…And we’re back! On today’s special edition of the Showdown, we take another look at what Linux has to offer.

App #1: Quanta Plus

Program Type: Web development
Site: http://quanta.kdewebdev.org/
Programmers: KDE Web Dev Team
First Impression: “I finally found it! Let’s see what … great! I need something else! Lovely!”
Ease of Use: 2
Overall: 2
Notes: Immediately after starting up Quanta, we were greeted with a message  telling us that the program needed to be updated. If it wasn’t updated immediately, the message said, the program simply would not work. Ten minutes and several four-letter words later, we discovered that the program was essentially lying. We didn’t — or rather, couldn’t — load the updates, but everything still seemed to work fine. “Seemed” is the magic word in that sentence. While it wasn’t necessarily “bad,” Quanta is far from the perfect development suite. The Word 2007-esque menu layout and odd tab placement made using the program a chore, and the documentation is so confusing, it made us want to punch a wall. Simply put, there are better programs out there. We suggest that you try those first.

App #2: Karbon14

Program Type: Vector graphics
Site: http://www.koffice.org/karbon/
Programmers: KOffice Team
First Impression: “Oooh … Inkscape-y.”
Ease of Use: 7
Overall: 7
Notes: As you might have noticed by noticed by now, the “K” line of programs are definitely hit-and-miss. After a few minutes of use, we can say in no uncertain terms that  Karbon14 is a marginal hit. Despite the odd toolbar layout and some initial awkwardness, the app did everything we needed it to do. Is it a replacement for Adobe Illustrator or even Inkscape? No, but this definitely will work in a pinch.

App #3: MPlayer

Program Type: Multimedia player
Site: http://www.mplayerhq.hu
Original Review: http://www.freelinereport.com/freeline-3-9-09/
Programmers: The MPlayer Project
First Impression: “Are you sure that I’ve used this before?”
Ease of Use: 6 (Installing from Scratch); 9 (Already installed)
Overall: 9
Notes: Installing MPlayer in Linux is far from straightforward. For one, you need to decide what kind of Mplayer you wish to use. The base player isn’t really a player at all. It’s a glorified rendering engine used to power other multimedia applications. If you want to use the player by itself, you’ll need to load the “front end.” (If you’re following along with us at home, simply type in “mplayer-gui,” sans the quotes, into the package delivery system of your choice.) After a few seconds, everything was up and ready to go. It was obvious from the outset that this app is a bit different than the rest. Unlike the other programs we tried (both multimedia and otherwise), MPlayer was overflowing with style. Sure, that style was obviously patterned after the popular Windows program Power DVD, but that’s a minor gripe. The actual playback, however … that’s a different story. There is absolutely nothing to gripe about there.

The Linux version of MPlayer differs from the Windows port in one major way: it isn’t horrible. In fact, it’s quote possibly one of the nicest video players we have ever used. The sample video was crisp, the audio was surprisingly clear, and the controls were amazingly responsive. When it comes right down to it, MPlayer a nice alternative to the big, database style programs like iTunes and Songbird without getting too stripped down or minimalistic. A must–have for any Linux user.