I've decided once and for all that I'm going to make a serious effort to make Linux my primary operating system. Am I dissatisfied with Windows? No. In fact, I'm quite happy with it. It's just time for a change, that's all.

This isn't my first attempt to switch. I've made several others before with various distros: Ubuntu, Mint, PCLinuxOS, Mandriva, Fedora, Slax...There's always been something early on that made me bail out and head back to my trusty old Windows XP install.

Now, I'm not blaming Linux. It's more to do with my comfort level with the programs I have installed. Certain apps that I've been using for ages in Windows aren't available in Linux, and that's held me back. For me, it's always been Photoshop (CS2 in Wine has never worked very well for me).

Recently, however, I've been testing out so many other similar apps that I don't think I'll notice it missing this time. I'm getting comfortable with GIMP's UI, and I can always use Drpic.com for really quick edits.

Which brings me to the larger point: how much does your OS really matter any more? I use Firefox and a handful of addons and a number of web apps now, so switching ought to be relatively painless. So far, the only thing I've missed is being able to install a Windows app to review it for DownloadSquad, and VirtualBox will take care of that soon enough.

What about you? Could you switch to Linux and not miss a beat, or are there still some apps you just can't live without on your desktop?

This week's Squadcast features an interview with one of our own. Kristin Shoemaker joins Grant and Christina to talk about what it takes to switch to Linux and leave Windows behind, for good.

Also, we take a look at our five favorite Linux applications for people who've recently switched. Direct replacements for a few of those must-have apps on Windows.

More from Download Squad on switching to Linux.
Kristin's series on switching to Linux.
From the archives, Download Squad's "Switcher podcast" with Brad Linder, Alex Hung and Grant Robertson.

Download The Squadcast 07 in SD(480i) Mpeg4(84MB)

Check out previous episodes of The Squadcast

It's been an interesting year so far for operating systems. Microsoft released its first major upgrade in 5 years with Windows Vista, and Ubuntu Linux continued on its way toward world domination with the release of Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn. Even Michael Dell's running it on his home computer (and shipping it on yours).

With that in mind, we bring you the first in a limited edition Download Squad Podcast. Collect them all. Trade them with your friends. Today we speak with Download Squad's Grant Robertson and Alex Hung, two guys with a boatload of Windows and Mac experience who have been trying out Ubuntu Linux.

Mac Virtualization software Parallels allows OS X users to run multiple operating systems simultaneously, much in the same way as VMware does for Windows, and has been building a solid reputation as a good alternative to Apple's Boot Camp, which allows a Mac owner to install Windows, but requires dual-booting and a separate partition. But what if you've been Boot Camping for awhile but want to switch to Parallels? Do you have to start from scratch? As it turns out, no. Though it's certainly no walk in the park, Ars Technica's Infinite Loop blog has some info on how you can back up your Boot Camp partition and re-create it as an identical Parallels virtual machine. Not for the faint of heart, but if you're sick of dual-booting, this might be right up your alley.

Mark Pilgrim, a high-profile blogger and life-long Mac user who recently caused a few ripples by switching to Ubuntu Linux, has written a nice list of essential software for Linux. Since he's coming from the land of iTunes, iPhoto, and Mail.app, the list is skewed toward Linux apps that replace (or at least approximate) their OS X counterparts. Pilgrim's picks include digiKam for photo management, amaroK for music, and KMyMoney ("like Quicken without the monopolistic dickwads"). However, there's a few apps he hasn't found an equivalent for, namely iMovie and Quicksilver ("Damn. I miss Quicksilver."). Head over to Dive Into Mark for the complete list.

In other news another notable Mac user, Boing Boing's Cory Doctorow, is also about to make the Mac-to-Linux switch. I'm with Jason Kottke, who says, "If I were Apple, I'd be worried about this."

So you've put Windows XP on your Mac. What now? As someone who has to constantly switch between the two, I have a few tips. There are problems inherent in dual-booting, as opposed to running a virtual machine inside another OS (virtualization has its own issues of course). The big one for me is the issue of data storage. While I need to use USB memory sticks at work to move data from my iBook to a PC for printing, if it's a simple data sharing issue at home, this is easily remedied. I've been trying out FolderShare from Microsoft, and it works great. The OS X client is quirky, coated in brushed metal, but works like a dream. Right now it's in beta, and thus free, but expect this to change. Another alternative is a .Mac account and the XP utility for mounting your .Mac "drive." The nice thing about this is you can treat it just like a hard drive, but with all the latency issues you'd expect with a WebDAV data store... Still, there are plenty of online storage options out there.

If you want your XP to look more like a Mac, the contest winner appears to be FlyakiteOSX. Making it work like a Mac is a bit different. You know, Home is My Documents and so on, and each platform is totally different under the hood, yada yada. More important is to just understand the difference between the two and deal with it. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of data points out there for switching from a Mac to a PC. Statistically that's just not a big pool to draw from... There's a mostly useless CNet article from 2002. And there's a much better piece from Rolf Howarth in 2004. Rolf made the switch to XP and documented the affair. Skip through the hardware issues to the software bits though. Again, it's a little out of date (XP handles wireless pretty well nowadays, in my experience)... Oh and Jeremy Zawodny switched to a PC laptop last year and appears to enjoy it. Anyway, there are lots of differences. Mostly it's a change of geography, with the need for some extra security thrown in. Instead of the menu bar up top, it's the tray down below.

If you're feeling homesick for something like Quicksilver, we've had this discussion a lot on Download Squad, plus other modifications. Choose your poison. If you want to enable Microsoft's version of Fast User Switching, you can. Downloading the Google Pack is helpful, as you get a Spotlight-esque search tool and a task switcher. Gnosis has a ton of XP resource links for you to peruse as well, which range from troubleshooting to massaging more performance out of the OS. One idea to feel at home in either OS is to use nothing but cross-platform, open source apps. It's an idea anyway.

Hey, it could be worse. Try switching from UNIX to Windows.

I've never been good with electronics. Computers, sure, but electronics, not so much. Although I studied them in school, it just seemed like so much trouble to go to for something to actually happen. I guess I just appreciate microprocessors and the things they can do.

Speaking of things they can do, Circuit Simulator is a Java applet that will allow you to simulate the effects of different electronic components on a circuit graphically. It also includes some complex circuits, and some everyday circuits like a three-way light switch so you can observe exactly how they work.

I wish I'd had this back when I was in school struggling to understand the circuit board project I had to build. At least playing with an acid bath was fun. 

The Unofficial Apple Weblog's Damien Barrett has written a post called Common Mistakes of New Mac Users. #1: "They close an application's windows thinking the program has quit." #4: "untitled folder. untitled folder 2. untitled folder 3. untitled folder 4..." You get the idea. As usual, TUAW readers have taken the theme and run with it and the ensuing discussion is truly worth a read.

There are plenty of Mac switcher stories out there, and even a few Windows switcher stories, but how about a Windows-to-Mac-to-Windows switcher? That's Russell Beattie for you. Last January he bought a Mac mini and he's begun this year by buying a new HP. "First, Apple hardware is more expensive," Beattie says, "and secondly the Mac OS will still always be mostly an afterthought in the tech world. This is really the main issue. I always want to play with the latest and greatest tech, and that stuff almost always comes second to the Apple platform." Way back in September he came up with a 33-item list on why he might switch back, and how he has. For those considering the switch to Mac, or those considering a switch back, his both posts (and their comments) are worth a read.

[Via The Unofficial Microsoft Weblog]