3 Update The System

First we should update the system. If the system tells you that software updates are available (like in the screenshot below), you can simply click on the icon in the task bar to start the Update Manager. Alternatively, you can start the Update Manager by going to System > Administration > Update Manager and then check for updates.

The Update Manager starts, and the packages database is now being updated:

You can now select/unselect packages; typically you select all packages and click on the Install Updates button to update the system:

Type in your password:

The updates are now being downloaded...

... and installed:

I got the following error regarding some GNOME packages. My system was working ok afterwards, so this does not seem to be a serious issue. Click on Close if you get the same error:

Click on Close again and leave the Update Manager:

If a new kernel was amongst the updates, a system restart is required to make the changes effective. If this is necessary, you will see a blue reboot icon in the upper right panel. Click on the blue reboot icon to restart the system. Confirm by clicking on Restart Now:

4 Inventory Of What We Have So Far

Now let's browse all menus to see which of our needed applications are already installed:

You should find the following situation ([x] marks an application that is already installed, where [ ] is an application that is missing):

Graphics:
[x] The GIMP
[x] F-Spot
[ ] Picasa

Internet:
[x] Firefox
[ ] Opera
[ ] Flash Player
[ ] FileZilla
[ ] Thunderbird
[ ] Evolution
[ ] aMule
[ ] BitTornado
[ ] Azureus
[x] Pidgin
[ ] Skype
[ ] Google Earth
[ ] Xchat IRC

Office:
[ ] OpenOffice Writer
[ ] OpenOffice Calc
[ ] Adobe Reader
[ ] GnuCash
[x] Scribus

Sound & Video:
[ ] Amarok
[x] Audacity
[ ] Banshee
[ ] MPlayer
[ ] Rhythmbox Music Player
[ ] gtkPod
[ ] XMMS
[ ] dvd::rip
[x] Kino
[ ] Sound Juicer CD Extractor
[ ] VLC Media Player
[ ] Helix Player
[x] Totem
[ ] Xine
[x] Brasero
[ ] K3B
[ ] Multimedia-Codecs

Programming:
[ ] KompoZer
[ ] Bluefish
[ ] Quanta Plus

Other:
[ ] VMware Server
[ ] TrueType fonts
[ ] Java
[x] Read/Write support for NTFS partitions

So some applications are already on the system. NTFS read-/write support is enabled by default on Ubuntu Studio 8.04.