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<TITLE>Got my feet wet - now getting cold feet.</TITLE>
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<P><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Hi,</FONT>
<BR><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">This is the first time I bring a question to this group. I've only started to get my feet wet with Linux. I installed it (RH 9 and 7.3) on a couple of boxes at work to see how it might benefit us. It doesn't look like management will go with it, however, I am personally quite impressed. I've explored around a little bit in KDE and Gnome and installed simple things like flash player.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">I am considering installing Linux on my own inspiron 1100 (upgraded to 640MB RAM and soon to have an 80GB drive). However, I have some very strong concerns. I'd like to hear some thoughts on this to help me make the best decision.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Some of the many problems I have to learn how to solve are:</FONT>
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<LI><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Will the Linux OS properly recognize all my hardware? I've done some reading on the internet and found that installing Linux on the inspiron 1100 "is not easy" and that certain things won't work no matter what, like the power, but I don't know if that goes for all distros or maybe I was reading out-dated material? Should I stop before I start?</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">How to extract the volumes of information from my outlook pst file and import it into something like evolution? (I have noticed that it won't import that format.)</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">How to synch with my axim X5?, and would I need a new OS for it too?</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Is there an open source pdf writer in the Linux OS?</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">I do graphic design and layout work, mainly using Coreldraw 10 - is there open source software to replace this and will it read my cdr files or would I need to save them all as eps or something else?</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Will the Linux OS properly recognize my usb 2.0 wireless mouse and my plextor PX-708UF external drive? Will I be able to "plug and play" with the PC card slot - for instance I need to get a fire-wire jack to connect to the semi-professional digital video camera I'll soon be using?</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Is there open source DVD creation software available that will make full use of my px-708uf for creating and editing digital footage?</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Plus, I'm moving to India in 2 weeks. My work will keep me there indefinitely. If I make the shift and things start to go wrong how hard is it to switch back to XP?</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">I don't want to have 2 OS on my laptop, as I'll be creating videos and I'll need all my hard-drive space for memory swapping and writing the movies and software (although, I might keep my old 20GB drive apart and separate with XP on it, just in case, but I'd rather plug it in to one of my USB 2.0 ports as additional storage - it's not the biggest drive, but it is of good quality and speed.)</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Which distro would be best for me?</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">And, finally, what questions did I forget to ask?</FONT></LI>
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<P><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Cautiously curious,</FONT>
<BR><FONT COLOR="#000080" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">James</FONT>
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