Antivirus for home use

There are three very good antivirus programs which are free for home use and for home use only: AVG, Avira  and Avast! free versions.

I check the AV comparison tests regularly and of the free versions Avast! and Avira are currently the champs – they even stacks up quite well against the current commercial top contenders: G-Data, Norton, NOD32 and BitDefender. The paid version of Avast! is much cheaper than those two alternatives so if you’re a budget-challenged business user it’s still worth considering.

Institutions (even non-commercial ones) are not allowed to use avast! Home Edition. However, ALWIL Software provides the full line of avast! antivirus products at special discount prices for non-profit, charity, educational and government institutions.

Registration required

One minor hassle: with Avast! you need to register initially (and once a year thereafter) to obtain a registration code. Trust me, it’s worth it. Avast! also requires a little bit of work to figure out how to run it properly. Just hover your cursor over the various buttons shown in the image below to see what they’re for.

You need to check the boxes for the drive, or drives, you want protected – initiate this task by clicking the “Folder Selection” button at bottom right. If all else fails, read the instructions! Press F1 or click on the ? button.

As with many programs, it may be set up by default to run at a time when your PC is usually switched off.  Click on the arrow button at top left and choose “Settings…” from the drop-down menu to change this setting.

There’s a better way

Anti-malware programs are a necessity with Windows. Nevertheless, they’re never 100% effective. If you wish to make yourself really safe against infection or any other disaster, you need imaging software. See here on my website. I have images of all 3 of my computers, if anything goes seriously wrong I can restore a machine back to the way it was a week or a month ago in under half an hour.

Priceless.

Find out more about viruses, other malware, how to deal with them and the best reviews and products right here on my website.

A companion for Evernote

Although I’ve used web-based email off and on for a few years, I didn’t appreciate the value of cloud computing until I discovered Evernote. That gem led me to investigate other cloud options: among them the excellent DropBox.

The concept is simple: imagine a folder on your computer into which you can stuff files that can be accessed from any computer in the galactic neighbourhood. As soon as any change is detected in that folder or its sub-folders, the updated file is duplicated in your account on DropBox’s website. Then it’s automatically updated on your office desk machine, your notebook computer and your home computer.

I can acomplish the same thing with Evernote, but some files—notably Word, OpenOffice, and Excel files—aren’t compatible with Evernote’s free version. Even with the Evernote Premium, Office files can’t be read in Evernote’s local client. You must locate the file in Evernote and then open it in the relevant application before you can read it, search its text or edit it. Because your files are stored in Evernote’s rather cryptic database there’s an issue with finding the file’s actual location on your hard drive if, for instance, you wish to back it up locally.

What’s more, DropBox, unlike Evernote, is fully Linux compatible. I’m hoping that will change with Evernote’s recent raising of $10,000,000 for development but we’re not there yet.

Evernote is outstanding for information which I need to be fully and instantly searchable, but DropBox is more suited for the files I wish to edit regularly.

In a nutshell

Evernote is a full fledged application which allows you to view and edit text files and to view pdf files and images from within the application. Dropbox doesn’t do any of that, it’s just an icon in your notification area which accesses your DropBox folder. That folder can be in your Documents folder or any other location your heart desires.

DropBox has a tiny footprint and its simplicity is its biggest asset.

I use Evernote to squirrel away all the random information I may need to reference later and which needs to be easily and quickly searchable. Some examples:

• image files,
• scanned magazine and newspaper articles,
• web clips,
• pdf files,
• scanned statements, bills, receipts, library slips and business cards.
• scanned copies of wills, marriage certificates and the like.

I use DropBox for working files:

• my website local files,
• my blog notes,
• my Microsoft Office files: to-do lists and inventories,
• my financial spreadsheets,
• downloaded program files,
• data files for utilities like Stickies for Windows and PhraseExpress.
• and anything else which I need to keep synchronised between my main computer, my virtual computers, my Linux test box, and my laptop.

I only use a small fraction of the 2GB of free storage available with the free DropBox account. Because it’s such a simple concept I find it very useful for my everyday files—if I need to backup large files to the cloud I can use Microsoft’s free and generous 25GB Sky Drive but that doesn’t have DropBox’s synchronisation ability.

