Hi Dinesh,
For office use, he requires:
- Microsoft Office - docs and excel spreadsheets
- Internet Explorer - surfing / banking etc..
- Tally - accounting
Now, I'm aware that he has the following alternatives:
- Open office
- Firefox
- Tally ( Linux version )
Am not sure tally linux version exists. If the replacement is immediate try tally on wine .
But the problem with Open Office:
- With average machines, it performs slow
- The documents it generates are not 100% compatible with Ms.Office
- Advanced features are not completely compatible
I will speak for the speed. Its the Ubuntu version of openoffice that is a slow arse. I have not tried digging into the offending patch. When I downloaded the rpms from openoffice, aliened them and installed it worked blazing even on my meagre laptop. Not to mention better fonts.
Compatibility _is_ a problem but only when there is really horrible formatting done via MS Office.
One more issue that I perceive is that distros don't always have good hardware compatibility. Let me explain it in more detail. Ubuntu 6.06 worked well on my friend's machine. No issues. But Ubuntu 7.04 refuses to work on the same machine. Some driver compatibility issues.
I agree on this one. 7.04 was a mistake more than anything else. I am yet to meet someone who has not had problem with 7.04. Having said that the alternatives are two fold - 1. 6.0.6 2. gutsy. This has worked for me and many others.
The other issue that people in India generally face is of bandwidth. Ubuntu installs well. It impresses them. But then it runs up HUGE bills downloading softwares.
apt on cd
regards, C