Ok, I am a linux guy and most of you will be thinking that why I am writing this . Let me say , even though many people are agreeing with the statement Ubuntu is always better than Windows , there are a lot of people how think that Ubuntu has too few applications available for use . Ubuntu would be more secure , most faster and more stable , but is it up to par with Windows in doing things , like can we use photoshop cs 4 in linux , or can we play assassins creed 2 in Ubuntu . I am not promising you that you could , but I assure you that you can make your ubuntu linux much more better in doing things . Let me show a handful of essential applications for your linux machine which would transform your ubuntu to a real star performer , doing almost everything you can do in windows . Ok , here is it :

1. WineHQ – If you were a  windows user , you might sometimes need to carry your favourite app to ubuntu. WineHQ is good at running such windows stuff . If you need to know if your favourite app runs on linux you can check this here . To download wine, check out this link .

2. VirtualBox – Most of you might be familiar with VirtualBox , from Sun Microsystems , a nice virtualization software which is available for free . There are many commercial virtualization softwares like vmware , which is much more powerful than virtualbox . To see a list of virtualization softwares have a look at this .

3.Scribus – Scribus is an opensource desktop publishing tool available for free . Scribus offers a modern and easy to use interface .and even supports advanced and professional features like CMYK color, separations, Spot Colors, ICC color management and  PDF creation.What to say more, visit its official website .

4.Gimp – Available by default in your Ubuntu machine . If you are interested in photo-editing  gimp would be a good start .Read more about gimp and how to use gimp .

5.Blender – Blender is an opensource 3-d content creation suite available for free . Blender is as effective as other commercial software like maya , 3-d max etc , without taking you in to complex processes. Blender is definitely worth a look , you can even watch  how powerful is blender viewing the blender, gallery page .

6. Other crazy stuff like vlc player ,firefox, evolution ,pidgin , openoffice , k3b disc burner , songbird , x-chat etc are definitely worth a look . Here are a few tutorials and reviews on getting in touch with various nice free software programs , take a look at them .

7.If you are interested in making your linux an eye-candy , then opt for compiz .Compiz offers a stylish look without sacrificing too much system resources . Oh ! , I know you need to make your linux appear similar to mac os , here it is it mac4lin .

Windows is never equivalent to Linux as both are distinct operating systems . I , here present my personal opinion .

According to the latest news , it seems,  Ubuntu Linux is planning to bring closed source products like Adobe Photoshop and Apple i-tunes . A recent official post in Ubuntu forums asks readers to fill out a survey form which asks  for user’s choice of applications which , they need should be ported to Ubuntu Linux .  Here is the link .

If  such a situation arises , like porting of photoshop to ubuntu happens , it is sure that a lot of windows users would be shifting from Windows to Linux . There are a large number of windows users , who need to change to Linux , but can’t do so only because of such awesome softwares like Adobe Photoshop . Although there is already an alternative for photoshop in Linux named Gimp , it is said that considering the present scenario Gimp is never a substitute for photoshop .

Linux Mint , the Ubuntu based Linux distribution aimed at making ubuntu more , perfect in cases dealing with multimedia. It provides a complete experience by including codecs , plugins and themes making Ubuntu Linux more stylish and user friendly. More to say it is compatible with Ubuntu software repos.

Mint Linux 8 Helena is available for free with Gnome Desktop management. It offers debian package management just like Ubuntu . The default file system is ext4 .Linux Mint 8 even supports ext3,JFS ,ReiserFS and XFS . Multiple languages suite and an OpenOffice ,Office suite is also bundled with Mint 8.Helena comes with linux 2.6.31 kernel .
System Requirements for Linux Mint Helena 8 are the following :
512 mb ram recommended ,and harddisk free space , more than 2.6 gb.

Mozilla Firefox3.5.7 is the default webbrowser and gimp 2.6.8 is the image manipulation tool available with Linux Mint 8 ,Helena. Compiz 0.8.4 offers better eye- candy feel. Mint 8 offers support for ati graphic cards(ati-driver 8.681) and includes ALSA for better sound card support. ( advanced linux sound architecture ).
Whats new in Linux Mint 8. Helena:
Menu improvements
Software Manager improvements.
Update Manager improvements.
Upload Manager fully reloaded.
Gnome 2.28 with wider bluetooth and DVD playback support.
Better appearance with Gnome Colors icon theme and Shiki gtk theme.

Screenshots :

Are you looking for free windows software alternatives ? . Here we will be making your life simpler , with a list of free alternatives equivalent to the commercial ones.Can’t wait reading , here it is.

1.MOZILLA FIREFOX

Offers better browsing with improved security features and addons, simply make this stuff really amazing .Firefox is worth a try,  if you haven’t done that yet.

2.GIMP

Gimp can be considered as an alternative to the Adobe Photoshop.I agree it is not as advanced as Photoshop ,but it is constantly upgraded and contributed that it will surely overtake Photoshop.Recommended for starters in Photoshop.

3.NOTEPAD++

Not just an alternative to Notepad , but this stuff  offers more advanced features,  like programming language recognition and intendation matching. Notepad should be definitely replaced with Notepad ++.