Evernote for Mac keyboard shortcut cheat sheet

If Evernote is unknown territory for you, you’re missing out on the best free software on the planet. Find out about it here.

After migrating from Windows to Mac, one hassle has been getting to grips with a totally different Evernote local client. There doesn’t seem to be a published list of keyboard shortcuts, so I’m in the process of tracking down all the shortcuts I can find with a view to publishing them on my website as a printable pdf Cheat Sheet.

My Evernote for Windows Cheat Sheet is right here.

If you know of any extra shortcuts which are not on the list, and any corrections or suggestions please tell the world in a Comment below. If you prefer, email me: alan@mywitsend.co.nz

Where there’s a question mark in the Notes column it means that I haven’t confirmed that it works and/or that I don’t yet know enough about OS X to understand it.

Keys	Effect	Notes
Search & Find
Cmd F	Find within note
Opt Cmd F	Search	Retains tag selection
Ctrl Cmd F	Move focus to cleared search box	Works from outside Evernote
Cmd G	Find next
Shift Cmd G	Find previous
Opt Cmd S	Save search
Cmd R	Reset search	Doesn’t move focus to search box
Cmd J	Jump to selection
Appearance
Cmd 1	List view	Also applies in Finder
Cmd 2	Mixed view	Also applies in Finder
Cmd 3	Thumbnail view	Also applies in Finder
Editing
Cmd A	Select All	Global
Cmd C	Copy	Global
Cmd X	Cut	Global
Cmd V	Paste	Global
Shift Cmd V	Paste special	Global
Cmd Z	Undo	Global
Shift Cmd Z	Redo	Global
Ctrl Del or Del >	Delete ahead	Global
Cmd Del (Bkspc)	Delete back	Global
Cmd ;	Spell check	Tab to go to next, right click for menu
Cmd :	Spell check dialogue box
Cmd K	Add link directly or to selected text
Shift Cmd K	Remove link
Shift Cmd H	Insert Horizontal line
Formatting
Cmd -	Decrease font size
Cmd +	Increase font size
Cmd T	Show fonts dialogue box
Shift Cmd C	Show Color dialogue box
Cmd B	Bold text	Global Toggle
Cmd I	Italic text	Global Toggle
Cmd U	Underlined text	Global Toggle
Shift Tab	Decrease list indent level
Tab	Increase list indent level
Shift Cmd U	Bulleted list (Unordered)	Toggle
Shift Cmd O	Numbered list (Ordered)	Toggle
Cmd {	Text align left
Cmd }	Text align right
Cmd |	Centre text
Notes and Windows
Cmd N	New Note within Evernote	New Notebook when All Notebooks selected
Ctrl Cmd N	Create new note window	Works without Evernote focus
Opt Cmd N	New Evernote collection
Cmd H	Hide Evernote
Cmd 0 (zero)	Open Activity window
Cmd ,	Preferences window	Global
Ctrl Cmd V	Paste the clipboard as a new note
Cmd L	Go to selected note	? Not sure what this means
Opt Cmd H	Hide other programs
Cmd Click	Select multiple notes	For merging or moving
Cmd M	Minimize	Global
Shift Cmd I	Note Info	Toggle
Shift Cmd M	Merge notes
Shift Cmd N	Create new notebook	Cmd N when All Notebooks selected
Cmd Y	Quick look at attachments
Safari
Shift Click EN	Send pdf of current web page to Evernote
Images
Ctrl Cmd C	Clip screenshot
General
Cmd *	Get result of Applescript	?
Manage Evernote
Ctrl Cmd S	Synchonize Evernote
Opt Cmd T	Hide toolbar
Cmd Q	Exit application	Global
Cmd S	Save	Global
Cmd W	Close current window	Global
Tables
Tab	Move to the next cell	In last cell creates new row
Shift tab	Move to the previous cell
Miscellaneous
Cmd F8	Value highlighting	?
Cmd P	Print	Global
Shift Cmd I	Show note info	Toggle
Shift Cmd P	Page setup
Shift Cmd X	Encrypt selected text	?
Shift Cmd B	Send file to Bluetooth device	?
Shift Cmd F	Footlight
Shift Cmd Y	Make new sticky note	?
Shift F11	Save template	?
Cmd 0 (zero)	Activity	?
, (comma)	Separate subsequent tags	Use in note header when entering tags

There are any number of good Internet browsers available to Windows users. Internet Explorer 7, Safari, Opera and Google Chrome all have their merits and they all have passionate supporters.

