Things you can't do

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Things you can't do at present

This is very much a personal list and some items might be out of date as soon as I write it.

Mozbackup: This is a very clever bit of software that backs up emails, addresses, bookmarks and settings from Firefox and Thunderbird. It does not seem to be available for ubuntu.

Hardware incompatibity: Drivers are not available for some items of hardware at present. Some hardware just works and the latest version 13.10 seems better than ever at this. However I have failed to get my Canon 4200F scanner to work. It looks as though Epson is a better bet for scanners on ubuntu. My TBS 6920 satellite TV card won't work either though MeTV looks promising.

Microsoft Access 2010: Access seems to be a particularly tricky application for ubuntu. Knowing Microsoft there is no surprise there I suppose. I tried to install earlier versions 2003 and 2007 using wine. They installed but many of the functions I use in my designs didn't work. This could be a serious drawback. Unlike Dreamweaver and Photoshop, there is really no alternative. LibreOffice base is quite good but lacks the power of VBA, and it keeps changes in memory until it is closed down. Very risky! The manual warns you that bad shutdown of base can render the entire database useless so for me that rules it out. I suppose I could create some very large and complicated spreadsheets to do most of what I do in Access but it won't work as well. Another option I must pursue is MySQL though my first attempts to install it and import data have been unsuccessful. There is now a new application called PlayOnLinux that looks promising, containing a list of popular packages that it says it can install. However, though it is listed, it doesn't seem to work with Access 2010 yet. Finally Oracle has released a free application called virtualbox that allows you to create a virtual computer within ubuntu. You can then install Windows and Windows applications. It works but the two extra layers of software significantly slow the computer.

Wireless keyboard to access BIOS: At first ubuntu looked for a network server from which to boot. I needed to change the boot sequence in BIOS to start with the DVD drive and then try the hard drive. However the wireless keyboard wasn't loaded and didn't allow me to enter BIOS. I had to connect a temporary wired OS2 keyboard. Perhaps I made a bad choice of boot options when I installed?

Network attached storage: I have got used to a Western Digital MyBookWorld NAS and Memeo software. This makes a backup copy of a file as I save it on my computer. It keeps the last three versions. I can't find any equivalent in any ubuntu or linux software repositories, so I guess I will have to do it all manually once a day now..

Local internet server: One excellent feature of Windows is the Internet Information Services (IIS). This allows me, from within Dreamweaver, to test out new or amended web pages on two different browsers before I upload them to 1and1. There is no equivalent on ubuntu.

Tom Tom Home: This could be a serious problem as I won't be able to update maps and speed cameras. It's pathetic as Tom Tom devices use a Linux version.

Samsung KIES: Not available on ubuntu.

Hmmm. Looks like I might have to keep one Windows machine running. Bum!

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Last edit 26 December 2015