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I am an advanced beginner who has been tempted to try Ubuntu by two friends who program.

My major question is about using Windows programs. The ones I use most are Quicken, Family Tree Maker, Last Pass, and Dragon Speech.

Will these work in Ubuntu or are there alternatives?

don.joey
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user276127
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2 Answers2

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first Last Pass has a native Linux version.

Most Windows Programs can be run using Wine which you can install from the Ubuntu software Center.

To check which programs will run on Wine on Ubuntu you search the program's name on this site Wine App Database

Most version of Quicken and Dragon Speech run pretty well under Wine, I'd recommend 12.0 Premium of Dragon Speech, though if you're looking for an alternative to Dragon speech you might view this question or perhaps Julius, see here.

For Family Tree maker the 2005 version appears to work well under Wine. In addition there are many alternatives that might work well, these include gramps lifelines, and geneweb.

Community
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zeitue
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First, using VirtualBox you can run Windows and on an Ubuntu desktop. You can find more info to see if your favorite programs and devices are supported at https://www.virtualbox.org/.

Next, If you already have Windows on your computer, you should probably just consider installing Ubuntu on the same hard drive next to Windows. That way, if you ever want to use Windows, just reboot your PC.

The option to install Ubuntu "along side" or "along with" your current OS is suggested to the user during a regular installation from a LiveDVD or USB. Ubuntu installs the Grub2 bootloader that allows you to select operating systems when you boot your computer after installation.

There are dozens of youtube videos that show this process step by step.

Update I did some checking on dragon and found some info here (http://thenerdshow.com/platypus.html)[http://thenerdshow.com/platypus.html] I haven't used it but platypus is supposed to allow dragon give keyboard commands when running in a virtual environment and even Wine as well.

source: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_recognition_software_for_Linux#cite_note-2)[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_recognition_software_for_Linux#cite_note-2]

Simon is also a linux alternative for speech recognition to check out.

Finally if you feel up to it you can code your own software using the dragonfly python module. Dragonfly appears to be a promising tool that supports D.N.S. and many other voice rec. technologies. (https://pypi.python.org/pypi/dragonfly/0.6.5)[https://pypi.python.org/pypi/dragonfly/0.6.5]

mchid
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  • I think this is a nicely written answer, but it is a bit of a workaround. It simply suggests to keep on using Windows (which is a valid suggestion, but only part of the possible answer). – don.joey Apr 30 '14 at 06:20
  • Fair enough but I don't see any other suggestions. Wine was already covered and not accepted by the person who asked the question. – mchid May 04 '14 at 14:55
  • I gave it some thought and I want to revert my downvote. I can only do so if you edit the answer though. – don.joey May 04 '14 at 20:48