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I'm currently considering switching totally to Ubuntu. The only thing holding me back is whether or not my photos, music, word processor, and other document files will open in Ubuntu. For example, I have done important files I created in open office on my windows computer. Will they open on open office in Ubuntu? Will my images and photos be displayed the same as they did in windows?

I apologize if this question has been answered previously. I searched, but was unable to located any discussion that addressed my specific question. I am a complete novice when it comes to Linux, but I look to learning more.

Thanks.

user304411
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  • Make a live USB, boot into it and see if you can open the files. Most of them should. If you are using some exotic applications, they may not. Photos should be fine. – muru Jul 10 '14 at 23:48

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Yes, the standard file formats are supported in Ubuntu. By standard I mean: images like JPEG, TIFF, PNG, BMP, audio files like WAV, MP3, AAC, FLAC. The compressed archives like ZIP, RAR, 7ZIP are supported as well.

All RAW image formats can be opened in GIMP with dcraw or UFraw plugin, or more workflow-oriented program like Raw Therapee. All those programs are available for free in the Ubuntu Software Center.

Obstacles may arise when you need to open and edit some proprietary file formats like Microsoft Office files or Adobe Photoshop formats. The Microsoft Office files are opened by LibreOffice, mostly successfully, but your mileage may vary depending on the version and complexity of specific file. If you need to open Adobe Photoshop files then you should keep your Windows installation handy.

And remember, that you don't have to switch totally to Ubuntu, abandoning Windows. I recommend to have dual-boot setup: Windows and Ubuntu on the same PC.

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Most filetypes can be opened in Ubuntu. Newest versions of Ubuntu use LibreOffice instead of OpenOffice, but they do read odt and doc formats. Music will work perfectly fine,too. Image files, such as jpeg, bitmap, and png all open, too. If you use Photoshop, then it's a program-specific file format. There is an editor similar to Photoshop called GIMP, but I have used GIMP exclusivelly and never used Photoshop, so don't quote me on that part. There's PDF viewers - that works well enough for opening my college documents. Actually, you can run many Windows applications with WINE, which is sort of virtualization software. People run all sorts of things there. Now, I am electrical engineering major, and I use a software called Multisim, which HAS to run in Windows, so keep that in mind - some software just has been build to run only in Windows. But unless you aren't doing anything exceptional and plan to do all the things 99% windows desktop users do - surf web, save music and pictures - you'll feel at home in Ubuntu.

I've been using Ubuntu for couple of month and am happy enough with it. Of course, it is intimidating to switch at first, but once I got it up and running - I spend most of my time in Ubuntu now, and come back to Windows only on rare occasion when I need to delete some files or use Multisim. Oh, and did I mention that I have both installed on my hard drive ? Might be another option to look into.

Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
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    An option to try for windows-only software is Virtualbox. You set it up, install Windows and software as in any normal computer. Photoshop for one works nicely, hardware-dependent things may be harder... USB seems be the easiest. (Scanner, screen calibrator... I have those running). – Hannu Jul 11 '14 at 09:59