Change Windows for another OS

[Deleted User]

Someone on Facebook just told me that, he changed Windows for Linux Mint and now his laptop is way better.
I am curious about this.

Who here has other OS aside of Windows and why it's better? Of course, I agree that Windows/Microsoft sucks ass since their fucking Windows 10 update... but I'm stuck with it.

Just tell me the reasons why would you change from Windows to Linux or other OS

 

[Necron]

I've been using Debian, since for some time I didn't have access to windows. It's very nice, however, if you're not tech savvy, you'll hit many road bumps. Linux does require some more advanced knowledge. I feel like Ubuntu works better in this way, but it's not really optimized enough. You will need to research on desktop managers to see which one fits your liking and resource usage.

 

[Deleted User]

I've been using Debian, since for some time I didn't have access to windows. It's very nice, however, if you're not tech savvy, you'll hit many road bumps. Linux does require some more advanced knowledge. I feel like Ubuntu works better in this way, but it's not really optimized enough. You will need to research on desktop managers to see which one fits your liking and resource usage.

I'm literally reading about this right now.
I understand that each software has to be installed "manually" (at least more manually than Windows)
As far as my knowledge goes... you're talking about the different "builds/versions" of Linux right?
I was looking for a version of Linux that's both Optimised for Speed and Productivity.

But I've reached a part that says that Hardware is NOT optimized for Linux, and that some CPU's tends to heat more than they should.
This is a huge step back for me. I certainly would like to change Microsoft for Linux, but I really don't want my hardware to suffer for it.

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Saludos a chile

 

[Necron]

I'm literally reading about this right now.
I understand that each software has to be installed "manually" (at least more manually than Windows)
As far as my knowledge goes... you're talking about the different "builds/versions" of Linux right?
I was looking for a version of Linux that's both Optimised for Speed and Productivity.

But I've reached a part that says that Hardware is NOT optimized for Linux, and that some CPU's tends to heat more than they should.
This is a huge step back for me. I certainly would like to change Microsoft for Linux, but I really don't want my hardware to suffer for it.

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Saludos a chile

I haven't really noticed any heat raises when using linux, must be minimal (they basically build on the same kernel, which has all the instructions for cpu, so if this is a thing, must be for newer cpus)

As for different versions, that's the distribution (Ubuntu, Debian, Mint, Gentoo, Arch), which is going to limit you the way you install programs (some might require manual installation and others just clicks/commands).

The other thing I mentioned was the desktop manager, which can be the same for different distributions, and they make the difference in how you interact with your system and the speed and resources it will use.

So, for speed and productivity, you might want to user Ubuntu/Debian (they have .deb packages which are basically .exe files to install programs and also have software centers, kinda like a google playstore) and a lightweight desktop manager (maybe XFCE, but it will limit the look and feel of the system), but you'll have to do your research. I'm pretty happy with Debian, but if you like pretty stuff, do a good research on the desktop managers it comes packaged with.

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Saludos a México!

 

[Taleweaver]

Let's see...the first thing to note is that most (if not all) linux distros can be run from a USB drive to test. You just download the iso file and use a program like rufus or lily to "burn" it to USB drive. You just restart your PC, set the bios to boot from USB, and voila: you can instantly check just about (or even all) hardware settings. This is really easier than it sounds. Once you've done it once or twice, you can even just download distros and test them this way just to check whether you like the interface, the programs it comes with or similar (heh...you can even use it as a backup disk ).

Similar: once you get around to installing it, a good portion (at least ubuntu and mint) conveniently set up grub so that you don't lose your windows partition but create a new one.

That said...mint (or linux in general) has some clear advantages, yes. But still, I've got to start with the main disadvantage: it is DIFFERENT. That isn't just a learning curve when you first start out, but on some unexpected parts as well. It's more in things like "hmm...I want to check out the epic store. Ah, damn: no linux client".

But that said: the advantages:
-clearly more stable (not that windows 10 is a piece of garbage, but it's only by really going elsewhere that you note how those little "goof ups" simply aren't in linux)
-more secure. This might double as a disadvantage, as even from the proverbial play store, you'll have to enter the main password to get anything installed
-less inconsistency in the UI. This is more a cinnamon thing (mint's main flavor). But windows tries many different UI styles at the same time, and searching for a certain setting can be tough if you don't know where it is. On mint/cinnamon, the parts of the operating system are laid out in a much more logical fashion
-updating is done in a MUCH better way. I'm an ICT tech, and I can't recall how many times I've seen laptops that either refuse to install an update with *ahem* descriptions like 0x80244010, or just start updating when you want to start work. Mint keeps a nice list and even actual descriptions that you can install whenever you damn want to. And while there are exceptions, it rarely ever has to reboot anything.
-it's free (yeah, like you didn't knew that one already ). This isn't just better for your wallet but is one more checkbox that simply isn't there (reinstalling windows because some thing got fucked up can be a pain if you can't somehow retrace the serial key).

