[Dorset] Hi from pissed off Windows user in Weymouth - wanting to change
At present I run a desktop under Windows 7. I bought one of the first 64 bit pcs running Windows 7 - so new that there was no proper driver for my HP printer/scanner and so for a while I had no OCR software. It was great at first but a number of registry errors built up and in spite of buying a registry cleaner it is running slow, and I am told what I 'should' be doing is to spend real money employing a microsoft certified person to maintain windows twice a year! So I want to move to Linux, but how? I cannot afford to be non operational for long. I have decided I really need a laptop and so intend to get that running under Linux first. It seems that buying one with Linux pre installed is not the most economical option. I can buy a TOSHIBA Satellite C850D-11Q 15.6 Laptop from pc world for £290. It has 320 GB hard disc so I could afford to have Windows and Linux installed at the same time. I don't fancy a cloud computer. I would continue to back up user files on memory sticks. Having Windows there would help if I had to back to pc World with a suspected hardware problem. My intention would be to install Linux straight away. I have a few questions please and would be grateful if someone could answer any he/she is able: 1. Is this the right way to go and if so what distribution would you recommend? Should I buy DVDs or download? 2. Is it simple to find say printer drivers that run under Linux? I seem to remember that when I phoned HP they had no drivers for Linux. Their software for the HP printer/scanner/copier has things like OCR software included, but if this was not included in the driver I could find, could I scan something as image and use different software to convert to character? Not that I do this very frequently. 3. Do I need antivirus software? (MACs now do) Any other security software essential? 4. Does Linux have a full screen console? (see below) 5. Does Linux have the equivalent of DOS batch files? FYI I run the following software at present: Open Office Foxit pdf reader Firefox duckduck search engine Windows live mail - but would use Tbird. Free Pascal: I am not up to writing Graphics interfaces so keyboard input and display output is via the 'console' which in Windows is no longer full screen - very annoying. I initiate both compiling and running of programs using DOS batch files. Avast antivirus. I have in the past created a website by typing naked html into a text editor. Have also written a bit of javascript and php. However in the future I will stick to using wordpress.com. I am a dinosaur brought up on punched cards and struggle to keep up. regards David Smith aged 72 -- Next meeting: Bournemouth, Tuesday, 2013-04-02 20:00 Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ New thread on mailing list: mailto:dorset@mailman.lug.org.uk How to Report Bugs Effectively: http://goo.gl/4Xue
Re: [Dorset] Hi from pissed off Windows user in Weymouth - wanting to change
David, Welcome to DLUG and Linux. On Wednesday 20 Mar 2013 15:43:51 David Smith wrote: 2. Is it simple to find say printer drivers that run under Linux? I seem to remember that when I phoned HP they had no drivers for Linux. Their software for the HP printer/scanner/copier has things like OCR software included, but if this was not included in the driver I could find, could I scan something as image and use different software to convert to character? Not that I do this very frequently. I'm not sure who you spoke to at HP, but they didn't know much about Linux. As Andrew has already said, Linux uses CUPS, but in addition, HP provide a Linux add-in called 'HPLIP' (http://hplipopensource.com/hplip-web/index.html). However, you DON'T need to download it from that site; I just provided that for reference. Nearly all modern Distros include HPLIP in their repositories, so once you've got your installation up and running, go to the Package Manager and search for HPLIP. The rest is achieved with a few clicks and an entry of your password. You can also do it from the console by entering the right commands, eg in Ubuntu: type the following command: sudo add-apt-repository ppa:hplip-isv/ppa press Enter and if needed, type the required password type the following command: sudo apt-get update then type the following command: sudo apt-get install hplip My OfficeJet J4680 All in One works fine. 3. Do I need antivirus software? (MACs now do) Any other security software essential? Only if you wan to protect your Windows afflicted friends from viruses that you might accidentally pass on to them. ClamAV is the usual choice and it's also in the repositories. -- Terry Coles 64 bit computing with Kubuntu Linux -- Next meeting: Bournemouth, Tuesday, 2013-04-02 20:00 Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ New thread on mailing list: mailto:dorset@mailman.lug.org.uk How to Report Bugs Effectively: http://goo.gl/4Xue
Re: [Dorset] Hi from pissed off Windows user in Weymouth - wantingto change
Many thanks to Andrew and Terry. That's plenty to be going on with. Will let you know how I get on. regards David snip -- Next meeting: Bournemouth, Tuesday, 2013-04-02 20:00 Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ New thread on mailing list: mailto:dorset@mailman.lug.org.uk How to Report Bugs Effectively: http://goo.gl/4Xue
