Linux, after playing with it on my older system I'm very impressed with it. What I'd like to do now is either get a cheap second hand Laptop with no OS installed or even with no HDD. Or there is the option of buying the new eeePC.

Repetition Repartition!

I thought I nailed it. I thought I discovered the reason why I couldn't get Windows and Linux to dual boot, the drive only had one partition (dominated by Windows). So I decide to go about repartitioning the hard drive to allow both Linux and Windows on the same drive.

I use Gparted, burned it to disc and rebooted the computer. Gparted comes up. Now at this point what I should of done was read the documentation and instructions on how to use it, but eager to get started I jump straight in. The disk drive is displayed in a graphic showing the space and how many partitions it has. So first I click on the partition containing Windows and resize it, then add a new one for Linux. I resize the windows partition again then add a "Linux Swap" partition afterwards resizing the windows partition to make the drive look tidy with no unnecessary unused space. What I didn't realize was that each time I resized the windows partition I was giving Gparted a new command. I click OK. Instead of resizing the windows partition once like it should have, it resized it THREE times!

After clicking OK, Gparted shows a warning saying "depending on the nature and type of operation this may take a long time" I'm thinking it'll probably be a few hours. The estimated time till completion clock goes up and up and up. Basically I started the thing running Monday night at 5pm, it finished at 7am Wednesday! If it hadn't of resized the Windows partition three times it probably wouldn't of taken as long.

So Gparted finishes off and I'm like "well it may have taken a while but it's done now, at least I'll be able to install Ubuntu now". I load the Ubuntu installation disc into the tray and reboot the computer. The Ubuntu logo comes up with the options, I hit enter on the start and install and............................................NOTHING HAPPENS!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

My Linux experience isn't getting off to a good start but I'm determined to get into using it. I'm now looking into a different root and maybe give up on the dual booting idea. I'll keep you posted.

Dual Boot Ubuntu?

I have recently taken an interest in Linux. After reading more about it and looking it up over the Internet I decided I'd go ahead and give it a try. There was a lot of information on the Linux OS, Ubuntu. According to a few articles Ubuntu has become a popular operating system and it's easy to use. I also read up on the fact that you can use this (and other operating systems) alongside windows by "Dual Booting". So I thought "best of both worlds", I can start getting into using Linux and still keep Windows, but it didn't work out that easily!

I started by going to the official Linux site (http://www.linux.org/) and reading the tutorials there, then I went to the official Ubuntu site (http://www.ubuntu.com/). Here I could download a copy of the latest version 7.10 and read up some more on dual booting. After downloading, hash sum checking, burning to disc and hash sum checking again I rebooted the computer. The Ubuntu logo came up with some options, at this point I'm thinking "cool". I click on the start and install Ubuntu and.............................................nothing happens!

So I think to myself "I must have done something wrong". So I watch this video on line on how to do it step by step (google video) then I try again and nothing. The next day I'm getting shopping and I spot a Linux Format magazine with a DVD containing Ubuntu. I snap it up with the thought that the DVD might work better than the disc I burned from the computer. I rush home to try it out getting excited about the whole thing. I stick in the disc, reboot the computer, Ubuntu logo comes up with the options again and then NOTHING!

I'm starting to get frustrated at this point. I decide instead of dual booting, I'll just install it on an old hard drive I've got. After checking the drive and formatting it I rip out the drive containing Windows and popped in the blank drive. The installation from then went well and I finally got Ubuntu to work. With spending SO much time trying to get it going I still haven't had a good play around with Ubuntu, but I will. Have to say it does look good. I still want to get the computer to Dual Boot instead of swapping drives about so I'm going to look more into that.

Until I figure out how to successively do a Dual Boot I'll be getting to grips with the actual OS, so I'll let you know how I get on.