[Synopsis]

Originally Posted by karibear

It's the other way around. I hoped to use MS as a back up in case my WP crashed again. I have - I was going to say hundreds, but it's probably more like thousands - of WP files. And unless openoffice has substantially improved over the past 4 or 5 years, it does great with MS files but doesn't recognize WP files. On top of that, I can't download any programs until I move to where I can use wireless, broadband, or dsl. With the pokey dialup I have, I can't even download a driver for my scanner - and the post office has managed to lose the driver on CD not once, but twice.

Open office now recognizes WP files. If you want to send a wp file to my email address I'll let you know how well it works. I can't seem to find any wp files out on the internet.

[karibear]

Originally Posted by Synopsis

Open office now recognizes WP files. If you want to send a wp file to my email address I'll let you know how well it works. I can't seem to find any wp files out on the internet.

Your email addy is blocked. Send me a DM with it and I'll send you back an attached file. Maybe a couple, I have them from 4.0 on up.

[TheComputerGuy]

If OOo works for you, I'm sure you can order a CD on-line.
(U.S. MAIL is faster than dial-up)
And YES it's a LOT better than it was even a year ago...

[karibear]

Originally Posted by Synopsis

Open office now recognizes WP files. If you want to send a wp file to my email address I'll let you know how well it works. I can't seem to find any wp files out on the internet.

It worked, I think. Since I no longer have openoffice on my computer, it opened into MS Word. Kind of confused me there, for a minute.

I will definitely have to check into getting it on a CD. My dialup is so pitiful, I can't even buy ebooks - the book stores won't sell them to me!

[karibear]

Originally Posted by TheComputerGuy

If OOo works for you, I'm sure you can order a CD on-line.
(U.S. MAIL is faster than dial-up)
And YES it's a LOT better than it was even a year ago...

No comment on the mail. They're only fast sporadically. And sometimes things don't get here at all. They've misplaced 2 CDs with the driver for my scanner. And once they delivered my social security check to someone a mile away... that's when I switched to direct deposit. Boyoboy, do I ever have some USPO stories, but that's way OT.

[Bobby H]

Been a couple of days since I last visited this thread. Had to respond to a few comments.

The apps may be what makes a computer "great" as you put it, but it's the OS that makes the platform stable!

A stable operating system doesn't mean squat if there's little in the way of killer applications to run on it. Adobe Photoshop is a killer application. There is no Linux native version of it.

Ever hear of Silicon Graphics?? Those who really know the evolution of computer graphics know that SGI was the desktop of choice from the late 80's through most all of the 90's when it came to having to do real work on the desktop.

IRIX is an all but dead platform now. Adobe briefly experimented with releasing versions of Photoshop and Illustrator on IRIX in the early 1990s. They haven't done anything for IRIX since.

For all of the applications that run on Windows there are versions created for Linux that operate just about the same, if not better.

That's not the case in the graphics industry. The only exceptions to that rule are expensive speciality applications like Eyeon Software's Fusion, an effects compositing application. Adobe defines the standard bar for all others in terms of image editing, page layout, web graphics design, etc. Apple's own branded video authoring tools are the only thing giving Adobe any credible challenge in areas like video editing and motion graphics.

My dear boy, you might consider getting your ears checked, for I hear no fan boy cries and cheers.

The very first post of this thread started off as a Windows bashing thing. Using the term "Windoze" definitely spins it in that direction. Often such statements are veiled insults to others using Windows.

Please, kindly accept other's operating system choices even though they may not be your own.

Exactly where did I tell anyone they couldn't choose their operating system?

I posted my own personal view based on the fact the leading graphics industry applications do not run natively at all on Linux. Linux offers no real productivity gain for me in my work based on its limitations in not natively running those commercial applications and not offering any credible alternatives to those applications.

Also, might I add that Tiger, and Leopard are based on BSD? Think about that.

MacOSX is not an open source platform running lots of free open source applications either. It is a high priced, commercial product. The UNIX underpinnings of OSX are an evolutionary improvement for an already long established brand of computing platform. The Mac platform has a very faithful customer base willing to pay a premium to use that platform. That's why Adobe continues developing for it. There isn't enough of a customer base on the Linux side for Adobe to bother with it -especially when many of the most fervent supporters of Linux also demand that all applications running on it are free to use and thus "open source."

[Synopsis]

I'm finding Linux apps to be just as powerful as those native to most other operating systems. If you truly go into the features of these applications they have many, many features. Yes, I use the Adobe Creative Suite in Windows and I love it; there is really nothing quite like it. However, in a couple of years I believe there will be more applications native to Linux that will make it feasible to work the very same type of apps in Linux. Besides, the Linux Draw and Rastor programs do compare very well with Adobe's and after further examination I'm finding it able to do much the same thing in them as I do in Adobe's CS3; the learning curve is the only thing holding me back right now.

