Having got the majority of my hardware to work successfully in Ubuntu Linux in my previous post, it was time to find out how the OS faired with some everyday productivity tasks. Would I miss using Windows? I'd argue that this is the main thing holding most people back from sampling Linux.

Ubuntu comes with some key applications pre-installed, but if you want to add your own, the easiest way to do so is with the Synaptic Package Manger.

The closest thing to this in Windows is the Add/Remove programs utility, but in the case of Synaptic, you mostly use it to install things rather than delete them. To install a new application, you simply type its name into the search box and mark it for install.

If your application isn't in the list, you'll have to download and install it manually. This is where your problems may start. While most programs come with reasonable installation instructions, you’ll need to open up a terminal window and type some instructions into the command prompt.

It's not particularly difficult, just unwelcome, especially compared to the way you install software in Windows and OS X.

Waving the flag for Firefox

Ubuntu comes with Firefox pre-installed, so you don't have to worry about installing your own browser. Email, meanwhile, is handled by a default PIM called Evolution Mail, which has a good reputation.

Click on the clock in Ubuntu and it will reveal your Evolution calendar, which can synced to Google Calendar, if you so wish. I wanted to use a mail package that I was familiar with – Thunderbird. Although it doesn’t come pre-installed, it was easy enough to add it using the Synaptic Package Manager.

If you've been used to Firefox running in a Windows environment, then there's little difference in Ubuntu. I was able to check out all my regular Web sites without any issues, both by browsing directly, and by using Bloglines to read site RSS feeds.

In fact, the only sites that didn't work as well as they should were those with Flash content (more on this in the next article).

Just can’t think of a good GIMP joke

Image editing is handled by the GIMP application. If, like me, you're using a DLSR that shoots in RAW mode, then you will need to install an additional plug-in for GIMP, called UFRaw.