I’ve been a rabid Microsoft anti-evangelist, or however you’ll call me in this blog. Now is the time to expose my hypocritical underbelly.

There is no denying that Microsoft has churned out excellent productivity software. In fact, they have become the industry standard. While I hate the MS OS’s with a passion, I am impressed with their other products: their programs/applications.

I have to be honest that I love Microsoft’s Encarta. In fact, I’m rabid about it. If only Encarta were compatible with Crossover, I would have it on my Mac. I also love MS Word. I really can’t deny that there is no other Office suite out there that can compare to MS’s. Actually, right now, I’ve taken a fancy to Microsoft Works Suite. If I had the money, I’d buy that set. The only problem is, where would I install it?

In Apple, hands down, I am a big fan of their computers. I drool at the iMac. However, Sayuri the MacBook is enough for me by now. And I have to say that OS X Tiger has spoiled me rotten in its ease of use and its unflagging reliability. They have weak spots in their apps though. I believe that iPhoto should have better editing capabilites, and that they should have included a paint program with iLife. But no matter, I’m pretty satisfied as is.

In the Linux world, I like Ubuntu the best, despite my friend’s comment that it’s bloated. She prefers Arch. I however, couldn’t even figure out how to work Samba, how else would I be able to configure Arch Linux?

I believe PuppyLinux is also worth trying, as it’s one of the distros that could be installed in a flash drive. Though a few other OS’s could be installed in removable media also, including in rewritable discs, I’m just intrigued with the name.

Elsewhere in the Open Source world, I am enamored with Mozilla Firefox despite the random crashes. I am also impressed with Open Office on Linux. I’d be impressed with NeoOffice thoroughly, if it wasn’t so heavy on the system.

AbiWord is also a good application from the Open Source community. As for media, my favorites are Xine Media Player and Beep Media Player. For communications, I prefer Pidgin, or formerly GAIM.

As for games, I’m into SuperTux, Bug Squish, and Frozen Bubble. A worthy replacement to Frozen Bubble is Monkey Bubble.

With so many software and hardware out there, it’s hard to choose. But my advice is: know what you want, know what you require, and look for your apps and OS’s with your preferences and specifications in mind. If you need a good application repository, try Softpedia, if it isn’t there, Googling it up won’t hurt anyone.

Related Articles

• The Gimp: My Image Editor of Choice
• Battlefield 2: Modern Combat Screenshots
• DummyGeekGurl Gripe: Boo Firmware Upgrade Boo!
• Logitech Harmony Advanced Universal Remote for Xbox 360 Review
• Dvorak likes the Xbox 360