Well sports fans, I've finally done it - running my laptop with NO Microsoft software. OK, here's my approach - and it worked well for me...
The Dual Boot
I was running MS Vista on my laptop (64 bit) and it wasn't too bad. A few things irked me. At home I have an old Window 2000 laptop acting as a print server for my Canon and Lexmark printers. When I print to them from Vista it takes a---g---e---s to spool the print job - sometimes even timing out!
With Ubuntu (Linux), it just works - nice one. By setting up dual-booting, my plan was to try to use Ubuntu as much as possible unless I really had to go back to Vista for something. After 1 week, I was weaned off Vista. I then took the brave step of nuking my laptop and giving it totally over to Ubuntu.
The Good (great even)
Everything I'm running on my laptop is "free". There are varying levels of "freeness", so you need to understand the different licensing models. But for personal use, it's pretty much free.
I use the latest version of OpenOffice which has the main applications for Word Processing, Spreadsheets, Presentations, Personal Databases, etc. The applications read even the latest MS Office format files, but they tend to save in slightly older formats - however, I haven't found that to be a problem. There's heaps of other applications, but I'm not doing the "kid in a candy store" trick of going "app crazy". I tried using Evolution the Email & Calendar application that comes with Ubuntu. It works quite well, but I have now chosen to move to two separate applications. For email I use Thunderbird and for Calendaring I use Sunbird - both from the Mozilla (Firefox) stable.
Ubuntu has an Updates Manager and a software application manager that comes with a catalogue of applications that have been "passed" by Canonical (the company who helps to manage the maintenance and development of Ubuntu).
I have a PDA running Windows Mobile 6.1 that I used to sync with Outlook under Vista. I am now syncing it with Thunderbird and Sunbird - but it wasn't a walk in the park...
The Bad
Fortunately for me, I have some ancient Unix knowledge that has stood me in good stead as Linux is a Unix-like operating system. I first tried to sync my PDA with Evolution. Although there were a few forum articles claiming success, I'm afraid with my device (HTC Touch 3G) I had interesting results. Sometimes it would work fine - Eureka, I've done it! Then I'd sync it another time and it would hang. Then my PDA would run extremely slowly - even when not connected to my laptop and even after a soft reset. Please note, I had NOT installed any software on my PDA...
I then installed Thunderbird and Sunbird, then imported my email and appointments from Evolution - easy. I found another application called FinchSync that will sync with a Windows Mobile device - sweet. It requires a small FinchSync server app to be installed on your PDA - easy. Then you set up as many sources you like to sync with your PDA - and it works.
The Verdict
If you don't know much about computers, then find a friend who reckons they do. Go to the Ubuntu site (or there are plenty of other Linux variants to choose from) and create a bootable USB stick. The instructions are pretty easy to follow. You can then create a dual boot PC. This allows you to boot to your Windows operating system or Ubuntu. From Ubuntu, you can still access your Windows documents, spreadsheets, etc. Then it's up to you. Until you are happy that you have got the hang of Ubuntu - and only then - you can wave goodbye to Mr Gates and the gang. Oh, one last point. I invested in a USB drive to copy all my files (documents, etc) "just in case". Ubuntu supports USB drives, keyboards, monitors, printers, etc.
Cheers for now - happy computing!
Update
If you want to easily try out Ubuntu on your Windows machine (without trashing Windows and your files) have a look at Wubi
;-D
