Complicated World, Simple Solutions…

Simplify your life, your business and your world.

So you’ve installed Linux Mint 8 and everything is dandy… except it’s missing some applications that you need! What do you do? Don’t fear because Software Manager is here!!!

So you need software that isn’t already preinstalled on Linux Mint 8. Don’t worry, you can probably find it in either the Software Manager or the Synaptic Package Manager. These two areas of Linux Mint 8 will allow you to download many different software for free. Some of the cool applications you can find in the Software Manager include:

• Opera – This is a web browser popularized by it simple and easy to use design.
• gDesklets – This lets you add useful widgets onto your desktop. Some of these widgets include a calendar, a clock, a to-do list, or even a fun little game.
• Lightning – This is a calendar extension for your thunderbird application. With this extension Thunderbird can become a full replacement for Microsoft Outlook.
• It also offers many more options for you to choose from. Just go and take a look. To get there just go to the Startup Menu and you should see it under System.

If you ABSOLUTELY need to run a software that does not have an open source alternative and can only be run on a windows machine, then there is the option of using Wine. Wine lets you install windows application directly on your Linux operating system! This means you can use both Linux and Windows programs. To download Wine:

1. First, you want to go into your Synaptic Package Manager. This is located in the Start Menu. Click on the Menu on the bottom left corner and you should see it.

2. Now search for Wine in the top search field. Now you want to right click on wine1.2 and mark it for installation. Then you want to click apply on the top left corner.

3. After hitting Apply a new window should pop up with the Installation summary. Just click Apply again on the bottom right corner. Wait a couple of minutes for Wine to install. After it has finished installing, you can go into the start menu again, and you should see Wine.

4. Now click on uninstall wine software. This is a little misleading because it makes it sound like we are going to uninstall wine. But the window that pops up is where you install and uninstall windows programs. You want to click on Install.

5. Now a new window pops up and you have to map what you are trying to install. For example if you are trying to install something on a CD, then go to My Computer and find your CD-Rom Drive.

6. After you have double clicked on it, a couple different files will show up. It is different depending what you are trying to install. But every single one of them should have a setup.exe. That is what you want to double click on.

7. Now you can install the program like you would normally install a program on a Windows desktop. Just follow the setup wizard prompts and you will be able to install the application. Congratulations you have successfully installed a Windows only application onto a Linux desktop!!!

Tags: applications, Linux Mint 8, Old Computer, Open Source, tutorial, windows, wine

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 31st, 2009 at 2:23 pm and is filed under Hardware, Software. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.