Hi Anna,
I'm going to try and give you a better understanding of what's involved.
Can't promise I can answer all of your questions, but I'll give it a
shot.
At least it will be a bit more comprehensive than the "2 liners" you
have received sofar.
Also, I'm going to surprise you by saying that most likely you may not
be
a good candidate for switching to Linux full time.
Reasons? from all your previous posts I know that you're a very
disciplined person.
You like to have things setup a certain way and use specific programs to
work with.
You are also very diligent with your backup routines.
I think you the one person that probably agreed with my cautious
approach
using backups or imaging to safeguard your setup or data, despite some
asinine retort I received on this subject.
I'll answer you questions as posed:
1.Yes ,you can access your files ,either from Windows or from Linux and
yes,
if dual booting .From Linux you can see your Windows files after the
partition
has been mounted. From Windows you use the programs below.
I've collected a few links to utilities that do that. Very similar in
content.
http://www.fs-driver.org/
http://www.ubuntugeek.com/tools-to-access-linux-partitions-from-windows.html
http://www.reallylinux.com/docs/toptip3.shtml
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Access-Linux-partitions-files-under-Windows-48292.shtml
So ,that's looks alright, more or less.
Here's another one, essentially the same, but do read all the
comments regarding
these programs. This will give you an idea what issues come up.
http://www.howtoforge.com/access-linux-partitions-from-windows
2.Quicken /Quickbooks not supported for Linux by Intuit.
But, there may be hope ;)
See here http://www.codeweavers.com/about/
http://www.codeweavers.com/products/ CrossOver Linux
http://tinyurl.com/ylp6joo this is the compatibility page of
CodeWeavers and Quickbooks.
For Quicken it is
http://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/search?name=Quicken&search=app
Some people use Wine http://www.winehq.org/ but this doesn't
support Quicken as yet.
3.Hardware and peripherals. > The first thing to establish is if Linux
drivers are
available for your hardware .You will have to do some legwork here.
One area is internal ,the other is external ,like scanner and
printer.
While some may be optimized for your specific make and model, it may
also be that all you can get is a universal type driver, which may or
may not give you the results you want.
Very often - and the same goes for software - you can get quite
reasonable results
using Linux software. As an example - Open Office as used in Windows or
Linux,
will give decent results. BUT, it may nor render certain formats to the
degree that
MS Office does. That goes for printing and scanning as well.
For private use that may well be acceptable depending on your tolerance,
but for business use it may not be.
Here are a couple of links from a Linux user relating to my musings
above;).
I found the views on this very refreshing, without the "fanboy"
attitude.
Why I Can Never Be Exclusive to Linux and Open Source on the Desktop
http://blogs.zdnet.com/perlow/?p=11153
Who is a Candidate for Desktop Linux?
http://blogs.zdnet.com/perlow/?p=11197&tag=content;col2
While not all his reasons may apply to you, only you can decide
in what ratio you'll be using the 2 operating systems.
After all this you may think I'm dissuading you from using Linux.
Not quite - the above only serves to make you aware of the issues.
I would be happy if you can prove me wrong on my assessment :) Either
way is fine with me.
In my view you may follow this course:
Create some Live CDs , either on CD-RW or separate CDs in case you want
to keep different ones.
This will give you some initial idea of driver issues etc.
Since they are run from the CD you cannot install more compatible
drivers,
which is one of the detractions of the LiveCD
Pick some of the more popular distros, like Ubuntu, Slax
But here's a list of the top 10
http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major
( Loy -are you listening? ;) )
Pick a few that offer a LiveCD or LiveCD - with the option to install.
As mentioned before, my next step would be to try Ubuntu using the Wubi
installer.
Installs and uninstalls like a program on Windows.
Still shows up on the bootmenu as if on a separate partition/drive.
Only after that I would install a Linux version in a dual boot
configuration,
either on a partition on the main drive or on a separate drive.
4. Some of the features you're used to will not be available on some- or
most Linux distros.
Can't tell you about specific settings you asked for.
My advice -just try it out and see how you like it.
Like most things in life -nothing is black or white.
Use Windows for you main applications, --- entertainment,web browsing
eg on Linux -you decide.
Peter E.
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Re: [PCBUILD] Learning Linux
> From: Computer9f <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Tue, October 20, 2009 11:50 am
> To: [log in to unmask]
>
>
> I too, would like to learn/switch to Linux for the same reason - Windows intrusiveness. I have three primary concerns:
>
> 1. RELIABLE, SAFE access to my current files (can their formats be converted? on a dual boot, can the same files be accessed by Windows AND ALSO by Linux?).
>
> 2. Future access to files created by Quicken (for tax purposes)
>
> 3. The operation/drivers for my peripherals....
>
> (Epson Scanner, HP Printer - although I could switch my printer since I don't like it, I like my scanner very much and tried many before choosing it (I do NOT want a "combo").)
>
> Oh, and one other pretty big issue, considering the way I work....
>
> 4. I have every window remember it's own settings and position, so that "My Computer" always comes up in the same size and position on my screen, set to the "list" format, sorted by filename; while another folder comes up in it's own size and position, perhaps set to "detail" format showing only the date column and sorted by date. Can you do this with Linux?
>
> Anyone have knowledge of any of these issues with Linux?
>
> Thanks,
> Anna Summers
PCBUILD's List Owners:
Bob Wright<[log in to unmask]>
Mark Rode<[log in to unmask]>
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