Hardware compatibility problem and few applications that run on Linux
Well, most new distributions will detect and configure your hardware in a jiffy, unless you have some really old or exotic piece of hardware. Only Win modems (internal modems driven by Window drivers) face problems.
As for software, there’s plenty. And most of it comes free-free for you to use, modify and configure according to your needs. Other packages are commercial and you have to buy the software-but this is mostly for the software and training you need, and not for the support and training you need, and not for the software itself. Sometimes, if you have the Windows version (as a doom) you can download a small program that will allow you to play the game in Linux.
Here what’s available?
Office suites: Star Office, Open Office, Applixware, Corel WordPerfect
Graphics: GIMP, Corel Photo paint
Music: XMMS, Free amp, Real Player
Video: MTV, Xine
Games: FreeCiv, Tux racer, Doom, Quake, Heretic, Unreal
And the list is growing.
Tags: corel, Debian, gnome, gnu, hp, ibm, kde, knoppix, Linux, mandriva, microsoft, Red Hat, Suse, unix, vmware, windows