Re: [Evolution] Evolution for Windows

[Tom Davies <tomdavies04 yahoo co uk>]

Hi :)
The best way to learn Gnu&Linux is to jump into a test-drive with a LiveCd and explore it for yourself. 

You seem to have completed the first step of becoming familiar with how to get help, ie using forums and mailing lists.  Also i guess you are already familiar with OpenSource programs such as FireFox/Chrome/Opera instead of IE and LibreOffice/OpenOffice instead of MS Office. 

2nd step is to try a few "LiveCd sessions" to test-drive them on your machine without installing anything.  You could do this in a Virtual Machine to avoid needing to burn a Cd/Dvd to boot-up from.  Oddly we often say "LiveCd" even when using Usb-sticks, Memory-cards, Dvds.  The important point is that you set you bios's boot-order to look for the appropriate device before looking at the hard-drive.  When you boot-up a LiveCd the system that is installed on your hard-drive does not get affected.  You can try to save things onto your hard-drive but it's not easy to do so.  So, when you reboot back into the system that is on your hard-drive there is no trace of the LiveCd session (well, it doesn't bypass whatever tracking your isp does).  So a few LiveCd sessions are good for taking Gnu&Linux for a test-drive.  Notice that although Cd/dvd-drives are about 100 times slower than a hard-drive Gnu&Linux will still probably be faster than the Windows on the hard-drive.  This is partly due to the way it uses Ram more efficiently. 

3rd step is probably to try installing a distro on an old machine, if you have one lurking around in a cupboard, or in an attic or can rescue one from some offices or from a skip or something.  You probably don't need to do this step but it's a good way of getting used to installing an OS if you haven't tried doing that before.  Also it gives you a chance to test a lot of different ways of installing.  Dual-boot is the best one to try first imo.  Another advantage of trying on an old machine is to show how much faster Gnu&Linux tends to be and how well it can run even on an old machine.  You don't need to keep upgrading your machine so much and it allows you to access data that you might have thought was not worth spending the time to copy off an old machine. 

4th is probably to install as a dual-boot on your main machine.  Again this leaves the Windows side almost untouched.  Each time you boot-up you will get a choice of whether to use Gnu&Linux or Windows for that session.  I have a multi-boot with 3 versions of Gnu&Linux all able to share the same data quite easily.  To start with it's worth setting Windows as the default to boot into so that you only boot into Gnu&Linux when you choose to.  Later on you could switch back to having the Gnu&Linux as the default choice. 


Now when i want to install Gnu&Linux on a machine i do step 2 to check hardware compatibility.  On older machines and oddly enough on ultra-new machines too i sometimes have to try 2 or 3 different distros from different "families" to find one that behaves nicely.  Then when i find one i like on that machine i install as a dual-boot. 

The LiveCd session usually allows you to install while you are still trying out the LiveCd so it's easy to play games or surf the internet at the same time as installing the OS to the hard-drive. 

Step 2 and 4 can take as little as a couple of hours even on an old machine. 

Unlike Windows the install usually includes a bunch of useful programs with reasonable defaults.  Typically you can expect to find stuff to; surf the internet, make use of social networking, torrenting thing,  multi-media players, dvd/cd burner, office suite, games such as space invaders, chess, 'mahjong', suduko. 

Also, crucially, a "Package Manager" that has a search tool so that you can search for other programs or codecs, drivers, libraries, add-ons and things.  The package manager handles downloading, installing and updating for you.  Usually you wont need to reboot and once you have chosen a program it tends to give you the most up-to-date version so you wont need to update or apply patches or anything.  When you first install the OS you will probably want to update but this update runs through a package manager and updates all programs and everything all in one go. 

With Gnu&Linux you don't need to hunt around various different websites for things to install; worrying about whether they have been compromised or anything.  You can if you want but it is better to let the Package Manager handle all of that. 

The best way to learn Gnu&Linux is to jump into a test-drive with a LiveCd and explore it for yourself. 
Regards from
Tom :)

---

From: Adam Tauno Williams <awilliam whitemice org>
To: evolution-list gnome org
Sent: Sat, 20 August, 2011 18:17:21
Subject: Re: [Evolution] Evolution for Windows



Aleks Wolff <aleks dimexinc com> wrote:
>Is there version of Evolution that can be used in Windows? I have Win 7
>x64.

I don't believe there is a build/version that is stable or current for Windows

>At least three times a year I want to learn Linux, but have not been
>successful. Is there a book that I can use to learn Linux.

Just dive in and use it,  that is the only effective way to learn,  U can run a LINUX distro on Windows using VirtualBox.

Install VirtualBox
Install an openSUSE 11.4 VM
Start using it

--
Adam Tauno Williams
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