Before moving on further I need to explain something about Linux Distributions.
Most Linux distributions include just about every application you need right “out of the box”. This is not bundled software, but free software which you can uninstall if you don’t want it.

These applications are generally called packages.
Some notable packages are:
AbiWord - a free word processing program similar to Microsoft Word. A Windows version is also available.
Amarok - music player for Linux with an intuitive interface, features Album Art, Lyrics support, and supports Apple iPods, Creative Zen and many other players
Evolution – similar to Outlook, but free
GIMP (Gnu Image Manipulation Program) - often used as a free software replacement for Adobe Photoshop, although it is not designed to be a Photoshop clone
MPlayer – a movie and animation player
MySQL – a SQL database server
OpenOffice.org – an open-source office suite consisting of a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, graphic and database program, which can read Microsoft Office formats.
Pidgin – a multi-protocol instant messaging client.
Mozilla Thunderbird – a fully featured email and newsgroup client.

These packages, as well as the Linux Operating System itself, all use the same update mechanism. You have a choice in this of course, but it is easy to keep your Linux Desktop up to date.

Here’s some reading material:
Test Driving Linux (From Windows To Linux in 60 Seconds)

Posted on June 1st, 2008 by mervyn