How to try open source software, non destructively

Having said all that in my previous posts, still pages and pages are left to be said. But let us see how do you use all 'free' softwares without throwing away your earlier ones. [I also started with the same procedure]


1. Operating System

There are innumerable OSes available. But the best according to me is Ubuntu. It is very easy & interactive; ideal for a first time user. It can play your music, office documents, games and for the internet, there is really no difference, for you can use your favorite mozilla firefox right away. MOST IMPORTANTLY : YOU CAN ASK FOR FREE CDs (yes,CDs & lots of them) which will be delivered at your doorstop, in a month's time. You start computer, insert the CD, restart with boot CD option & there you are. Freedom to try the CD without doing any change to the host computer. Truly linux anywhere.
https://shipit.ubuntu.com/login


2. Office software: Openoffice.org is the best solution, but if you need just a word processing software, then Abiword is good enough. You get both software on the linux CD, but if you want to try separately:

http://download.openoffice.org/

Abiword

3. Browsers: If you are using firefox, hoorah! It is already an open source software, believed to be the safest and fastest and is fast on its way to become the world's most preferred browser.

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/


4. Music editing & recording: Audacity is a very good audio editor, which you can use to record audio being played, to edit music files & to changeit to different formats. Also you can add various effects.

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

5. Image editing : GIMP is a great software for the image editing enthusiasts. It is much like adobe photoshop but free.

http://www.gimp.org/