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Many of the software programs users utilize in Windows have counterparts available for Linux. These Linux counterparts are free and open source under the GNU license. Many of these GNU programs have been ported to Windows, which allows users to try Linux software before they make the switch from Windows to Linux.
Office Software: Office XP v Open Office
One of the most commonly used programs for Windows is the Microsoft Office XP suite. This allows users to edit word processor documents, spreadsheets, HTML documents, and PowerPoint presentations. Open Office is an open source office program that integrates all of this into a single program. Open Office is a single program, unlike Office XP, which is a suite of several programs. Open Office does what Word, Excel, PowerPoint and FrontPage for free. It also features a drawing ability similar to MS Paint, but with similar functionality. Our presentation PowerPoint and downloadable PDF document were made using Open Office.
Web Browsing: Internet Explorer v Mozilla Firebird
Internet Explorer is the most commonly used web browser in the world, but this does not make it the best. Mozilla Firebird is a browser that is designed primarily for Linux, but will run on Windows and Mac OS X. Firebird offers many improvements over Internet Explorer. It features tabbed browsing, which avoids taskbar clutter when the user is viewing multiple web pages. Firebird has pop-up blocking software built-in, so when a user loads a web page they are not assaulted with pop-up ads. Firebird is a smaller program than Internet Explorer, using far less resources to run. It also has no security holes like Internet Explorer does making it less likely you will be attacked through your internet browser.
E-Mail: Outlook/Pegasus v Mozilla Thunderbird
E-mail is an essential part of the modern lifestyle. For convenience, Windows users use programs like Outlook and Pegasus to check their e-mail. Mozilla Thunderbird is an e-mail client for Linux (and Windows) that offers the same functionality for free. Thunderbird is also a smaller program, taking up less space in the hard drive and less space in memory when in use. It has the same features that Outlook does and a more simplistic, easy to use interface.
Instant Messaging: AIM/MSN/Yahoo/ICQ v Gaim
Many Windows users make use of either the AIM, MSN, Yahoo, or ICQ messenger clients. On Linux users do not need to give up this functionality. Many of these client providers also offer a Linux version, but it is usually and outdated version that lacks features. Gaim is an open source messenger client for Linux (a Windows port exists) that can connect to AIM, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ and others. It keeps all connections organized in a single window. This means your AIM and ICQ buddies would be in the same list. It also allows for tabbed messaging which again can save taskbar clutter. Gaim makes logs of all the conversations user has. This is useful if a user accidentally closes a window, they can see what was typed by checking the log. It also includes sort routines which will sort the buddy list alphabetically, by status (away, idle), and by log file size. If a you would like a feature not in Gaim, you can check the Gaim website for a plugin that has what you are looking for. If no plugin exists you can just post to the feature request forum and the designers will make a plugin if there is enough support for it. Sometimes other GNU programmers that watch the forum will make a plugin for the Gaim. There is a program for Windows that has similar features as Gaim called Trillian, but Trillian is shareware (you have to pay for it) and is not open source.
Image Editing: Photoshop v The Gimp
A majority of image editing on Windows PCs is done using Adobe Photoshop. Photoshop allows the user to create layered images with many special effects. The Gimp or GNU Image Manipulation Program is a free open source program that does the many of the same things as Photoshop, which is expensive software. The Gimp is available for Linux but a Windows port does exist. The Gimp continues to gain more and more features each release and can more than handle the average user's image editing tasks.
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