4.7-ZIP

Advanced compression tool than built in compression tools.It supports the best compression format .7zip.Definitely worth a try.

5.VLC PLAYER

Not to mention the name , better alternative to Media Player , with enhanced format support. Usually plays anything and inbuilt volume booster.

keywords opensource softwares free softwares

Please post your comments , I will be extending this list.

I know you need to shift to Linux from Windows as you can’t afford the side effects of windows. If you are having this feeling then this article is really for you. Like you i too, was a user of Windows and decided to shift to Linux when i was fed up with it. This was mainly because of the virus attacks and lack of stability of Windows . You know once i installed windows XP four times a day. One of my friends advised me to take a look at Linux . I have taken his advice , but soon came back to windows , when i found it was not right for me. But more and more nasty windows events took place and i made my mind to shift to Linux and the first Linux distribution in my life was Knoppix. Later i came to use Ubuntu and the journey in my Linux world continues.
Let me say, these days almost all programs which are for Windows are available for linux, atleast something like that do exist. Here are a list of few programs you should not miss when shifting to linux.
1. vlc player for linux , Mplayer also recommended.
2.Mozilla Firefox (available by default for most distributions).
3.OpenOffice
4.If you are an IRC freak then consider, Xchat
5.Interested in Virtualization , Virtual Box from Sun is a good option.
6.Amarok Music Player
7.For bittorrent clients consider Deluge , Azure, or Ktorrent .
8.K3B for cd burning.
9.GIMP image editor
10.Gwenview , default image viewer for KDE.
11.Text Editor Nano or Emacs or Vi(advanced).

Personally it is best to start with Ubuntu and if needed you can change to other advanced distros. Now Ubuntu 9.10 is available.If you are too skeptic about your Windows XP, then there is smooth shuffle program for linux which transforms your old XP to a virtual machine. Download any Linux distribution and feel the spirit of free software.

keywords windows becomes linux linux windows

Once the market was over crowded with stuff which copyright for each and every thing.Now the situation has changed with more people indulged in software development combined with the ethic of serving the soceity everything has changed upside down.Now we hear of Linux and Free Software very often.The sentence  “live in a world with out walls “had never been so true.ok,Let us consider some of the cases in the field of softwares.

Linux is becoming so popular that it is a common word in our life.Even small children are aware of linux.It is becoming a great rival over windows.Take a look at various distros to see how much they have evolved .See nimblex that definitely blew my mind.Internet Browser world  has been taken over by firefox taking  IE* to behind the curtains.Gimp is slowly replacing Photoshop.I will not say it is at present as advanced as photoshop it is evolving fastly that one day it will get over photoshop.The multimedia world have been taken over by Vlc player.It is so stunning that in their website the no of downloads are uncountable.It plays almost everything and much more advanced than its competitors.Notepad in all computers have been replaced by much advanced notepad++ which is simply magnificient.Torrent clients are now replaced by Bittorrent.The world of virtualization is available to everyone with sun virtual box.

Microsoft office is having a hard time with openoffice.Much better and  what you say ,it is a free bear.Consider the wikipedia with almost everything you have to know or you need to know.Consider source forge where you can find every thing you need to develop something.Let me say one thing frankly i cant list all the advancements and alternatives it is because the list never ends.The time i have finished this article new one might have released.Foxit reader replacing adobe reader ,7zip replacing winrar etc,are some of the few advancements.What to say antivirus will be replaced by Clamwin antivirus .The case is not different for other stuff.Databases are replaced by mysql and much more.

If interested take a look at 10 free softwares for windows you shouldnt miss.

Yes the world is going to change everything we see now is being changed with time …..

Image browsing in GIMP

GIMP, GNU Image manipulation program is an open software. Its a free and open image manipulation software. This software has absolutely no disadvantages compared to the usually used image manipulation softwares such as Adobe Photoshop. This one is tested for a wide range of application. This software is available under GNU Public License and it target people who cannot afford to buy expensive softwares such as Photoshop. But compared to Photoshop GIMP has most of Its features.

One of the most important features of GIMP is its customizable workspace. There are developers and designers who require various alignment of the tools and need to save them. GIMP provides a perfect platform for their work.

The interface of GIMP is aligned in the form of stacks so called docks so that the users can toggle between the web items as fast as possible. GIMP also supports full screen mode editing which not only allows you to get the live preview of the currently editing file but also allows us to fully utilize our complete screen estate.

Numerous digital photo imperfections can also be easily rectified by the latest GIMP edition. This includes perspective distortion, barrel distortion and vignetting

There is a inbuilt channel mixer which gives you the power to enhance your black and white images.

GIMP can be said as the most ideal software for digital photo retouching as it does not require or does not ask for the unnecessary information while using the touchup  tool or the healing brush tool.

GIMP support for extenal devices

The latest GIMP developed provides unique support for various external devices such as pressure and tilt sensitive tablets and also a wide range of USB or MIDI controllers. You can even bind various usb and MIDI controls to the GIMP and make your on scripts for manipulating the input. This includes changing your screen opacity , size color etc. of the brush.. This highly speeds up your workflow

Currently GIMP allows most of the commonly used image formats such as JPEG (JFIF), GIF, PNG, TIFF and PSD