For most Windows professionals and power users, Firefox 3 is the browser of choice. I wouldn’t be without it. Three main reasons:

Firstly: it’s more secure than Internet Explorer

Microsoft’s browser is vulnerable for 2 main reasons.

1. Because it’s installed by default on every Windows PC, it’s by far the most used browser, so it’s the target of choice for the low-lifes who want to hack into your computer.
2. Microsoft insist on using ActiveX controls. these are a perennial security vulnerability.

Secondly: Add-ons

There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of Add-ons available for Firefox which increase its functionality enormously.  Some, like the Google and Stumbleupon toolbars, are also available for Internet Explorer, Opera has them too, but nowhere near as many. Firefox has a far greater range than any other browser.

Thirdly: the Awesome Bar

The Firefox 3 location bar, over time, remembers your browsing history. If you can’t  remember the address of a site you’ve visited, you just start typing part of its name or any relevant key word or phrase which you can recall from the site. Firefox drops a list of relevant places from your history and bookmarks. It’s a blessing and a great time saver.

Internet Explorer 8 has a similar function, but as usual in the “browser wars” Microsoft are “a day late and a dollar short.”

More on the Add-ons

For me, Add-ons are the Internet Explorer killer. I use about a dozen of them. Among the best:

Xmarks (previously called Foxmarks)

If you use more than one computer, Xmarks is your saviour. You install the Xmarks add-on in Firefox then create a free account on Xmarks’ website. Xmarks uploads your bookmarks to their database and automatically updates any changes or additions you subsequently make.

On other computers, or if you reinstall your PC’s software, you install Xmarks, log on to the website, then choose whether to merge your bookmarks with those at Xmarks’ website or to replace the bookmarks with those on the server.

The Google toolbar

A very effective enhanced search tool for Firefox or Internet Explorer. Get it here:

Tab Mix Plus

“Tab Mix Plus enhances Firefox’s tab browsing capabilities. It includes such features as duplicating tabs, controlling tab focus, tab clicking options, undo closed tabs and windows, plus much more. It also includes a full-featured session manager.”

Allows Firefox users to supercharge the tab bar. If, like me, you spend a lot of time using your browser, you’ll love this add-on. Foremost among its many features, it allows multiple rows on the tab bar. Get it here:

Adblock Plus

“Ever been annoyed by all those ads and banners on the internet that often take longer to download than everything else on the page? Install Adblock Plus now and get rid of them.”

Kills most web page ads. Unless you’re a compulsive shopper, you need this add-on. Get it here:

Flashblock

Does for Flash animations what Adblock Plus does for advertisements. Kills them before they arrive. Stops wasting your download bandwidth and allows web pages containing Flash components to load faster. You can still run the Flash animations you wish to see. Just click on the Play arrow which Flashblock places in the blank Flash box. Get it here.

Firefox isn’t perfect – not yet anyway

Many interactive pages on Microsoft’s website won’t work with browsers other than Internet Explorer. On rare occasions you’ll strike incompatibility on certain interactive pages on other websites too. Probably because of the use of ActiveX controls.

I miss being able to add files other than web pages to Bookmarks. A handy capability of Internet Explorer’s Favorites.

If you use multiple toolbars, you can’t drag ‘n drop them into your own custom configuration as you can with IE. Less important than in the days of 15″ monitors, but still a mystifying oversight on Mozilla’s part.

But it’s the best – by a country mile

After nearly two decades of using MS Outlook as my email client, in recent months I’ve switched to webmail (Gmail is my choice), mainly because it’s convenient when switching between my desktop and my notebook PCs. Less data synchronization required.

As a result, I use Firefox more than any other application. If there’s a better browser I’d be using it.

Get it in your language of choice right here.

Get the British English version here.

Get it now!

