WindowsXP to Ubuntu: Help Me!!!

[MetalheadGautham]

Hey all! its been quite some time since I last posted. I have been busy while trying to switch from windows to linux. I decided to leave Windows XP only for gaming and go with Ubuntu 7.04 for other uses. I want some help with switching to it.

01. where can I get the essentials like java, flash, QT plugin, VLC plugin, Real plugin, etc for ubuntu?

02. suggest me some good preferably free(in cost) FPS games(online playback optional) for ubuntu.

03. why do videos look better in windows XP compared to ubuntu? It happens even in VLC, which I just configured.

04. I am used to using flashget as a download manager in windows. tell me what similar software I can use for ubuntu.

05. sugest some useful tweaks for my fresh install off the live CD.

06. suggest some good audio players for ubuntu. I am used to foobar2000, so something similar will be of great help. I wont touch songbird till it becomes 0.6 or something. XMMS when right clicked shows some shortcuts, but no text before them. tell me the tweaks for VLC which can give me maximum performance.

07. which flavour of Xine should I use?

08. some sites require a Windows Media Player, Real Player or Quicktime Player plugin. where can I get alternatives for them?

09. How can I enable Postprocessing in GStreamer?

10. why does totem movie player skip or hang near the first few seconds of any clip? I hate totem... can I replace it with anything better, or can I MAKE it better?(postprocessing, FF, RW, 2x, 3x, 4x speeds, etc)

11. how can I arrange files/folders in a folder like how I do them in windows?(list, details, by artist, by author, by name, etc)

12. why is VLC the only player that crackles my speakers when I play metallica's "turn the page"(the heavier middle part causes the speakers to go hiwire)

13. Tell me some good themes and effects for ubuntu.

14. The NOIA extreme icon set for firefox loks quite good. is it available for ubuntu?

15. How can I get ram bar, cpu bar, etc like vector linux in my bottom gnome pannel?

16. Is it possible to have a clock and a calander on the desktop like vista?(I saw #15 and #16 in a desktop customisation competition, where a guy made ubuntu look like a crazy mix of vista and OSX. Its desktop was not a waste of space lik how they usually are. It was awssome and won the prize)

[Arite]

01. where can I get the essentials like java, flash, QT plugin, VLC plugin, Real plugin, etc for ubuntu?

Use APT (syntax: sudo apt-get install program) in the commandline, or alternatively use the Synatic Package Manager. Also "Applications >> Add/Remove" offers a good range of installable programs. However, you need to enable "universe" packages and learn how to add sources to sources.list - the best place for that is probably the Ubuntu forums.

04. I am used to using flashget as a download manager in windows. tell me what similar software I can use for ubuntu.

You could try the "flashgot" add-on for Firefox (here).

06. suggest some good audio players for ubuntu. I am used to foobar2000, so something similar will be of great help. I wont touch songbird till it becomes 0.6 or something. XMMS when right clicked shows some shortcuts, but no text before them. tell me the tweaks for VLC which can give me maximum performance.

I use Quod Libet - simple, powerful and superb for handling huge database. Also Amarok is meant to be good.

13. Tell me some good themes and effects for ubuntu.

Compiz Fusion - sucessor to Beryl.

All I have time for at the moment .

EDIT: Revised post.

Cheers, Arite.

[MetalheadGautham]

thans, but i already have flashgot, and its just a browser itergrator. DownThemAll is a bit buggy.

[3breadt]

02. suggest me some good preferably free(in cost) FPS games(online playback optional) for ubuntu.

The only one that comes immediately to my mind is http://www.sauerbraten.org/
Also try looking at sourceforge.net under software map>games/entertainment and search for fps.

[videolanabc]

Thanks for info i was looking to shift from windows xp to redhat linux.

[MetalheadGautham]

Thanks for info i was looking to shift from windows xp to redhat linux.

redhat is paid; fedora is the free version. both have toooomany security features, and I don't think they are good for home use. awssome for server and office use, due to the intence security.


PS: Fedora 7 was released on my birthday!!!

[CloudStalker]

I'm not particularly elated about using Windows __ but I haven't really been looking into what these other operating systems have to offer. Could someone provide some screens and a little bit of info showing why this OS is better or worse then MAC leopard or Windows XP/Vista?

[3breadt]

Better than Mac OS X Leopard? imho no.
Better than Vista/XP? For sure!
Vista's little graphical mockups might seem super to a xp user but look at what any linux distribution can do with Compiz-Fusion installed:
http://wiki.compiz-fusion.org/Welcome
http://drebel.net/blog/blogphotos/compi ... _expo2.png
http://dengpeng.name/blog/2007/06/24/sc ... iz-fusion/
http://kugelfisch.wordpress.com/2007/10 ... ngetestet/
http://www.cywhale.de/wp-content/myfoto ... /shift.jpg
http://www.cywhale.de/wp-content/myfoto ... /shift.jpg
http://www.aptgetupdate.de/wp-content/u ... rminal.jpg

Linux is more secure, it's faster, installation of additional programs is most easy, keeping everything up to date is done automatically.

I'm gonna switch today

[Arite]

Yes, Compiz Fusion is pretty nice - however setting up 3D drivers can be a bit difficult, however since Ubuntu 7.10 comes with Compiz Fusion already it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Arite.

[3breadt]

3d driver setting up was for me just one click to activate the NVidia drivers and then restart the system.

[CloudStalker]

Mac OS X Leopard is looking pretty good. If I'm going to switch to another OS then it might as well be one that has some lasting appeal. One other question: how do the both of the operating system (Linux and Mac OS X) fair with games? I guess that this is the only hold that Windows has over CloudStalker.

[3breadt]

Some games are also released for Mac, but I don't really know how many. Linux can run some games with wine. Look at http://appdb.winehq.org/.

BTW: I'm back on Windows now. Runs a lot slower, but I couldn't get Photoshop to run under Wine And GIMP sucks...

[CloudStalker]

The evil grip of Microsoft got you to eh? Well the best that I can do is disable most anything Windows shoves down my throat in terms of programs and services, to free up some memory and boost the speed a little bit, and change the look as much as possible too.

Maybe Microsoft will see where Vista is failing and make an OS that's light weight, very approachable in terms of user interface and make their OS more flexible in terms of third-parties and maybe even the open source community. A CloudStalker can dream right?

[Arite]

Some games are also released for Mac, but I don't really know how many. Linux can run some games with wine. Look at http://appdb.winehq.org/.

BTW: I'm back on Windows now. Runs a lot slower, but I couldn't get Photoshop to run under Wine And GIMP sucks...

I use the GIMP for everything (well - raster image editing) - 2.4(.1) is out (new version, loads of changes).

Mac OS X Leopard is looking pretty good. If I'm going to switch to another OS then it might as well be one that has some lasting appeal. One other question: how do the both of the operating system (Linux and Mac OS X) fair with games? I guess that this is the only hold that Windows has over CloudStalker.

The only way to play most games is via Windows emulation on *nix, so, for example, Wine. There is also a semi-proprietary branch of Wine called Cedega (see here), which is designed specifically for playback of games using Microsoft's DirectX API. I haven't tried it myself, but it looks like the best program for what you described.

Cheers, Arite.

[MetalheadGautham]

Ubuntu Rocks to the core man! B now I am an experienced linux user. CloudStalker, you might want to go for a Dual boot of XP and Ubuntu, if you want games(win) as well as functionality(lin).

Here is a screen of Ubuntu 7.4(7.10 won't run fast enough on my system) on my PC, customised with a few clicks. this is still nothing.