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Recommended Software for Ubuntu

The software I recommend from free 3rd-party software companies which is not installed during the Ubuntu Linux install process for most Ubuntu Linux are Adobe Flash Player, Java, Chromium Web Browser, Opera Web Browser, VLC media Player, Kompozer WYSIWYG website builder, FileZilla FTP Client, Audacity, Gimp image editor, Cheese Webcam software, Wine Windows Compatibility Layer and Skype. You’ll need an internet connection to download the software listed above on to Ubuntu. You can find most of the software I listed in the Ubuntu Software Center which is Ubuntu Apps store program which comes bundle with Ubuntu.

Adobe Flash Player lets you watch flash video on YouTube, Dailymotion, and Facebook with Firefox or Opera. It will also let you play flash games and run flash applications on FireFox or Opera.

Java is used mostly to run Java software on some websites, and on desktops. Without Java, you can’t run Java applications on Ubuntu Linux.

Chromium and Opera are two very good alternative to Mozilla FireFox web browser if you do not like the user interface, performance, and features of FireFox which comes pre-bundled with Ubuntu.

VLC media player is a very powerful, but light media player which can be used to playback video and music media files on Ubuntu Linux.

Kompozer WYSIWYG website builder is a free visual based website editor which lets you quickly create, edit, and publish your website to the web. It is similar to Windows and Mac based website editors like Dreamweaver, and Frontpage.

FileZilla FTP Client lets you connect Ubuntu Linux to your web hosting service, so you can upload your website files like html, php, jpeg, and other types of files to your web host to publish online.

Audacity sound editor is a very feauture rich sound recorder which you can use to record yourself or sound from a mic, or line-in port on your soundcard.

Gimp Image Editor is a feature rich image editing program which let you edit, and make high quality graphics.

Cheese webcam software lets you take pictures with your computer webcam.

Wine Windows Compatibility layer lets you install and use some Windows compatible software and games within Ubuntu Linux.

Skype is a free chat program for chatting with other skype members.

You can learn more about the software I listed above, download and install most of the software I listed by using the Ubuntu Software Center found in the Ubuntu Applications menu on the top toolbar on Ubuntu. If you use Ubuntu 11.04 Linux, you can access the Ubuntu Software center by clicking on the icon for it on your left sidebar/dock, or by clicking the search applications button which look like a magnify glass with a (+) sign in the middle then typing in “Ubuntu Software Center”. Hit the down arrow and click enter. The Ubuntu Software center has a search box on the top right of the program which you can search for software by typing in the name of software or the type of software which you are searching for.

In General, I find the bundled Office Suite which is LibreOffice for Ubuntu 11.04, and OpenOffice for older versions of Ubuntu good enough for my word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation making needs. If you do not like OpenOffice, you can try KOffice or IBM’s Lotus Symphony Office Suite. The default E-mail client which is Evolution also works pretty well, but you can also use Mozilla Thunderbird if you do not like Evolution. The chat, and instant messaging software which comes with Ubuntu is also pretty good. I also recommend pidgin which is also a good instant messaging software for Ubuntu.

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