Evernote

Note taking: the answer to my prayers

A couple of months ago I wrote about a flawed gem of a program which I’ve been using since the early ’90s – Info Select.  I wanted to replace it and I’ve wasted weeks of real time testing various alternatives.

When you’re looking for note-taking software you’re invariably referred to PIMs – Personal Information Managers – but they tend to be too obsessed with email, contact management and time management.

What I want is an information manager. A repository for all my notes, plans, dreams and mountains of reference data. If it’s also a PIM I can live with it, but I use Gmail, my iPhone and Google Calendar for most PIM functions, so it’s not necessary.

My main criteria

• Fast, accurate search and retrieval of stored text data files is a must. Info Select does this brilliantly. Image handling would be a plus, but not vital.
• I switch often between 3 different computers. Synchronizing my data files between them with SyncBack is easy (MS’s free Synctoy is good too), but it’s a hassle I could do without 3 or 4 times a day, so using a web based application sitting on a server halfway round the world has some advantages. Alternatively, a program capable of running from a USB memory stick would be acceptable, but only just. USB sticks are unreliable and Windows is often reluctant to “safely remove” or “unmount” them.
• A program which can be used with Windows, a Mac, and Linux would be a plus.
• Free would be good too. I’m retired and need to watch my pennies.

The final candidates:

• Microsoft One Note
  An excellent program, but I’d have been obliged to buy 2 licences to cover my 3 machines. It’s Windows only at present. Even though it misses out on more than one of my criteria, it was my second choice because it’s so good. 60 day free trial and a very reasonable price for use on 2 PCs.
• Tiddlywiki
  Wikis are very good for linked reference data. Tiddlywiki is the most suitable for portability. The lack of WYSIWYG editing makes it awkward for constantly changing files like To Do lists. Very good though, and free!  Unlike most wikis, which require a server, TiddlyWiki is self contained in a single HTML file which you can keep on a USB stick or even a floppy. A big plus — TiddlyWiki is totally OS agnostic and will run in any browser.
• TreeDBNotes
  Very good, but if I’m paying I believe MS One Note is better value. I couldn’t figure out how to do a global search: the search shortcut keys didn’t work. Maybe a Vista compatibility problem. I note that Vista is not mentioned on their Windows OS list.
• Info Select 2007
  After nearly two decades I’m losing patience with IS’s cavalier attitude to users and MicroLogic’s extortionate prices. The program is buggy and it’s bloated with tools which are powerful, but done better by many free applications. The interface is stuck in a time when dinosaurs walked The Earth. Text manipulation and formatting should be much easier in a US$249  program.
  Having said that, IS’s data search core function is outstanding.
• Stickies for Windows
  The best free sticky notes program. Excellent for todos, alarms and sticky notes, but not powerful enough to match Evernote. Nor is it intended for this purpose. Windows only and only one developer who may get run over by a bus. Perish the thought that he should come to an untimely “stickie” end!
• The Winner! Evernote
  I tried Evernote when it was first released in Beta. I didn’t appreciate its power. I didn’t really “get it” but subsequently I heard so many informed users gushing over it that I looked again. I’d have saved myself a lot of time if I’d investigated it more closely first time around.

The verdict

Evernote is almost perfect for my requirements. It’s radically different from anything else I’ve seen, so it pays to get a grasp of how it works before jumping to conclusions. A good start is to press F1 to browse the online help and then look at the keyboard shortcuts file in the Help Menu.

There’s an excellent free version, but I’m so impressed that I’ve upgraded to the Pro version for US$45 per year (alternatively: $5/month – do the arithmetic).