 

[Jayro]

Linux Mint is my go-to Linux distribution. It's as stable as a fully-updated 3DS, and a great Windows replacement, especially for noobs getting their feet wet for the first time. (Ubuntu can be overwhelming at first, by comparison)

 

[Deleted User]

Yay Linux Mint sure sounds like fun.
I am not a super gaming / software enthusiast with Windows.
I just want to be sure that I'll be able to work faster and better than I do with Windows.

I will try that USB thing! The problem is that I do not have any lying around. What I do have is two 40GB hard drives, I will test them with different Linux distributions.
So exciting!

Thank you everyone for clearing my doubts!

 

[Funkyscorp]

loving manjaro on my laptop freedom

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loving manjaro on my laptop freedom

 

[Idontknowwhattoputhere]

If you want to try something unique try arch linux

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

One of the more recent Linux distros I've been messing around with is Pop_OS, which was designed by System76 (tl;dr a computer manufacturer who mainly focuses on providing hardware built with Linux in mind).

It's Ubuntu based (like Linux Mint), but has an actually decent (IMO) GNOME environment that is quite snappy, easy to use, and visually pleasing.If you're not too techy, then I would strongly suggest checking it out over Linux Mint, purely because (IMO) it feels more like an "introductory" Linux distro to someone new to Linux than something like Linux Mint (which used to be my go-to Linux distro for at least over a decade now).

 

[FAST6191]

If you want to try something unique try arch linux

Would you really chuck someone just dipping their toe into Linux right into Arch?
And they say I am a remorseless sadist.

Anyway as for the matter of the topic. Yeah Linux can be pretty nice. Mint is a good choice as they tend to make it fairly painless. You will find more optimised distros, ones with a bigger focus on always new and ones built to be absolutely rock solid (useful for work machines, servers and such) but if you want speed then one of the lightweight versions (I see XFCE above was mentioned as being limited -- does absolutely fine for me. LXDE on the other hand...).
If you can't summon up a USB or writeable DVD to test with then some distros did have an install on windows option that used a file. Ubuntu was this for a while. I never really used it though.
You also have the option of a virtual machine which will work with windows. As long as you are not using the cheapest of Intel's CPU lines (atom, celeron...) or are somehow running windows 10 on a P4 then it should have some measure of virtualisation support. RAM wise you could convincingly do it on 4 but 8 will be seamless.

All this said have you used one of the Windows 10 optimisation scripts? https://www.jgspiers.com/windows-10-1803-optimisation-script/ is a reasonable start. Sucks that we have to kick it like it is windows XP again and do OS customisations at that level but it has made several things that were clunkers on windows 10 with no right to be so actually run reasonably well for me.

 

[Idontknowwhattoputhere]

Would you really chuck someone just dipping their toe into Linux right into Arch?
And they say I am a remorseless sadist.

Anyway as for the matter of the topic. Yeah Linux can be pretty nice. Mint is a good choice as they tend to make it fairly painless. You will find more optimised distros, ones with a bigger focus on always new and ones built to be absolutely rock solid (useful for work machines, servers and such) but if you want speed then one of the lightweight versions (I see XFCE above was mentioned as being limited -- does absolutely fine for me. LXDE on the other hand...).
If you can't summon up a USB or writeable DVD to test with then some distros did have an install on windows option that used a file. Ubuntu was this for a while. I never really used it though.
You also have the option of a virtual machine which will work with windows. As long as you are not using the cheapest of Intel's CPU lines (atom, celeron...) or are somehow running windows 10 on a P4 then it should have some measure of virtualisation support. RAM wise you could convincingly do it on 4 but 8 will be seamless.

All this said have you used one of the Windows 10 optimisation scripts? https://www.jgspiers.com/windows-10-1803-optimisation-script/ is a reasonable start. Sucks that we have to kick it like it is windows XP again and do OS customisations at that level but it has made several things that were clunkers on windows 10 with no right to be so actually run reasonably well for me.

why are your posts so long and go into great detail?
And yes i'd throw arch at someone that uses windows!

