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.

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By Your Command: File and Folder paths the easy way

When using the Command Prompt you can avoid typing the whole path for files and folders by dragging and dropping them onto the Command Prompt window. This video shows this time-saving feature in action.

Please note that this function does not work with all icons such as the My Documents icon on the desktop.

More Command Prompt tips soon.

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Goodbye Windows. Hello Xubuntu

For years I have had a love/hate relationship with Windows in its various incarnations, which has led me to flirt with a number of Linux distributions in the past. Nevertheless, games and other Windows only applications have meant that I have always returned to Microsoft OS's. That was until last week when I finally lost patience with my install of Windows XP. Degradation of performance and the constant threat of viruses finally prompted me to install Xubuntu.

I picked that distribution because I have had good experience of using Kuki Linux, which is based on Xubuntu, on my Acer Aspire One netbook. I like the XFCE windows manager because it is lightweight unlike Gnome and (to a lesser extent) KDE. If I wanted a bloated, feature-laden OS I'd still be using Windows.

I have a few games and other Windows programs that I am going to want to run so I will be experimenting with Wine and VirtualBox to see whether I can avoid having to set up a dual-boot machine. I will continue writing posts on this blog offering help and advice to Windows users; although, the more ardent Microsoft-detractors may be disappointed when I don't offer the advice of ditching Windows. I will also be enhancing this blog with occasional Linux themed posts too, which will be aimed at novice users.

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The 22nd Carnival of Computer Help and Advice

Welcome to the twenty-second monthly Carnival of Computer Help and Advice - a digest of recent blog articles that spread the wealth of PC knowledge.

"Firefox is the second most popular web browser in the world and it continues to gain popularity and market share. With this rapid growth many users, especially new users, are not aware of the wide range of Firefox keyboard shortcuts available. These small combinations of keystrokes when used at the right time can be real productivity boosters. Here are 30 Firefox keyboard shortcuts to help simplify and speed up your daily browsing. Even Firefox veterans may find these helpful." So says Mike from Computer Tech Tips, Technology News and Tech Support. See his article at 30 Firefox Keyboard Shortcuts.

Marco Gustafsson presents An Introduction to Popular E-book File Formats posted at Digital Book Readers.

Support Nerds Computer Repair Blog author Kyle says, "With so many forms of viruses out there surfing the internet safely can be a tough thing for some PC users. Lets first break down a list and definition of the different kinds of infections your PC can get." Learn more at Malware, Viruses, and Spyware, Oh My!.

Staying on the same subject - a warning from Harris Andrea from Tech 21 Century: "Windows Police Pro is another rogue antivirus software which infected millions of computers on the Internet. Although it looks like a legitimate security tool, you need to remove it ASAP because it is a virus itself." Never fear, harris shows us Remove How to Remove Windows Police Pro permanently.

In a simalr vein, Gin G. of Sense Scribe advises us what to do when confronted with suspicious emails in Found a Fishy Phish.

Matthew Paulson explains How to Get Your Data Back When Your Hard Drive Dies at American Consumer News.

Netbooks have become very popular since their introduction (I have one myself). Arthur Pledger sahres Essential Tools: A Netbook Review on his World Domination with Arthur Pledger blog.

Finally this month, Surfer Sam explains New !! How I Made My Own Free Screensaver Slide Show - Let Your Computer be Your Digital Photo Frame on the Surfer Sam and Friends. Life's a Beach !! blog.

If you are interested in hosting a future carnival please leave a comment on this post or use the contact form over at our Blog Carnival page where you can also submit your blog posts for inclusion. Don't worry, if you don't want to write the Carnival post I can do it for you.

More next month.

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How to sort the Programs Menu

If, like me, you have a lot of applications installed on Windows XP, it can be time consuming to find the folder or icon for the program that you are looking for on the Start menu. You can sort the contents of the Programs menu into alphabetical order, with the folders listed first and then the applications. To do so open up the Start menu and then the Programs menu. Right-click on any folder or icon and click 'Sort ny Name' on the menu that opens.

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The 21st Carnival of Computer Help and Advice

Welcome to the twenty-first monthly Carnival of Computer Help and Advice - a digest of recent blog articles providing top tips for PC users. Because so many blog authors submitted high quality posts for inclusion this month, this carnival is a little longer than usual. Nevertheless, there is not enough space to include every submission, so apologies to those bloggers whose articles are not included in this month's carnival.

This month's articles share common themes: health and security. We start with Shannon Wills' article in which she offers health advice in Stuck to Your Computer? Here’s How You Can Avoid Eye Strain posted at Engineering Degree Online. Also, Sense Scribe's Gin G. offers advice on how to protect children while they use the Internet in Web Wise n Oh So Savvy.

A secure PC is a healthy PC. With this in mind, Mike of Computer Tech Tips, Technology News and Tech Support presents his 5 Common Computer Security Mistakes, and What's On My PC author Ramblinrick presents explains how to Identify Poisoned Web Sites Before You Open Them using some free software.

Social networking sites are increasing in popularity, particularly Facebook. Dan Kieta asks Facebook, Friend or Foe? in an article posted at Joe Verminator, in which he looks at the way that malicious software is spread using that site. Harris Andrea deals with another piece of malicious software in How To Remove Personal Antivirus on the Technology in the 21st Century site.

Finally this month, Jules of PCauthorities.com explains How to Fix a Corrupted Registry.

If you are interested in hosting a future carnival please leave a comment on this post or use the contact form over at our Blog Carnival page where you can also submit your blog posts for inclusion. Don't worry, if you don't want to write the Carnival post I can do it for you.

See you all in October. Keep up the good work.

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By Your Command: A Rough Guide to the Command Prompt, Part 2

In a previous post I explained how to navigate to different drives and folders using Command Prompt. I also showed how to list the contents of the current folder using the dir command. We will now look a little closer at this command.

In the tutorial, I suggested typing the following command dir /a-d /b > filelist.txt. We shall not worry about the > filelist.txt part for now, but rather look at the anatomy of the dir command itself to serve as an example of how Command Prompt works.

Following the dir command there are two switches: /a-d and /b. These switches alter the way in which the command works. In this case they adjust what folder contents is listed and how it is presented: /a-d stops the dir command from listing folders; /b prevents the command from showing the extra information you see if you just type dir and hit Return.

You can list all the switches associated with dir by entering dir /? in the Command Prompt. The /? switch provides help for any command it follows. In the case of dir it returns something like this:

This may be a little forbidding for the novice; so, I will give another example of switches in action. If you wanted to list all the folders (or directories as they are known in Command Prompt) at the top level of your D:/ drive you would enter -

dir d: /ad
[Note that switches are not case sensitive]

If you wanted to also list all the sub-folders, you would enter -

dir d: /ad /s

You may notice how all the information scrolls past really quickly. To pause after each page of information you can use the /p switch. Thus, the command becomes -

dir d: /ad /s /p

To list all the mp3 files on drive D: pausing after each page use the following command -

dir d:\*.mp3 /s /p

The asterisk is a wildcard. In other words. it means 'any combination of letters'. So if you wanted to list all the mp3 files with the word 'Beatles' in the filename you would use -

dir d:\*beatles*.mp3 /s /p

The dir command is a good way of having a play with the command prompt safe in the knowledge that you will do no harm to your files. If you have any questions about this command feel free to leave a comment and I will do my best to address them. More commands next time.

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