• If you wish Evernote can be used as a web based application like Google Mail; a normal local application like Outlook; or, the perfect compromise, as a combination of the two. I use the local program but it synchronizes with Evernote’s server at user defined intervals – I set it to 15 minute updates. When I’ve finished with my Desktop and wish to move to my laptop I just click the Synchro button and it updates all changes immediately. When I boot up my laptop it syncs immediately.
• Searching for text in notes is very fast.
• Evernote is available as a Windows or Mac local application, but you can also use it online in a browser with Linux. You can access your notes from any web connected computer on the planet. It has add-ons for Internet Explorer and for Firefox which enable you to send data directly from a web page to a new Note.
• You can use it in your iPhone, Palm Pre or Blackberry.
• Notes can be created and edited using the keyboard or handwriting. You can add web pages, images, copied text and pdf files. With the Pro version you can add any type of file, including MS Office documents.  You can then open, edit and save those documents on any computer with MS Office installed and they’re synchronized with the other Evernote data.
  • For Microsoft Office documents – in which the text isn’t directly searchable by Evernote – I’ve found the free 2GB of online storage available with a synchronizable DropBox account to be more useful.
• One thing which annoys some new users.  You can save your notes in one Notebook or you can split them between any number of Notebooks, but there’s no tree structure – those Notebooks can’t be nested, so there’s a practical limit to how many you can cope with.
  This is not a bug! Nor is it an oversight!
  The excellent boolean search capability and the provision for unlimited note tags (which can be nested) makes finding your stuff a breeze. You don’t need nested Notebooks or a tree structure. Think of the Gmail philosophy: search, don’t organize. Organizing data files can get in the way of searching.
  • Does Google need to structure the web? No.
  • Does lack of structure inhibit a Google search? Not a bit.
  • An example: your friend Egbert is a member of your squash club, he also owns your favourite restaurant and he’s your child’s Scoutmaster. Where do you put him in your data tree? 3 different places? Easy answer — don’t have a tree. You can allot his note (or notes) tags which cover all bases. Egbert can be a tag too.
• Evernote even finds text in your images (One Note does too) and your hand written notes! How cool is that?

A full report on Evernote coming up soon. This is a seriously good program. The free version is just as good as the paid version, but with less data allowance per month, and a small ad in the lower left corner of your window. No big deal although it infuriates some users. No pleasing some people.

There are a few things I’d like to add to their feature list, but it’s new on the scene and it’s splendid as it is. I can’t wait to see the next version.

Get it here. Get it today!

Free or paid, it’s top-shelf software.

Editor’s note:

I’ve created a keyboard shortcuts cheatsheet for Evernote which you can get as a PDF file on my website by clicking right here.

Or if you prefer an Excel file, which is a much smaller file size for download, click here.

One less worry

As we speak I’m backing up my photos and other important stuff to a computer 10,000 miles away. I should have done this years ago.

External data backup drives are invaluable, but unless you have at least two of them, synchronize them with your PC’s data, and keep one of them at a remote site, you’re in potential trouble.

Cases in point:

1. In my small town last week a young man had his house burgled. Not only did the low-lifes snatch his computer, they got off with his two external backup drives as well. His life is in ruins. Continue reading ‘Peace of mind data storage – and it’s free!’ »

Confessions of a would-be penguin freak

For the last two or three months I’ve indulged in a minor obsession. I switched completely from Windows to Linux. Started out with the Ubuntu 8.10 flavour but in the end settled on Mandriva 2009.

I’ve been so up to my ears in the learning curve that I’ve been ignoring my blog, my websites and the house painting.

I’ve tried Linux three or four times in the past. On those occasions I gave up within days: the learning curve took up too much of my time and there were programs I missed and didn’t care to do without. This time, accepting that Linux and the free software movement has improved by a degree or two of magnitude in recent years, I changed my criteria. Instead of considering what I’d have to give up I started out deciding what I couldn’t do without. It wasn’t all that much:

Must haves

Important, but not deal-breakers:

It’s easy to have the best of both worlds and run both Windows and Linux in dedicated machines, in virtual machines or as a “dual boot” configuration. But unless one has a specific requirement to do that to my mind it’s a waste of effort, resources and time. If you must use Windows, there’s not much point in having Linux as well unless you need it on a server, for learning or for teaching or as a short term situation during the transition to stand alone Linux.

For me, Linux is all or nothing. After about a month I decided that there was no going back to Windows. I was a Linux user now and forever. My must haves were satisfied and with more learning my non deal-breakers would be too.

However!

A week ago I switched back to Windows. It’s not permanent, but I’ll be using Vista for some time yet.

Linux is ready for prime time. I’ve set up two of my granddaughters with Ubuntu: one 20-year-old, recently married and impecunious; one 9-year-old and smart. I’d be happy to set up any new computer user with Linux. They’d find it less of a battle than Windows.

