Moving to Linux: Kiss the Blue Screen of Death Goodbye!! (Paperback)

This book is a useful resource for someone with some experience in computing who wants to move to Linux. However, for a computer user with lower levels of experience (the very group that this book is aimed at), installation might be difficult if this was the only resource to hand.

One of the things that we're truly blessed with in the Linux world is diversity. Nowhere is this seen better than in the variety of graphical user interfaces that come with Linux. Chapter 4 introduces you to KDE, which is one of the two most popular "windowing" environments for Linux. This segues into Chapter 5, which I consider one of the most important - a complete guide to using Konqueror, which is KDE's version of the Microsoft's file manager Explorer. Like its Microsoft counterpart, it is also bound to a WWW browser. Again, Linux suffers from the fact that people think that you have to know how to use commands in a terminal in order to use Linux. I will always point out that experienced Linux users are able to do more faster and easier with the command line. That doesn't mean that you're forced to use it. With Konqueror, you've got a great tool for managing your files and Marcel does a great job getting you up to speed with it.

Chapter 7-9 deals with those issues that have traditionally made people run for cover when they heard the name Linux, namely updating programs, configuring hardware and getting on to the Internet. In the good ole days when I started out, these aspects of Linux use required long hours of studying documentation and how-tos. This is no longer. Marcel correctly points out that the number of things that work right way is impressive. I recently purchased a cheapo HP printer and I had that working with Red Hat 9 in a matter of minutes. Webcams and pen storage devices and scanners that I have get recognized right away. At any rate, Chapter 8 will be able to clear up any doubts you might have about that.

The rest of the chapters are dedicated to showing you how to use all those applications that Linux has for getting your day-to-day work done - email, word processors, spreadsheets, web browsers and others. If you're artistically inclined, there's quite a bit on using available Linux programs for bringing out your creative side: a program in the OpenOffice suite to create "Power Point" style presentations and the GIMP, a complete image creation/modification program 'a la Photoshop'. The section ends off with an overview of the multimedia programs available so that you can listen to music, burn CDs, listen to and create MP3s and watch video.

If you're feeling adventurous, you may want to peruse Appendix 2 and then fire up a terminal and try out some of the command line examples. If you've had any experience with MS-DOS, this will be familiar for you (even if somewhat dated). It will bring back that feeling of "I've got this bull by the horns" computing that Windows unfortunately has almost made extinct.

Marcel Gagné, true to form, has written another excellent book. What's more, its release couldn't have been timed better and the formula he proposes for Linux migration is just what we need right now. With his book you have the possibility of trying Linux with no pain and no strings attached. If you like what you see, you can get yourself some Red Hat or Mandrake CDs and then, using this book as your guide, you'll be "Moving to Linux" and handing the hat to viruses and lost productivity and of course, kissing the blue screen of death goodbye.