Can I get by with Linux? Need feedback

[Muscles]

It's been several years since I've had linux installed on any of my machines and I'm tempted to go back. Although I haven't overcome the big question, "Is it worth it?"

I want to install Ubuntu on the computer I primarily use for work. Unfortunately, I'm required to use Internet Explorer to have full functionality of my companies website which acts as a frontend for various tasks I need to complete on a daily basis. I can get around this using the other pc at my desk which has winxp on it but I still want to make sure I can find equivalent programs for the rest of my needs otherwise I see no point making the effort.

My work checklist:

Task / Windows / Linux Substitute
Basic Image Manipulation / Photoshop CS/ Gimp
FTP Client / Filezilla / Filezilla unless there is a better Linux offering someone can recommend?
E-Mail / Thunderbird / Thunderbird unless there is a better Linux offering someone can recommend?
PDF Editor / Acrobat Professional / Need help on this one. I need to be able to view, crop, and occasionally optimize primarily by lowering the pdfs DPI to reduce file size. Does PDFedit accomplish what I need?
Instant Messenger / Pidgin / Pidgin
Video Streaming to Xbox 360 (Xvid etc.)/ Windows Media Player 11 / I'm sure there are solutions for this I hope by now. I haven't researched it yet.
Word Processing and Spreadsheets / MS Office / OpenOffice
Bit Torrent / Utorrent / Utorrent
IRC / mIRC / XChat
Image Mapping Program / Cutemap / No idea yet.
External Hard Drive, Mp3, cellphone connection via USB.

I would greatly appreciate any feedback regarding what programs I should use to satisfy my needs. Thanks in advance!

 

[graysky]

Gimp is no substitute for Photoshop. I believe you can use the 'CS' version with Wine. CS2 and CS3 I don't think so...

Filezilla rocks
Thunderbird rocks
PDF... dunno since I only print to pdf via openoffice
Pidgin seems fine
Dunno about streaming but I think vlc does it?
Openoffice is great
Deluge is best for torrents
IRC I dunno
Image mapping I dunno

As to internet explorer... I dunno since I haven't used it in about 6 years. You can install vbox and literally run windows via a VM within LINUX when you need to if that appeals to you.

 

[lxskllr]

Pidgin works for IRC also.
Evolution's built in to Ubuntu, and has more features than Thunderbird. If you don't use those features, it's close enough to Thunderbird that it's an easy transition.

 

[Muscles]

Thanks for the replies. That's a great idea using virtualbox for internet explorer. I actually use Photoshop CS2 but it doesn't make any difference. I don't need to do anything that requires any really advanced editing that the Gimp can't accomplish on its own. Is there anyone out there who can answer my PDF question. Also, does anyone know of a decent image mapping program in Linux?

 

[Colt45]

CS2 works in wine, for me at least. (debian / lenny)