For me it’s more problematic. I’m supposed to be an experienced computer user and fix-it man. My friends, children and grandchildren come to me for help mistaking me for a geek. As yet I’m not there in Linux. There are too many arcane bits of knowledge I need to acquire before I can make the switch confident that I can fix things when they turn pear-shaped.

This is not a Linux failing. To reach the level of expertise I need takes time with Windows too.

I’ll address the specific problems which have put my transition on hold in a coming post.

Ubuntu rocks!

In April I tried the latest release of Linux operating system distribution, Ubuntu 8.04. I wrote in my blog that it was a major advance but that I didn’t see it pushing Windows off my desktop for a while yet.

Well, I’m partially eating my words. After many past nibbles at Linux which were short-lived, with the final release of Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron I virtually dumped Windows for my day-to-day computing needs for over a month.

The Ubuntu Linux distribution has now evolved to the point where it can do all the things that most people need to do on their computers with less associated pain than Windows. What’s more it can be installed more easily than Windows by an average computer user.

And there’s the small matter of cost. There isn’t any.

Unfortunately

Much as I’d like to, I can’t stick with Linux for two main reasons: Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 and Corel Painter X. For all the other programs that I use, there’s a free open source equivalent that’s good enough to replace what I’m using and in some cases they’re better than thestandard  Windows equivalent.

Who’s it good for then?

For any computer user, experienced or novice, who needs a Word Processor, a Spreadsheet, Internet browser, Email, graphic design, photo editing and music it is excellent.

there are good databases and many other free applications, but if you’re a gamer or if you need a specialist program like Dreamweaver then you still need Windows or a Mac.

In my case I could get by for web design with an open source XHTML editor, but my knowledge of server side scripting is insufficient to cope with dynamic web templates, so I’m stuck with Dreamweaver or, at a pinch, MS Expression Web.

Come on Adobe, port your software to Linux. Strike a blow against world domination by the nice guys at Microsoft.

Please?

I had a rave about this subject here a few months ago and concluded that all was lost for Linux. Now I have hope.

Note that you can run Windows by dual booting with Linux or in a virtual machine within Linux. I do that now with an XP test installation running as a guest of Vista. But if I have to do that to run my must have applications, then from my point of view, I might just as well stick with Windows.

For every dyed-in-the-wool Linux fan in geekdom there are probably dozens of hopefuls like myself who’ve tried it a number of times and given up. Why? Because for most computer users there have been just too many hurdles. The promise of free software isn’t enough to justify the pain involved in switching.

This unhappy situation is changing rapidly. Users with a modicum of computer knowledge can be up and running in an hour – Internet, email, word processing and spreadsheets? No problem. If you’re capable of installing Windows, you can do the same with Ubuntu.

Past barriers

• For ordinary computer users, just installing Linux has been a difficult process.
• If you managed to get it installed, accessing your Windows data from within Linux was a mission. Importing it into equivalent Windows programs wasn’t easy.
• The free word processors were clunky.
• If you still needed to access Windows programs it was necessary to dual-boot. Dual booting is a pain in the backside. First you shut down Linux, then you reboot into Windows, do what you want, shut down Windows and boot into Linux again.
  Who needs it?
• Updating your installation and installing new programs was much more difficult than it is in Windows.
• Drivers and utilities for printers, scanners, routers, modems and other hardware were often a problem.

All of this has changed.

The latest version of Ubuntu’s distribution of Linux has taken yet another step on the road to making Linux a viable free alternative to Microsoft’s creaking, top-heavy Windows edifice.

Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron

Over the last year or so, Ubuntu have been addressing these problems and the final release of Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron) is, in my opinion, ready for ordinary mortals to use.

For the first time ever, I had Linux installed on my desktop computer as my main operating system for a month. I did all my normal day-to-day computer work using Ubuntu. I had Windows XP installed inside Ubuntu as a “virtual machine”. This allowed me to access my old Outlook emails, check how my web pages look in Internet Explorer, and to use a couple of programs which, as yet, I can’t sensibly abandon.

Microsoft would do well to review their place in the world. Ubuntu is only going to get better.

Download Ubuntu from here. If you don’t have a fast internet connection, Canonical will send you a free CD from here.

