Moving from Windows to Linux

Moving From Windows to Linux

Chuck Easttom

Charles River Media

10 Downer Ave, Hingham, MA 02043

1-(781) 740-0400

ISBN 1584502800 $44.95 590 pages

I am not a Linux geek, but I am an Open Source fan. In fact, I'm typing this review on OpenOffice Writer. However, I am not a die-hard. What I see is a great operating system that offers a very cheap alternative to Microsoft Windows XP. Before my computer crashed, I hadn't really tried to use Linux. Once my laptop decided not to work anymore, I gave a free download of Fedora Core 3 (distributed by Red Hat) a try.

With knowledge comes power, and to facilitate my use of Linux, I got a hold of a copy of Chuck Easttom's Moving From Windows to Linux. I've never read a computer book that is so easy to use. By the time I had finished the first few chapters, I was able to create and delete files inside what Windows users refer to as the command-line interface. A few chapters down the road and I was using OpenOffice writer as proficiently as I had been using Microsoft Word.

Mr. Easttom writes with the beginning and intermediate users in mind, and that's the success of this book. Most average computer users think of Linux as a geek OS that is way above anyone who hasn't majored in computer science. The truth is that Linux, coupled with a good graphical user interface, is as good an operating system as the other two major OS's (MS Windows and Macintosh OSX). With this book, anyone can use Linux.

COPYRIGHT 2005 Midwest Book Review
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group