Hi Dinesh,
> For office use, he requires: > > 1. Microsoft Office - docs and excel spreadsheets > 2. Internet Explorer - surfing / banking etc.. > 3. Tally - accounting > > Now, I'm aware that he has the following alternatives: > > 1. Open office > 2. Firefox > 3. Tally ( Linux version ) Am not sure tally linux version exists. If the replacement is immediate try tally on wine . > > But the problem with Open Office: > > 1. With average machines, it performs slow > 2. The documents it generates are not 100% compatible with Ms.Office > 3. Advanced features are not completely compatible I will speak for the speed. Its the Ubuntu version of openoffice that is a slow arse. I have not tried digging into the offending patch. When I downloaded the rpms from openoffice, aliened them and installed it worked blazing even on my meagre laptop. Not to mention better fonts. Compatibility _is_ a problem but only when there is really horrible formatting done via MS Office. > One more issue that I perceive is that distros don't always have good > hardware compatibility. Let me explain it in more detail. Ubuntu 6.06 > worked well on my friend's machine. No issues. But Ubuntu 7.04 refuses > to work on the same machine. Some driver compatibility issues. I agree on this one. 7.04 was a mistake more than anything else. I am yet to meet someone who has not had problem with 7.04. Having said that the alternatives are two fold - 1. 6.0.6 2. gutsy. This has worked for me and many others. > The other issue that people in India generally face is of bandwidth. > Ubuntu installs well. It impresses them. But then it runs up HUGE bills > downloading softwares. apt on cd regards, C -- http://mm.glug-bom.org/mailman/listinfo/linuxers
