Can't access basic Windows programs

[HeavenShallBurn]

Just buy Windows and those hassles go away. If you don't like the idea of paying Microsoft their money then choose from one of the numerous free Operating Systems out there today (Fedora, Ubuntu, CentOS, etc). There are alternatives out there for people who choose not to support Microsoft.

Brief Threadjack

Yes but Linux has one major problem in most of its free forms, no WiFi support. I rather dislike windows in all its forms. But if you run a wireless network Linux is almost useless, there are supposedly cards with Linux compatible chipsets but I've never been able to find any of them in stores.

If you can tell me how to get Ubuntu to run with Linksys wireless cards I'd gladly switch over all my comps.

 

[silvermane]

There are alternatives out there for people who choose not to support Microsoft.

Which gaming apps except PCGen can you run on Linux? You can count them on one hand, for sure.

Because it's a gaming forum, I just won't mention other apps that are Windows only (usually closed source, even though they are freeware), and have no Linux equivalents.

I have had no complaint regarding the price of Windows XP. The price of Office XP, on the other hand, is another matter, and you can't buy non-English older versions anywhere. Most net auctions sell OEM copies (illegal, which the sellers often do not realize).

 

[IronWolf]

Brief Threadjack
Yes but Linux has one major problem in most of its free forms, no WiFi support. I rather dislike windows in all its forms. But if you run a wireless network Linux is almost useless, there are supposedly cards with Linux compatible chipsets but I've never been able to find any of them in stores.

I've been running wireless NICs in Linux based laptops since late 2002/early 2003. Most have been Orinoco cards (now Proxim), but I have successfully had LinkSys cards work before as well. Most of these were with Fedora or Red Hat back when they made a free desktop system.

Ubuntu has pretty decent wireless support and improves with each release I believe (I don't track them that closely). Their user community is known for their helpfulness though - you could probably hit one of their forums and post your make and model of wireless card(s) and have some folks give you some good suggestions before you even installed Ubuntu.

 

[IronWolf]

Which gaming apps except PCGen can you run on Linux? You can count them on one hand, for sure.

Because it's a gaming forum, I just won't mention other apps that are Windows only (usually closed source, even though they are freeware), and have no Linux equivalents.

I have had no complaint regarding the price of Windows XP. The price of Office XP, on the other hand, is another matter, and you can't buy non-English older versions anywhere. Most net auctions sell OEM copies (illegal, which the sellers often do not realize).

I'm not trying to tout Linux as the answer to all problems (in this thread anyways ). I am saying to justify pirating Windows operating systems because it can run games or gaming software is wrong. If Windows has the software applications you want and need on a daily basis then you *need* to pony up the dollars for the OS (or a PC with an OEM copy that is legit). If that cost is too high then you need to look at other operating systems that might be within your budget. Linux is one of those operating systems.

I agree with you though, the cost of Office products is pretty high. Open Office makes a pretty decent alternative for what *most* people need to do at home.

 

[silvermane]

I am saying to justify pirating Windows operating systems because it can run games or gaming software is wrong.

Well, of course it's wrong (as in "legally wrong"), but what do you expect of people raised in today's consumer culture? They don't even bother with justifications of "I will buy this software once I earn enough using a pirated copy" (which actually happens not very often).

I agree with you though, the cost of Office products is pretty high. Open Office makes a pretty decent alternative for what *most* people need to do at home.

I agree that OO is a pretty good substitute. Unfortunately (one of) my customers requires that I send them docs with markup that only MS Office can fully provide, and they're too important to ignore. Of course, I wouldn't have to use the latest version with all the bells and whistles and Office 2000 (or even 97) would do fine. The problem is that you can't buy it anywhere - not from MS or their retailers anyway. So I had to buy a laptop with XP and Office preinstalled just to have this requirement satisfied.

 

[LightPhoenix]

I've been running wireless NICs in Linux based laptops since late 2002/early 2003. Most have been Orinoco cards (now Proxim), but I have successfully had LinkSys cards work before as well. Most of these were with Fedora or Red Hat back when they made a free desktop system.

Ubuntu has pretty decent wireless support and improves with each release I believe (I don't track them that closely). Their user community is known for their helpfulness though - you could probably hit one of their forums and post your make and model of wireless card(s) and have some folks give you some good suggestions before you even installed Ubuntu.

I'm running Ubuntu on my laptop (a Toshiba), which I went and bought from Best Buy. No special wireless card, that I know of, and I connect to SU's wireless network fine.

 

[XCorvis]

I have Symantec AntiVirus, which was updated yesterday. And calc.exe is not in system32.

I dunno. Is there a chance I accidentally uninstalled it? I know I cleaned out some old programs a few months ago to try to free up space on my hard drive - things like MSN Messenger that I don't use anymore. Maybe it had a name that looked safe to uninstall?

It sounds like you may have accidentally unchecked "Accessories and Utilities" when you were removing MSN Explorer and Messenger. Just check it again and it should add them back in.

 

[Elephant]

Which gaming apps except PCGen can you run on Linux? You can count them on one hand, for sure.

Because it's a gaming forum, I just won't mention other apps that are Windows only (usually closed source, even though they are freeware), and have no Linux equivalents.

I have had no complaint regarding the price of Windows XP. The price of Office XP, on the other hand, is another matter, and you can't buy non-English older versions anywhere. Most net auctions sell OEM copies (illegal, which the sellers often do not realize).

So use http://www.openoffice.org instead. Free (in both uses of the word) and compatible with MS documents.

Edit: Nevermind, someone beat me to the punch.

 

[xmanii]

I agree that OO is a pretty good substitute. Unfortunately (one of) my customers requires that I send them docs with markup that only MS Office can fully provide, and they're too important to ignore. Of course, I wouldn't have to use the latest version with all the bells and whistles and Office 2000 (or even 97) would do fine. The problem is that you can't buy it anywhere - not from MS or their retailers anyway. So I had to buy a laptop with XP and Office preinstalled just to have this requirement satisfied.

I was able to get a copy of OfficeXP through freecycle (for free). You may want to check them out.

Also, to the OP, you may want to try the same thing.

 

[babomb]

Which gaming apps except PCGen can you run on Linux? You can count them on one hand, for sure.

Because it's a gaming forum, I just won't mention other apps that are Windows only (usually closed source, even though they are freeware), and have no Linux equivalents.

Many "Windows-only" programs will work on Linux using WINE.