Vista to Ubuntu

[audi111688]

im thinking of switching to ubuntu... all i use my laptop for is multimedia, a few essays, and downloading torrents... ive got a few questions though...

what good multimedia programs are available for ubuntu?

i like to play casual games every now and then... what does ubuntu have?

is there any gps program available for ubuntu? (i have the locator for the microsoft version)

any help greatly appreciated..

thanks

 

[MegaVovaN]

Don't know about GPS, but there are few choices of multimedia programs, I'm sure you'll find something you like.
As for games, Linux in general has plenty of "small" games. Here's some:
<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Games"><a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Games"><a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Games"><a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Games">https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Games</a></a></a></a>

If you want more info/detail in responses, ask in their forums:
http://ubuntuforums.org/


P.S. I am sure there are like 10 torrent programs to choose from.

edit: You can also try booting from live CD to get a "feel" of the OS - but remember Live CD is much slower than hard disk install.

You can also dual boot Vista/Ubuntu. Guides are in the Internet.


edit2: someone rated this thread 0 stars? M$ lovers?

edit3: Top 21 Linux Games of 2007

edit4: Yes, ask on their forums about your GPS device.

 

[audi111688]

covered what i wanted completely... thanks alot

phuck their stars...

 

[silverpig]

mplayer/vlc/xine/totem should cover everything you need for video watching. Any one of them will probably do, but people all have their preferences.

For music, amarok is nice, so is exaile, and xmms (or whatever it's called now) is a good winamp-style app.

For games, check out UrbanTerror, or Tremulous.

No idea about GPS

 

[OUCaptain]

Compiz Fusion is a pretty cool desktop app.
http://www.compiz-fusion.org/

Here's video demo of what it can do.

 

[Robor]

Originally posted by: audi111688
covered what i wanted completely... thanks alot

phuck their stars...

I gave ya a 5 to balance out the haters.

 

[audi111688]

thanks for that...

how much of a performance difference will i see by switching to ubuntu? ive never used anything other than a MS OS..

 

[silverpig]

The only thing you'll notice a performance difference in is if you use wine to play a game. If you have an nvidia card, native games run the same speed in linux as in windows (+/- a few percent usually), and if you have an ati card, well the results vary but you can expect about 2/3 the windows performance if you are running a native port. With wine... I can't recall but let's say the performance is maybe 60% of what it is in windows? Someone else might be able to give you a better idea.

Anything other than that, you won't notice.

 

[audi111688]

so.. i shouldnt notice any negative performance as far as just general computing?

 

[accguy9009]

Have you tried the Live CD? Just curious why you selected Ubuntu? I would run the Live CD from several distros. Fedora has a new one out, also PCLinuxOS and Mandriva2008 are nice. That way you will be sure you like what you install. Ubuntu 7.10 is a great OS, I just think you should do the free test drive before you install.

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: audi111688
so.. i shouldnt notice any negative performance as far as just general computing?

Nope not at all.