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Transitioning from Windows to Linux often leaves you scratching your head, wondering what software to use for common tasks. Sure, Linux has alternative software, but sometimes you just want to install a Windows application that you are used to.

For example, if you are very comfortable working on Photoshop, getting started with Gimp will take some time. In such cases installing a windows application on Linux is the only option you are left with to complete your task quickly.

The advent of Linux-powered netbooks, the launch of Google's Android and Chrome, and Nokia's move to snap up Symbian pushed open source further into the mainstream, despite ongoing legal wrangling.

The year 2008 showed open source -- both in the form of Linux specifically and as a software development model generally -- coming into the mainstream like never before.

Nearly 25 years after the first film, "Ghostbusters" is finally coming to a video game console near you. The cult classic is being developed into an interactive game by Atari, the company officially announced Friday. It will be made available for five systems -- the Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, and Xbox 360 -- and will also be developed into a PC version for Windows. All will become available sometime in 2009.

Open Source Software is about more than just the Linux operating system, and 2008 brought advances in the form of OpenOffice.org, IBM Lotus Symphony, Firefox and Android. But Linux is still the heart of the FOSS movement, and this year brought key developments in the operating system as well.

InfoWorld's 2008 Bossies recognize the top free and open products for business, IT, and personal productivity

"Chosen by InfoWorld Test Center editors, analysts, and reviewers, InfoWorld’s annual Best of Open Source Software awards (or Bossies, for short) celebrate the best products that open source has to offer: the best free software on the planet for businesses, their IT staffs, and their employees’ workstations."

http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/08/04/32TC-bossies-2008_1.html