I’m Live Blogging my first attempt at the newest version of Ubuntu , version 7.04. Let me get this out of the way first - I am a hard-core Windows fan. Say what you want about Microsoft, it powers the world. I can use any hardware, play any game and use nearly any software ever written. I can do it securely, and with little frustration. Every attempt I have ever made at using Linux has left me disappointed. I am a geek, but I do not relish spending 3 days to get a wireless card working when I can do it in 5 minutes in Windows. There, is that enough of a disclaimer? OK then here we go.

TrueCrypt is open source software for on-the-fly encryption. TrueCrypt can use an encrypted file or partition and mount it for use transparently by any application. The Windows version has a fancy GUI, but on Linux there is a good command line interface.

good distro once ready for running on 256 usbkey.

Dont you like Firefox? Shame on you, but you can install Microsoft Internet Explorer (5, 5.5 or 6) easy and quick with IEs4Linux.

-Stay Metal!

Google did not mention that the latest version of Google Earth has a build-in flying simulator! It works on all platforms, including Linux. The Linux version even worked with my joystick.

Press Ctrl-Alt-A, choose your plane and airport, and start flying.

Here are two more great open source Linux games that you may not have tried yet: VDrift and Secret Maryo Chronicles.

VDrift
http://vdrift.net/
DEB package available at GetDeb

VDrift is a driving simulator made with a focus on drift racing. It includes 19 tracks and 28 cars.

Secret Maryo Chronicles
http://www.secretmaryo.org/
DEB package available at GetDeb

Secret Maryo is a platform game which recently reached version 1.0.