Worldwide, computers communicate in native languages, at least figuratively. The Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Europeans and the Russians have long had their own local language applications running on supported or native operating systems for many years now.

Albeit a late entrant, looks like we are catching up. C-DAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing) launched the latest version of our desi (GNU) linux edition BOSS version 3.0 codename Tejas. This version features GNOME 2.20 ,KDE 3.5 with Kernel 2.6.22-3-486. Developed by the NRCFOSS (National Resource Centre for Free/Open Source Software) team, BOSS stands for Bharat Operating Systems Solutions.

The 3D desktop screen look neat and retains the ease and convenience of a GUI. This edition features a full Graphical mode installer and simplified menus. Office productivity will be provided by BharatheeyaaOO, which is a desi version of OpenOffice.org 2.0.1. There is a bulk document converter for added convenience. PDF reader, instant messaging , Firefox 3.0, firewall, samba, ftp et all are standard.

Multimedia support is good with support for video playback, removable media, TV tuner and plug and play devices. Connectivity includes wired and wireless networks and Bluetooth.

Currently BOSS GNU/Linux Desktop is available in almost all the Indian Languages such as Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Bodo, Urdu, Kashmiri, Maithili, Konkani and Manipuri.

So finally it does look like Information Technology will reach even the majority of our non-English countrymen. Share your experience with this edition! You can download the linux distro from http://bosslinux.in/downloads .

Popularity: 32%

Yet another reason to move to my favourite Linux desktop – The improved Ubuntu 8.10 Desktop Edition is now designed with a host of new features to improve the always connected mobile desktop experience through 3G, sending a strong message on the intent to run the already crowded mobile market.

Here is a summary of the new features:

Latest Gnome 2.24 Desktop Environment

New features in Gnome include a new instant messaging client, a built-in time tracker, improved file management and toolbars. There is better support for multiple monitor use with the ability to set screen resolution by monitor. Wondering what to do with this? Wait for my next article on how 2 users can use the same Linux machine at the same time and see their own sessions (screens) and operate on their own keyboard and mouse too!

Your machine in a USB

My favourite neat feature – A simple application in Ubuntu allows users to write Ubuntu to a USB drive. A modified version of Ubuntu can be carried with your data on it and (almost) used on any machine. Not to mention that this is so eco-friendly compared to the plastic CDs that get outdated every few months.

Guest Sessions

For my friends when they come home – a well thought of feature… If you lend your computer to friends to access the net, simply create a guest session. Now the guest can use the full system without interference with programs or data.

BBC Content

The Totem Movie Player and Rhythmbox now access selected content from BBC that is free to air (video, radio and podcasts). Content is constantly updated via BBCs stream and will vary dependent on location.

3G Support

Ubuntu 8.10 simplifies connectivity management through a single interface and the auto-detection of many popular devices. Improvements to the network manager makes it simple to detect and connect to 3G networks and manage connectivity delivered through an inbuilt 3G modem, through ‘dongle’ support, through a mobile phone or through Bluetooth. (Know that Wifi has its limitations in a roaming environment).

Bottom-line: if you havent tried Ubuntu – it’s time. I have 4 computers at home – aged 10+years to <1 month old … Guess what ? They all run on Ubuntu

Popularity: 15%

Ok, now that you have read the posts on Ubuntu and other OS (Open Source) OS(Operating System) alternatives, it is time to introduce a few more alternatives.

While I am not advocating use of Open Source (or Free Software), I am certainly advocating against use of pirated copies of any commercial software. Agreed that Free Software may not often meet all of your requirements, hey but that is why the commercial software companies charge you money. More than any thing, these will give you peace of mind of not using illegal software (remember, “Piracy is stealing”). 

If you wish to read more about Open Source & Free Software Foundation click here. Again please remember not all Open Source software is Free to use. As they define “Free as in free Speech, not as in free beer”.

Have I clarified things enough or at least confused you further? Good, now back to our topic. Here are top 5 most used softwares and their alternatives.

