Its ironic how there are so many users who cling to Microsoft Windows and then proudly tout that the first thing they do is run out and load up on free or open source applications. Every year, we see lists of "best free apps" or "essential apps" for Windows, and every year, the apps become more and more like watered-down versions of what is available on almost any Linux-based system.

Does Linux have what it takes to meet the needs of the corporate desktop? Jack Wallen thinks so. Here’s his list of office apps that can handle everything from word processing to project management to data backups.

Jack Wallen recently looked at how certain Linux features might improve Windows. Now he lists some things about Windows that could improve Linux.

The open-source Wine project is less a solution and more a workaround when it comes to the issue of running Windows applications on Linux.

With thousands of Linux tools available, it is inevitable that some of the best ones get lost in the crowd. Jack Wallen introduces apps that more admins should know about.

There's no doubt that Linux—particularly Ubuntu—is a killer operating system full of excellent apps, but for about a million reasons, you're stuck running Windows as your main operating system. We understand, these things happen. But what about all those killer Linux apps you've left behind when you decided to live the Windows life?

With thousands of Linux tools out there, it stands to reason that some of the very best ones might get lost in the crowd. Jack Wallen introduces some excellent apps that more admins should know about.

The Linux and Windows camps may be polarized, but Jack Wallen believes each OS could be improved by borrowing from the other. This week, he looks at how certain Linux features could benefit Windows.

Linux has always been the operating system of the geeks and nerds. For some reason Linux has never been able to capture the market like Windows and OS X have managed to do. The main reason for this has been the so called unfriendliness of the Linux OS. But things are changing now with distros like Ubuntu etc...