I want to know what you guys on the forums think. I'll explain, briefly, what I use on Windows. I want to know if you think I should/could-be-able-to-easily switch to Ubuntu.
I use Adobe Products, After Effects and Photoshop. I don't get into heavy editing in After Effects. In fact, I could probably use Windows Movie Maker if it encoded into H.264 (and wasn't such a pain in the ass to use.)
In Photoshop, I mostly just edit existing photos or create some typography things.
I also happen to play lots of games. (Skyrim, Borderlands 2, Battlefield 3, Mirror's Edge, Far Cry 3, Crysis, and Dishonored)
I record videos (using PlayClaw) of Gameplay, edit them with After Effects, and then upload to youtube.
I'd like to switch over to Ubuntu, but I want to be able to continue doing what I do.
So, are there Ubuntu/Linux alternatives to this, or am I stuck with Micro$hit?
Honestly there are quite a few factors when switching to Ubuntu. Ubuntu is considerably the largest consumer distrobution of Linux. There are so many tutorials for everything to play with and fix whatever you have that is going wrong. Tho Steam is moving very fast towards the Linux side of things, not everything is going to boom straight to Linux Platforms. THO: You can run an emulator of Windows (Say WINE) and run to a certain extent all of the Windows Products.
Also, there are large alternatives to larger commercial products like photoshop on Linux. Not nearly as developed but that's mainly because with the Linux Community, its either a bunch of guys that have used it forever, or new kids just joining.
I'm confident that soon Valve will come through with the Linux push. So as of right now, if you don't have a substantial amount of patience to learn to work the Terminal in Ubuntu/Linux I'd sit it out for a bit.
If your harware is good enough (most likely is) you can run a Windows xp or 7 vm in seamless mode and flawlessly run any windows program, but it will be a bit slower.
He should do this only if a certain program only works on Windows or doesn't have a Linux alternative. Otherwise, it completely defeats the point of switching to Linux.
Dual boot, use windows for games and editing, or learn gimp and use Ubuntu to learn it's ins and outs, then when more games show up on linux, switch completely.
I can't dual-boot. The GRUB loader shows up in a resolution that my monitor doesn't support, and the screen shuts itself down. I've tried everything I know to get into Ubuntu, but I end up having to reformat my drive.
I'd be interested in learning about the seamless mode. Is it built-in or do you get it via terminal?
I've used Ubuntu before and am fairly familiar with the terminal.
Have you tried a WUBI install? The installer should come with Ubuntu. You install it under windows, give Ubuntu some HDD space, and you should have no problems booting into it. If I recall correctly, the Windows bootloader loads first and lets you pick Ubuntu or Windows so if GRUB screws up, you can boot into your current Windows install.
There are some limitations to Wubi. When I last tried it I couldn't update the kernel. It's a good halfway step between liveCD and doing a full format/install.
Do some research and make sure that there are Linux supported versions of the games/software you use. You can usually find this information on the game/software's website. Otherwise, you may have to wait for the games/software to become available or use another alternative. I'd personally consider a dual boot. There are alternative bootloaders you can try. Just do a Google search for GRUB alternatives and find yourself a stable one. Be sure to back up your system. I don't want to see you reply saying you lost everything. Let us know what you find out. ;)
On there, I found a few of my games supported (Fallout 3, Skyrim, Borderlands and The Witcher) but others aren't on there. Google search of "<game name>, playonlinux" shows that people have gotten most of my games working with PoL, so I'm good on that end. The games that aren't on there, I'll either deal with it 'til it's supported, or just use a VM.
I did a search for the VM Seamless stuff. Comes up with VirtualBox (freeware) and it seems pretty nice. If I wasn't bored out of my skull and killing shit in Skyrim (I've nothing else to do) I'd install Ubuntu 12.04 (12.10 isn't stable yet, is it?) and get the ball rolling.
One thing I worry about. Is my computer's hardware supported?
Specs:
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition (no OC)
GPU: Sapphire HD 7770 GHz Edition (factory OC)
MB: Asrock 970DE3/U3S3
RAM: Mushkin Blackline Enhanced (1x4GB)
Samsung Optical Drive (how I will be installing Ubuntu)
Seagate something-or-other HDD (stolen out of my old computer.)
GPU: Plausible. I found that the ASUS HD 7770 DirectCU TOP was used with Ubuntu. Might compare the two.
MB: Yes. Ubuntu friendly.
RAM: Unsure. A user with Mushkin Blackline 996995 2x4GB (4 DIMMS) was having blue screens/crashes with Ubuntu, but has different components. They can be found here. http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php?topic=9564.0
All your gear should be fine. it may get interesting with your Sapphire HD 7770, I don't know if the drivers for that have been fix under linux yet but the X.Org ones work to get you up and running.