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Saturday, 12 December 2009

Linux applications: Part 1 - Productivity

As I mentioned in a recent post, I have recently switched to a Linux distribution as my operating system of choice. Many other users may be put off from making a similar switch because they are concerned that they may not be able to use the applications that they know from the Windows environment. While some applications are not available on Linux, there are a number of alternatives that offer all the most important features and have the benefit of not costing a penny.

Office Software

OpenOffice.org from Sun Microsystems is a decent replacement for Microsoft Office. It includes a word processor called Writer, a spreadsheet package called Calc, presentation authoring software called Impress, a database management system called Base, and a vector graphics program called Draw, which doubles up as a simple desk top publishing package. Using OpenOffice.org you can open and save files in Word, Excel and Powerpoint file formats and even save them in pdf format too. So far I have had no problems transferring files between OpenOffice.org and Microsoft Office, although you may be advised to install the default Microsoft fonts. For Ubuntu users the MS font package is called msttcorefonts. OpenOffice.org is not only available for Linux, but also for Windows and Mac OS.




PDF Reader
While Adobe Acrobat is available for Linux, it is as bloated as its Windows equivalent. Evince is a good lightweight alternative, with the added benefit of support for djvu files. If you use KDE as your windows manager then you may also want to consider KPDF.



Graphics software
As with OpenOffice.org, GIMP is available for Linux, Windows and Mac OS; although I have had problems using it on Windows in the past. It is a feature rich graphics manipulation program that supports all commonly used image formats.



In the next part I will look at for entertainment software available for Linux.

14 comments:

Designer4u said...

Great Article. We have been slowly switching our computers to Linux (with a dual boot). We are looking for something to use to replace or work with Itunes.

Any ideas

MMA Pound For Pound said...

GIMP for graphic i just recently know that

how to become a police officer said...

interesting article and the We have been slowly switching our computers to Linux (with a dual boot)and GIMP is in Linux thank you for Excellent post

oyz said...

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CD Replication said...

Your article is looking very good. I am using win 7 but now i want something different. I wana move towards linux. I hope that it 'll be a very nice experience for me. Its a little bit difficult for me to move for linux but i 'll definitely try this.

Gayathri said...

Good and informative article. Great applications. GIMP is really a nice software. GIMP is a rich graphics manipulation program that supports all commonly used image formats. Keep blogging. Thanks.

Borkiman said...

Kelly: I will be looking at iTunesalike programs soon.

CD Replication: The Linux community is very good at offering help and advice; although, it is still quite daunting to novices.

Thanks you all for taking time to leave comments

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Web Design Chicago said...

good information I have clicked on your ad to help you get some $ and. So I can go back and revisit your blog everyday as much as possible.

master cleanse fast said...

I wanna move towards Linux. I hope that it 'll be a very nice experience for me. Its a little bit difficult for me to move for Linux but i 'll definitely try this.

Ambulance Orlando said...

Linux has been grabbing the market in a slow motion. Though most of the technical experts prefer the same. Thanx for the information.

where to buy acai berry said...

Nice article thanks for shearing your great post and nice information good luck

Borkiman said...

Thank you all for the comments.

Linux is getting easier to use with each new version of each distribution. Nevertheless, unless you are happy with visiting forums to find answers for the little annoyances that arise, you may be happier with a more common operating system.

CD Printing said...

Great article, very informative! Currently researching as much as I can about Linux as I'm not really a fan of Windows 10 so looking to migrate soon.