 

[aea]

If you want to try something unique try arch linux

Yeah, Arch is something unique, as also Gentoo is, but I don't recommend them even for intermediate users. For beginers I'd recommend to pick one of these up. Noobs are always scared about the "manual installation stuff", but when they research a little more and find out that there are also graphical user interfaces (GUI) to achieve the same task, they calm down until the time that they could feel confident enough to try the command line again. Hah, if only somebody would have explained them that the Android phone that they have been using all of these years is in reality a customized Linux distro, they would not feel that scared to make the transition. If I, that don't work as IT technician, can use Linux, everyone can. In fact, because of that knowledge I'm typing this post, using a live dvd since several months before, because my main pc cannot boot after a damn windows 10 update.

 

[Taleweaver]

Yay Linux Mint sure sounds like fun.
I am not a super gaming / software enthusiast with Windows.
I just want to be sure that I'll be able to work faster and better than I do with Windows.

I will try that USB thing! The problem is that I do not have any lying around. What I do have is two 40GB hard drives, I will test them with different Linux distributions.
So exciting!

Thank you everyone for clearing my doubts!

Working faster and better really depends on what programs you use. So before I'd plunge in, I would see if you've got an alternative for what you're currently using.

40GB hard drives work just as well. They're just not that plug 'n play ish.

If you want to try something unique try arch linux

No. Just...no.

I'd explain why, but then you say I'm too wordy. So: no.

 

[Necron]

...(I see XFCE above was mentioned as being limited -- does absolutely fine for me. LXDE on the other hand...).

Was mostly mentioning LXDE for its "uglyness", as it doesn't stand as much as the rest of the desktop managers. Functionality is different tho!

 

[H1B1Esquire]

I have....a lot of computers. I use them for specific purposes, but I make sure to partition my drives so I can dual-boot if something corrupts itself. Most are 7 & 10, but I have one that runs 10 & Ubuntu.

If I were you, I'd get the bootable USB Ubuntu to try it out before a full install. Also, get BSD, unless you don't want to.

 

[RHOPKINS13]

I used to hop back and forth between different Linux distros. I started with Red Hat back in the days of 6.2, tried out Mandrake, Fedora, Ubuntu, Gentoo, CentOS, Mint, and several more. But if I was dual-booting, it was always just a matter of time before I found myself using Windows as my primary operating system again. Back then things weren't as polished as they are now, and I had a dialup connection, and "dependency hell" was pretty common. Driver issues were pretty common, and a lot of the software that I wanted to run was on Windows and the open source alternatives just weren't that great. Wine rarely worked well at the time.

My latest distro dive, though, has been Debian, which I started using about two years ago. I haven't looked back. Driver support is generally pretty easy, if something doesn't work it's usually just a matter of installing a package and if it's more complicated than that a simple Google search will get you through it. Package managers like apt and yum help take care of dependencies for you. More and more games support Linux now, open source alternatives work much better than they used to, and there's a very wide variety of software that Wine works just fine with.

What I like about Debian is that I feel like it installs a good selection of packages by default, it doesn't feel bloated like some other distros after being installed, but it also doesn't install too few packages, you can pretty much hit the ground running.

I understand that each software has to be installed "manually" (at least more manually than Windows)

Not really, many distros feature some sort of a "App Store." Many apps you can simply browse to, click "install," and be done.

BUT, if you're willing to learn a little bit of the command line, it can be even easier. Assuming the software is available in one of the repositories you've set up, you can install a piece of software just by typing a line in the terminal. For instance, on Debian you can install LibreOffice just by typing sudo apt install libreoffice.

I've switched over most of my workplace to running Debian, we only have a small handful of Windows PCs left, and one Unix server.

 

[Jayro]

I discovered Ubuntu "Feisty Fawn" v7.04 after Vista dropped and wanted to try a different operating system from Mac and Windows. I burned their LiveCD to a CD-R and gave it a go. I was shocked that you could try out the entire operating system from just a CD, and didn't have any driver issues... Everything just sprang to life. It was amazing. Then I found Linux Mint, and never went back to Ubuntu ever again.

 

[Bappay]

Everything just sprang to life. It was amazing. Then I found Linux Mint, and never went back to Ubuntu ever again.

Sunds very cool.

 

[Lacius]

Personally, I prefer Windows 10 over other operating systems.