Next post. What needs to be done to make Linux available to more folk?

What’s wrong with Linux?

Every year or so I have a play with Linux. Every year or so, after a couple of days of frustration, with a sigh I go back to Windows. I just don’t have the time to get to grips with the steep Linux learning curve.

Here’s a random partial extract of advice given to a newbie having trouble installing a Linux program. In this case WINE for systems with AMD 64 processors.

Open up a terminal in the folder you saved it to:
sudo apt-get install ia32-libs
sudo dpkg -i –force-architecture wine*.deb

Next, head to the Ubuntu repository and download both libXx86dga1 and libXx86vm1 (for i386). Extract them (don’t install!) and then extract the data.tar.gz files inside of them. Browse to the /usr/lib32 subfolder, then copy both the symlink and the shared library to your /lib32 folder (you’ll need to do this as root). Make sure you do this for both these packages.

Yeah, right. You get then picture? It takes some dedication not to immediately reboot into Vista, with all its problems.

This time may be different. Slightly.

Yesterday I installed Ubuntu 8.04 Beta. Over the next few days I’ll report my progress in getting to grips with it.

It’s very impressive and this time I may finally leave Linux on my desktop as a dual booter so that I can take my time learning it. It’s not going to replace my Windows setup any time soon, but it’s enough of an advance to give me hope that one day one of its successors will, and I’d like to be ready.

It was a relief that I didn’t have to jump tall buildings to get access to my Windows drives and partitions. Well done Ubuntu. It was also very easy to install and it recognised my 1920 x 1200 high definition screen. That was a first. Previously I’ve had to modify files using a “command line” editor. This sort of stuff is daunting to a first time user.

Ubuntu to the rescue?

If Mark Shuttleworth’s Canonical can keep improving their distribution at this rate maybe more people will swell the present 1% of market share that Linux has and the big software people will be forced to take their needs into account.

Linux stalwarts tend to be a little fanatical about their niche. Some go as far as to say “Why make it easy to use, we like it geeky.” Many rubbish Windows and sneer at Windows users. Let’s face it, Microsoft give plenty of ammunition to the knockers. But from the point of view of most computer users that holier-than-thou Linux enthusiasm is misplaced for a number of reasons.

The problem isn’t with the Linux operating system. If you only need to use a word processor and a spreadsheet, surf the Net and check your emails, then you’re in business. Linux provides you with a good office suite, the unbeatable Firefox web browser and the first-rate Evolution email/organiser program.

If you’re a little bit geekish you’ll get by very well with Linux, you’ll save a bundle, and you’ll have fewer security and instability problems than you’ll get with Windows.

So I can switch completely to Linux, right?

Well no, probably not. Not if you’re into games, graphics, or web design.

Music production? Video editing?  Forget it.

Until the open source movement can persuade some top software developers and big boys like Adobe to produce the goods for Linux, you’re out of luck.

And then there are the myriad other programs that most of us use. In my case there is nothing to replace Acrobat Pro, Info Select, Dreamweaver, SnagIt, Lightscribe and Camtasia. If I can’t run them, or an equivalent, under Linux I still need Windows.

GIMP, a replacement for Photoshop, Corel Draw and Illustrator is available but although it’s a good program, it’s still a poor second best for professional users.

If you use Microsoft Office, you’ll strike compatibility problems when using the excellent OpenOffice, particularly with Office 2007 document formats. If you use Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Illustrator or any number of other programs which some find indispensable you’re out of luck. You can run Windows as a virtual machine under Linux or you can use products like Wine and Crossover to run some of these programs but there are big problems.

Basically, if the program you need hasn’t been written for Linux then you’re still going to need Windows even if it’s run in a virtual machine. So what’s the point of switching?

And then there’s your wireless router, Bluetooth, printer and scanner

Good luck with finding drivers. And even if you do find them, you’ll be struggling to also find the useful utilities that came with your machine.

If you’re planning a switch, make sure any new hardware you buy henceforth is Linux compatible and that the drivers are available.

I have a friend who’s a Linux expert. But he uses a lot of Windows software that he can’t use on a Linux system so he runs Windows as well. But he runs his own server, so he has a legitimate need to have battled through the Linux learning curve.