So you just installed Ubuntu and are excited to use it as your primary operating system, perhaps as a replacement for Windows. However, as you might have noticed by now, getting things done in Linux is not as easy as it is in Windows, specially for someone who is new to the world of Linux. This post is going to help you make a smooth transition to Linux and Ubuntu in particular.

If you are not aware what Linux is, maybe reading up on my previous post will help you. Beginning Linux is for people who have no idea about Linux.

This post assumes you already have a working Ubuntu installation, whether through Wubi or a full partition install. If you can’t seem to get working, you can always ask in the comments section and I will try to help you. Let us get started.

1). Installing Flash Player:

Getting Flash working in Ubuntu is now pretty easy. Just download the deb file from here. And as is obvious, make sure you close you close Firefox when you are about to install it.

Note that stable release of Flash is available only for 32bit versions of Linux. Chances are that you would be using a 32bit version only, but in case you are on 64bit Ubuntu, Adobe has released an Alpha version of Flash Player that will run on 64bit versions of Linux. More here. Give it a shot and let me know how you find the performance to be.

Note that running full screen Flash videos might cause performance problems. This is something that you have to live with and I have found this problem to be more prevalent with HD videos, as is expected. Your favorite Flash-based browser game also might suffer from some lag and cause you to lose the game altogether. Get used to it!

2). MP3 Support:

Try playing a MP3 in Ubuntu and you will be shown this message:

Due to licensing issues with the MP3, Linux based distributions don’t have built-in support for MP3. The best way to resolve this to click on the ‘Search’ button in the image shown above and install the plugins  Ubuntu asks you to.

There is also another way, which will also solve the next problem. I personally recommend that to new users.

3). Getting video working:

As in the case of MP3, popular video formats are also not included by default with perhaps almost all Linux distributions. Ubuntu is no exception, however it makes your life easier by providing you with one-click install of the required video codecs.

However, there is another alternative and that is using the VLC Media Player. VLC automatically installs all the required codecs that you need and plays almost all the popular video formats out-of-the-box. VLC is open source and supports all these formats. The VLC website is here.

I personally recommend VLC to most of my friends who use Windows also. The reason being that it plays all the video files that you would ever need and it is open source. You don’t need to install multiple codecs on your system – just install VLC and let it handle everything.

To download VLC on Ubuntu, follow the steps here.

4). Installing the graphics card drivers:

If you have a Nvidia graphics card, installing the drivers for it in Ubuntu are perhaps as easy as Windows. There may be many ways of doing it, however I will go with the easiest.

Simply head over to System, choose Administration and then select Hardware Drivers.

Before installing the hardware drivers, I recommend that you install all the updates first.

The hardware drivers are required for the 3D acceleration to work (for the games) and if you intend on using the desktop effects, these drivers are a must. To enable the desktop effects after installing these drivers, go to System > Preferences > Appearance > Visual Effects

Users of ATI cards, you can download the drivers from here. I don’t have much experience in handling ATI cards, so feel free to post your thoughts about your ATI/ Ubuntu experience.

5). Installing software

This is perhaps one of the most frequently asked questions!

Ubuntu comes pre-loaded with most of the software that you would ever need to use. Mozilla Firefox is the default browser, OpenOffice opens all your Microsoft Office documents (including docx) and as discussed above, there are plenty of audio/ video players about.  However there are still many software that you might need to install.

There are two ways of doing this, one is using the command line and the other is using a graphical user interface software called Synaptic.

To install software using the command line (and note that for new users, it is not recommended), open the terminal from Application > Accessories > Terminal.

Let us assume that you know the name of the software. I can’t really go into the details of repositories and all, since you should use Synaptic and let it handle that.

sudo apt-get install <software>

So to install vlc, you would need to type:

sudo apt-get install vlc

And follow the instructions on the screen. I won’t go into much detail about this here.

To install software using Synaptic, which is what you should if you are a new user, go to System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager. (It will ask you for the password)

Suppose you want to install Amarok, a popular media player. Type amarok in the search field and notice that the screen changes below.

Choose Mark for Installation and let Synaptic handle the rest. Play around with it to get an idea.

Notice that this approach is much better for new users than the command line one. If you face any problems, ask away!

6). Programming language support:

Linux has amazing support for programming languages and most of the languages are built-in. If you ever need a specific language, you can always install it via Synaptic.

7). Getting help

A problem that can’t be resolved? Fear not! Ubuntu has excellent community support.

First, as always start by searching for your question on Google. Chances are that someone else might have had the same problem you are having and so there might possibly be a solution.

If that doesn’t work, the Ubuntu Forums are an excellent place to ask for help.

Also, if you use IRC, the Ubuntu channel on IRC Freenode, #ubuntu is always buzzing with activity.

In case nothing works, you can always ask here!

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I have covered the most frequently asked questions which confuse people new to Linux. If there is something specific you need to ask, use the comments section below and I will get back to you.

Useful Resources:

Ubuntu Tutorials

Ubuntu Guide

Ubuntu Forums