Windows Vista is a horrible OS. It bogs down your computer, and there are viruses waiting around every corner. The darn thing is a honeypot for viruses. Linux run a zillion times faster and you have none of the virus problems, as well as many others; you don't even need to defragment your hard drive!

[karibear]

I love Windows, from 3.11 to 98, 98se, and now XP Home Edition. But I know quite a few people who upgraded to Vista as soon as they could and hate it. It doesn't recognize their peripherals - what good is a printer that one's computer won't talk to? Or dial up connections for a variety of ISPs on line - what good is PeoplePC if your computer won't acknowlege that the connection is there and running? A lot of them have gone back to previous versions, and to [probably] misquote something I've seen/heard/gotten in an email, "Ask not what your computer can do for you, ask what you can buy for Vista."

Besides, I couldn't live without Solitaire, I'd have to start taking tranquilizers.

[Bobby H]

I'm finding Linux apps to be just as powerful as those native to most other operating systems.

None of the freebie open source graphics applications made principally for Linux (as well as other platforms like Windows) remotely compare to industry leading applications from companies like Adobe, Autodesk, etc.

If you're a hobbyist graphics person with a very meager budget, applications like The Gimp, Inkscape and Blender may be enough. But you're going to have to settle for various problems. Filters in The Gimp don't work quite the way as they do in that pirated version of Photoshop you downloaded. Inkscape glitches out on things like outline effects of objects. Blender can't import a 2D EPS or AI logo or other graphical object worth a hoot. But hey, it's still free!

When you're getting paid by customers expecting professional quality output, you're going to need a PC or Mac running various applications from Adobe, Corel, Autodesk, etc. You will not get by in using a Linux loaded box running only open source graphics applications.

However, in a couple of years I believe there will be more applications native to Linux that will make it feasible to work the very same type of apps in Linux. Besides, the Linux Draw and Rastor programs do compare very well with Adobe's and after further examination I'm finding it able to do much the same thing in them as I do in Adobe's CS3; the learning curve is the only thing holding me back right now.

Some of that brings up another issue.

I've been creating professional computer graphics work for more than 20 years. I have tens of thousands of archive files. Adobe's applications are very friendly to them. Same for Corel. I've tried out open source applications like Inkscape just to see what it was like. I was left fairly unimpressed. Inkscape has a good way to go before it can posture itself as a credible alternative to any well established vector-based drawing application.

Windows Vista is a horrible OS. It bogs down your computer, and there are viruses waiting around every corner.

I'm not using Vista. Most PC manufacturers are offering the older, more reliable XP as an alternative to Vista. Basically I see no need to migrate to Vista until the Adobe applications (among others) are fully recompiled for 64-bit operation and fully multi-threaded. Right now that is not at all the case.

To add to that, it is quite easy to make a Windows XP based computer very secure, especially in its operations in relation to the Internet. Anyone who can't figure out how to safely use a Windows PC on the Internet definitely has some problems. The security issues with Windows are very easy to overcome.

[Synopsis]

Originally Posted by Bobby H

None of the freebie open source graphics applications made principally for Linux (as well as other platforms like Windows) remotely compare to industry leading applications from companies like Adobe, Autodesk, etc.

If you're a hobbyist graphics person with a very meager budget, applications like The Gimp, Inkscape and Blender may be enough. But you're going to have to settle for various problems. Filters in The Gimp don't work quite the way as they do in that pirated version of Photoshop you downloaded. Inkscape glitches out on things like outline effects of objects. Blender can't import a 2D EPS or AI logo or other graphical object worth a hoot. But hey, it's still free!

When you're getting paid by customers expecting professional quality output, you're going to need a PC or Mac running various applications from Adobe, Corel, Autodesk, etc. You will not get by in using a Linux loaded box running only open source graphics applications.



Some of that brings up another issue.

I've been creating professional computer graphics work for more than 20 years. I have tens of thousands of archive files. Adobe's applications are very friendly to them. Same for Corel. I've tried out open source applications like Inkscape just to see what it was like. I was left fairly unimpressed. Inkscape has a good way to go before it can posture itself as a credible alternative to any well established vector-based drawing application.



I'm not using Vista. Most PC manufacturers are offering the older, more reliable XP as an alternative to Vista. Basically I see no need to migrate to Vista until the Adobe applications (among others) are fully recompiled for 64-bit operation and fully multi-threaded. Right now that is not at all the case.

To add to that, it is quite easy to make a Windows XP based computer very secure, especially in its operations in relation to the Internet. Anyone who can't figure out how to safely use a Windows PC on the Internet definitely has some problems. The security issues with Windows are very easy to overcome.

I have no desire to get into a shooting match with you. I'm happy with it and that's all that matters. And my CS3 is not pirated; it is a fully licensed version that I use as part of my work creating professional graphics. You need to calm down somewhat and stop taking this so personally. Insinuating that I am using stolen software could be construed as a personal attack and if you haven't noticed I'll be the one making that decision.