Repositories
"Installing Linux software used to be a pain... now with repositories, it is easier than Windows... "
Now, the process of installing free and legal software is almost seamless with the use of repositories. A repository is a collection of software ready for download and installation for that version of Linux. Also, there are many different repositories that are also available in addition to the "default" repository...
Using the Synaptic Package Manager
The Synaptic Package Manager is a graphic tool to allow the user to search for, select, then automatically download and install applications in Ubuntu Linux. Basically, most current Linux distributions have a graphical software installation tool. For example, Yast (which stands for "Yet Another Setup Tool") contains a section to install software from repositories in SuSE Linux - Pirut is the software installation tool for Fedora Linux...