I agree with Anonymous, and am not sure what distro you’re on, idunno, but maybe you’re overtaxing yourself. I personally run Xubuntu and am an absolute n00b at it. And yet I don’t seem to run into half the trouble you describe with Synaptic…I dunno. Here on Xubuntu it’s just search it, mark it, and apply it. And then it does it all for you. Unless you mean sudo apt-get, which I still cannot use ’cause I’m an idiot. And he also brings up a great point about VLC: it plays every darn thing you can chuck at it. Netflix too. If you want to be mean and pirate your DVDs, K3B can do that for you too. I have yet to find a legit free DVD Decrypter for Windows that has not yet been shut down.

2. Incompatibility with hardware? I dunno about this one either. No matter what I shove Ubuntu into, it works fine; besides, whatever it doesn’t work on, it soon will work on – we have a global network of people just waiting to pounce on problems to attack and solve.

3. Erm. Windows and Mac? Isn’t that kind of the point? You could also say that Mac isn’t compatible with Windows or Linux, or Windows isn’t with Mac and Linux. The whole point is that it’s different. Apples aren’t compatibile with oranges (for some odd reason I’m allergic to apples).

4. Yes, yes, the sheer volume of programs might overwhelm you in the Add/Remove or Synaptic sections. A quick Google search will probably recommend THE best though, and, as Anonymous says, VLC (which I also use).

5. Hmm. Again this seems largely distro-dependent. Here on Ubuntu, us noobs have no problems reading the help sections/documentation, but you might be mixing this up with the man pages (which I have no clue how to operate. Blasted “man” command). Besides, if you really need help, you can always pester the many Linux pros who are actually willing to help…I do it all the time. They’re always very nice (most of them, at least) and almost always can provide a solution. The one thing they couldn’t answer was “How to topple Microsoft”. They’re working on it though.

Unfortunately the next thing I’m about to say falls right into what you covered: “I’ll never admit I run Windows”. I DO run Windows. My best computer runs windows. But that’s just because I don’t dare back up my files (need a good way to do it) and install Ubuntu on there. Currently I am on a P3 machine with less than 200 MB RAM. This has been my machine that “just works” for well over a year now. I have run into no problems whatsoever and actually have fewer headaches than my considerably-smarter-than-me friends, who regularly crash Chrome, Firefox, and IE; breaking MS word is a bonus at times.

For a while the only thing keeping me on Windows was the GUI; true, I was a bit biased over that. Vista IS real shiny, ya know…but the discovery of Emerald Themes, Compiz Fusion and the world of customization (gnome-look.org, xfce-look.org) got me hooked. Then there was Google Talk (no voice enabled in Pidgin!), but Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic solves that with Empathy.

Yes, I know I sound like a noob. Yes, I know I sound like a douche. But it’s just all IMHO, my 2 cents (for the record, they’re not worth much).

That’s excellent. Great progress. I wish they’ll do it everywhere.