1) Microsoft Office:

This is number one single most used software on many PCs and Macs too. If you wish to retain the full functionality and familiarity of office, you may purchase this at prices starting 2500 rupees; you might get a good deal if you buy it bundled with PC. 

Now for the alternative, single most famous alternative is Open Office.org. This Open Source, free office is a fairly good alternative to MS Office. Provides most of the features, while there may be some compatibility issues, it is more than enough for home use. What’s more the built in PDF maker helps you do away with Adobe Writer/Distiller’s need. I am not a big fan of browser based Office Suites, but if that’s your liking then you have Google Docs. 

2) Adobe Photo Shop:

Number 2 on our list, again quite pricey to commercially buy. While many use this for working on their Digital media assets, few free alternatives can help you deal with most of what this offers. Go for Gimp and top it up with Gimp Shop, which is a hack, which makes it closest to Photoshop.

3) Nero Burning ROM:

Very easy to use software for burning DVDs and CDs, unless packaged with your PC Bundle, quite often used in “other” ways. Want to break free? Two options, stick to Windows standard burning options, which have gotten better with Vista, but again lack full control. A very good alternative is Infra Recorder. Does the job almost as well as Nero (other than burning Blu Ray discs).

4) Adobe Premiere:

Again for those enthusiasts working with home video and adding some effects etc. The famous iMovie of mac does a good job and so does the Windows movie maker for basic work. To get some extra you might want to look at Cinelerra. Mind you this works only on Linux. For Windows folks you could try Jashaka. This offers some solid features.

5) Norton Anti Virus:

Again for Windows guys a bit favourite. You could switch to Avast. It offers very good, non intrusive protection for your system. And is free for non commercial use.

 So that’s our top 5 list. Let us close this topic here and let you play around with these. And reiterate the importance of using legitimate software….  Well well, let me not start again!

 Have fun!

Popularity: 19%

Adeona is the first Open Source application which helps you track the location of your lost or stolen laptop. It is free utility available for Windows, Mac & Linux users. All you need to do is install its client in your notebook and it does the rest.

Adeona client runs in the background and will upload the IP address of the notebook on to the web whenever it is connected to the internet

Adeona on a Macbook can also upload photograph of people who use that computer via the built-in camera.  Adeona is named after a Roman Goddess of “safe return”, is developed by researchers at the University of Washington.

Popularity: 17%

One of my pet peeves with operating systems has been the Microsoft domination of the OS market. People just dont seem to realize that they have so many things around them for free. There has been a research on how people tend to pay for something advertised rather than use something which is free and might actually work much better than the one paid for! Linux is one of such ‘geeky’ operating system termed as geeky due to its non GUI mode of functioning with its roots firmly entrenched in the best OS the world has ever known, Unix.

Such ‘terms’ usually mean the alienation of the crowd in general and for people who find the ‘point and click’ interface of Windows so easy in comparison would never think about transitioning to something as robust as Linux. If you think point and click gets your goat, then go for Ubuntu 8.04. You get support, you get a lot of beauty (even on a low end computer), you get a lot of things you never have to pay a penny for, and you get a 3 year security update cycle.

There are some things you might not know. MP3 as a technology is licensed, so when you encode music from your CDs make sure you encode it in FLAC or OGG VORBIS. The sound clarity is better and ofcourse you are in a way contributing to the open source movement. So whatever you pay for and whatever you don’t, the ROI calculation would be very different when you look at it from the open source angle.

I made the transition around 2 years back and love every moment with my Ubuntufied (Mint 4 currently) computer. No viruses, no hangs, no spyware/adware. Though there are somethings for which I would need to revert to Windows XP (would be a sycophant if I won’t). My office work has to be done on the legendary MS OFFICE (Open Office jumbles my formulae up). I would not get into the technicality of things at this juncture. You need a HD Video Player Linux (read Ubuntu) has it, you need a browser (Firefox), you need a CD/DVD burner linux has it. There are many more such reasons why a regular/advanced joe would want to go for Ubuntu. Give it a whirl and believe me this is one OS you can never have enough of.

More about this…later !

Popularity: 13%