Just Switched from Windows to Linux

[Meticode]

With the news of Windows discontinuing support for Windows 10 starting this month (unless you opt-in for year of security updates) I decided to make the switch to Linux to the distribution of Linux Mint. So far I'm loving it. Linux Mint is user-friendly for beginners bringing a familiar Windows-like desktop and navigation to the user without all the ads and bloatware.

Lots of people are starting to migrate over to it for two reasons. One, the lack of support for Windows 10 coupled with Windows 11 being a bloatware, adsense OS. Two, the last few years Linux actually runs most games pretty well. Steam fully works on it. Most people were reluctant to switch simply because of gaming instability.

So far I've been able to find almost all the software I use on Windows also Linux or a replacement for it. I plan on buying a 2nd or 3rd Gen Lenovo ThinkPad with probably a Ryzen 7 Pro in it and upgrading it to Linux Mint right away.

If you're curious about looking to switch or got questions, or even just want to try it by installing it on a USB stick and running it off that to test it, go for it. I suggest the Cinnamon Edition if you plan on trying it out.

https://linuxmint.com/download.php

[Yes or No]

I played around with this a few months ago. Pop_OS! was the best distro I found that was able to do everything I wanted it to do.

Regardless of which distro you choose, if you use Claude, it will help you navigate any hiccups you run into and make the experience and transition pretty easy.

You will probably have to play around in the terminal a bit no matter what. It's not as easy as Windows, though all distros are pretty much infinitely easier than they were 15 years ago.

I have a dual boot with Windows at the moment because there's one game I need the Xbox network for. The game will run, but without gamebar it's just a PITA. Were it not for the one game I would have a Linux exclusive system.

[Yes or No]

They're faster, they're more reliable and stable, they don't come with spyware. And they're all free.

Linux > Windows.

The spyware with Windows has gotten out of control and with Microsoft no doubt moving further and further down the ai rabbit hole, they are going to look at every single thing you do, how you do it, what you say, how you think when you say it, etc. All of it.

Not to mention Windows is already screenshotting your entire desktop every few seconds. Literally. And while it's not supposed to do this, it does indeed store your address, credit card info, social security, etc. Those things definitely leak through. It's a security nightmare.

[Meticode]

I played around with this a few months ago. Pop_OS! was the best distro I found that was able to do everything I wanted it to do.

Regardless of which distro you choose, if you use Claude, it will help you navigate any hiccups you run into and make the experience and transition pretty easy.

You will probably have to play around in the terminal a bit no matter what. It's not as easy as Windows, though all distros are pretty much infinitely easier than they were 15 years ago.

I have a dual boot with Windows at the moment because there's one game I need the Xbox network for. The game will run, but without gamebar it's just a PITA. Were it not for the one game I would have a Linux exclusive system.

I ended up going with Linux Mint the first try. The only hiccup I ran into was initially after installing the OS on my partition Windows Boot Manager wouldn't disable and would want me to boot into Windows (which was reformatted off my hard-drive by the Linux Mint installer). After a bunch of researching I had to go into the partition tool on the Linux Mint OS on the thump drive I was installing from and remove all the partitions that exist, make a new parition for the EFI, then go into the BIOS and disable Secure Boot and make Linux the first thing that would run on boot up. After that it's been smooth sailing.

Linux Mint has been great the week I've tried it. I haven't wanted to go back to Windows at all. It' way more customizable, much easier on my old laptop's system and everything feels 'integrated' from the extensions, to apps, to applets.

It's nice not having to worry about an anti-virus or spyware. You only need tow worry about a anti-virus if you're sharing Windows apps from another computer. I don't really game on my laptop, so that's not an issue plus if I did I'd just use Steam anyway.

[jstern]

I have an old original Pentium 1 CPU, 75 MHz, I'm thinking of buying a Socket 7 motherboard, ram, etc, and installing Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME and this on it. (4 different CF cards) Just to bring it back to life. With a CF card, it will be completely silent. Maybe I'll overclock it to 100 MHz.

[diamenz]

I have an old original Pentium 1 CPU, 75 MHz, I'm thinking of buying a Socket 7 motherboard, ram, etc, and installing Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME and this on it. (4 different CF cards) Just to bring it back to life. With a CF card, it will be completely silent. Maybe I'll overclock it to 100 MHz.

what games would you play?

[jstern]

what games would you play?

That's a good question, makes me actually start building it this week, rather than in a few years.

Probably NBA Live 95 and 96. Super Street Fighter 2 and Street Fighter Alpha. I'll probably play the Golf floppy disk that I mentioned in Jasper's thread. Mortal Kombat Trilogy for the PC is considered the best version. Doom.

It's too much work, though. This is more suited for computer nerds, like highwhey.

[Meticode]

I'm still running Linux Mint two or three weeks later. I don't think I'll ever go back to Windows unless there's a major overhaul on Linux or Windows that makes me want to switch. I plan on buying a ThinkPad. Maybe a T495 or T495s. I was looking into the T480 for upgradability, but that doesn't concern me really since Linux is such a lightweight OS anyway. I'm running this currently on a i3-7100u with only 12GB of RAM on a Acer laptop that is 9 years old. I'll probably lean towards getting a T495s with a AMD Ryzen 5 Pro in it. There's going for about $250-350 on Back Market and eBay for re-certified ones. Might weight closer towards Black Friday or Cyber Monday to snatch a deal.

I'm still trying to decide on what browser to use. I use a private Chrome adaption called Thorium. That was okay. I've used the built-in Firefox that comes with Linux Mint, and I've used LibreWolf which is basically a restricted version of Firefox built for privacy.

The only hiccup I've found on Linux Mint for me is my drivers for my wifi card make it so I can only achieve 30% of my actual wifi speed. I've turned off Power Management mode and tried a bunch of stuff with the kernels to no avail. It seems to be a restriction associated with my wifi card which is a Atheros. That's another reason I'm looking to go to a ThinkPad. They're highly supported as long as you don't get extremely new ones with new hardware.