Newsletter 19 with important information regarding the OED upgrade!

I have personally used this dictionary for several months now, and I really like it! It was written using only 2,500 words in its defining vocabulary. This means you rarely, if ever need to look up a word in a definition, even when you read all the definitions of a word. It was written using such a small defining vocabulary specifically for an intended audience of non-native speakers of English.

Despite the small defining vocabulary, or maybe because of it, the definitions are often brilliantly simple and do a marvelous job communicating the meanings of the words. Occasionally I may want more information, but generally the definitions are adequate for a full understanding.

For words with many meanings, the definitions are summarized just below the main entry, enabling you to find the definition easily for that text you just read or for the word you want to use right away in your own writing or speech. Then you may wish to read the remaining definitions to fully understand the entire word.

Three things make this dictionary unique:

• the clarity and simplicity of the definitions
• the simple grammar explained on the inside cover
• A extensive dictionary that is still easy to use. The publisher claims this is the most extensive dictionary ever written for non-native speakers of English, and from my observations, this is true.

This dictionary was first published in 2002 and should not be confused with the Macmillan Dictionary for Students (hardback with blue cover), which was first published in 1973.

I have recommended this dictionary to a few customers, and so far they all agree with me that it is a great dictionary!

In the last installment, I talked about how computing has become "entertainment" and interferes with people who are trying to get some work accomplished. Most people are not aware that they have an alternate choice to the prevalent commercial desktop computing system, and that choice is Linux.

The sets of mature program applications now available for little or NO cost are fantastic! In fact, almost every commercially available program with which you're familiar has an equivalent program that runs under Linux. I have found from experience that most small businesses and individuals who use computers (for work) only use a few of the available applications. These are: An Internet Browser, A Word Processor, perhaps a Spreadsheet, an E-Mail client and perhaps an Accounting program.

Coming from a commercial environment where one has been sold the fact that there is only one browser, you may be surprised to learn you have a choice and that there are at least four different Browser applications available under Linux. About six major Word Processors. There are many spreadsheets, lots of E-Mail processing programs and a number of Accounting packages. The point: You have a choice. You can have it the way YOU want it, not the way of some commercial interest. You are not required to "upgrade" nor change the manner in which you wish to work to conform to "market" requirements.

This last area irritates me personally, where a company will add one or two minor features to a well-used program, then move the access to most of the old features (i.e. change the names of the features, for example: old name "Finder", new name "Explorer", or their positions on the screen) in order to have something "new" to sell (again). This not only forces you to buy more, but you must re-learn how to use the same features. What a waste of your time and money for no real value added to the program.

So how about some recommendations?

First of all, the Browser. You may simply be blown-away by the increase in speed of your Internet access with all the Linux browsers...they do not have a ton of advertisements built-in, nor are they loaded with being an integral part of the system software. [Non-technical users may not be aware that the most well-known commercial browser cannot be removed nor replaced because a large part of the system itself is built into browser functionality causing speed penalties.] I have and use different browsers on my systems for different functions. I use the "Konqueror" browser (see: http://www.konqueror.org ) for my desktop file functions. I use "Mozilla Firefox" (see: http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox ) for browsing the web and downloading. I use "Opera" (see: http://www.opera.com ) for research due to its tabbed page access that allows me to stop work, saving sometimes a hundred web pages, then start up again and have all those pages restored to exactly the point where I finished off. There are no costs for any of these browsers.

The Word Processor I like to use under Linux is the "OpenOffice Writer" (see: http://www.openoffice.org ). It is part of OpenOffice’s entire Office Suite of programs. It is file-compatible (that is, it can create and read) with the "Microsoft Word (tm)" commercial word processor that, until now, has dominated the field. The "OpenOffice Calc" program is a spreadsheet, also file-compatible with "Microsoft Excel (tm)". You'll like them. Everything is where you'd expect it to be, named as you'd expect. You'll be able to use them productively immediately. There is no cost for the OpenOffice Suite.

When it comes to E-Mail client programs, you have a very wide choice. It is really a matter of how you'd like your mail presented. I use a client named: "KMail". This client displays, composes, edits and handles e-mail and is similar to "Microsoft Outlook (tm)" in operation. A more portable e-mail client (if you must interface to a "MS Windows (tm)" or "Apple MAC (tm)" environment) is "Mozilla Thunderbird" (see: http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/ ). The advantage here is that the e-mail client program looks and works identically under these systems as well as Linux. The "Ximian Evolution" e-mail client (see: http://www.novell.com/linux/ximian.html ) is another very popular program. There are no costs for any of these email clients.

For Accounting, I use "Quasar" (see: http://www.linuxcanada.com ). The interesting thing here is that there is both a free and commercial version available. The no cost version of the program is similar in scope to the popular "Quick Books (tm)" accounting software, and indeed, one can import data from that product. The retail version supports a "point-of-sale" interface and has commercial support available.

So you would like to switch over to a Linux environment, but you're "stuck" with a Windows(tm)-only program you must run! What do you do?

You can actually run most popular "Windows (tm)" programs under Linux by using an "emulation" program. This type of program simulates the Windows (tm) computer environment and fools the program into believing it is actually running under "Windows (tm)". There are several of these emulation programs available, most for a moderate cost. The one I utilize is named "CrossOver Office" (see: http://www.codeweavers.com ). CrossOver certifies many Windows-based products to run under its emulation, including: Lotus Notes, Microsoft Office, Intuit Quicken, Intuit QuickBooks, and Adobe Photoshop to name a few. On one of my systems at the office, I run the full Microsoft setup under CrossOver: Office, Outlook, Explorer, QuickBooks with absolutely no problems.

In the next part I'm going to discuss running both Windows (tm) and Linux on the same hardware.

Next issue: (Part 3) Co-habitation- Windows (tm) and Linux on the same hardware.