Had it with Windows...

[Rich Engelhardt]

Now that I'm retired, I no longer need to run Windows.
I've been putting off the switch to Linux, but, last night's fiasco upgrade of Win 10 - that I neither wanted or needed, but, the Microsoft gods felt my puny opinion didn't count,,,,trashed my laptop.

Rather than try to repair the Windows, I believe now is the time to make a clean break from Microsoft and switch to something else.

Anyone running a Chrome book?
What's a simple easy bulletproof build of Linux?

All I run is a browser (Chrome) and LibreOffice & a few real basic - like picture and mp3 player programs.

Can I run either as a virtual PC?

Mac is out. Too expensive.

[Mike Circo]

I have a cheap refurbished HP laptop (i5 processor 4gb RAM, 320gb drive) that was too weak to run Windows 10 well.
I put Ubuntu 14.04 on it. The latest version 16.04 LTS is out, and that works excellent too.

Takes all of 45 minutes to install. If you opt to load "partner" software, you will get LibreOffice and a bunch of other essential programs.
It has been an absolute dream for web usage and simple office tasks. Fast, simple and absolutely reliable.

I've used windows since the first versions 3.0 came out. Every release I learn to hate it more. Linux and Ubuntu are my go-to for everything except games now.

[Art Mann]

Linux is fine if you can find the software you need for the tasks you have. I use a few CAD programs that are not available under Linux. I also use CNC router design and toolpath generating software than won't work with Linux. I don't like the windows operating system either but sometimes it is your only choice.

[William Adams]

My son uses a Chromebook as his portable and is pleased w/ it --- if one is willing to work w/in Google's cloud storage eco-system it works fine.

Ubuntu is the usual suggestion for a beginners Linux distro and works well on supported hardware. Since Linux is free/opensource, no problems w/ running it in a virtual environment licensing-wise, which is usually the major hurdle.

Another option is to try out a live USB distro --- just place it on a USB flash drive, set your system to allow booting from USB, plug-in and reboot.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Another option is to try out a live USB distro --- just place it on a USB flash drive, set your system to allow booting from USB, plug-in and reboot.

Outstanding idea!

[Roger Feeley]

I'm stuck with Windows 10 for business but I swear as soon as I truly retire, I am giving it the heave ho.

Someone once said, "People don't want computers, they want computing." That is, people don't want to mess with updates, registries, drivers and all that other nonsense. They just want to write emails, surf the web and do work. I couldn't agree more. I find it maddening that some simple, real world, issue takes me into a never ending tunnel system of Knowledge Base articles that tell me to change this or that registry entry, uninstall and reinstall stuff and who knows what else.

In that sense, Apple has it right. Yes, their stuff is expensive and you are locked into a closed eco-system. But that tight control means that you get stuff that works more seamlessly.

My Windows computer always needs a bit of tweaking. My iPad just works and has never made me say bad words. I have no experience with Linux. I hear it's somewhere in between.

[George Bokros]

In that sense, Apple has it right. Yes, their stuff is expensive and you are locked into a closed eco-system. But that tight control means that you get stuff that works more seamlessly.

Except for IOS10

[Chuck Wintle]

Now that I'm retired, I no longer need to run Windows.
I've been putting off the switch to Linux, but, last night's fiasco upgrade of Win 10 - that I neither wanted or needed, but, the Microsoft gods felt my puny opinion didn't count,,,,trashed my laptop.

Rather than try to repair the Windows, I believe now is the time to make a clean break from Microsoft and switch to something else.

Anyone running a Chrome book?
What's a simple easy bulletproof build of Linux?

All I run is a browser (Chrome) and LibreOffice & a few real basic - like picture and mp3 player programs.

Can I run either as a virtual PC?

Mac is out. Too expensive.

thats why I decided to stay with windows 7 rather than go with the "free" upgrade. Win7 has proven to be very stable and seems to work all the time. You very likely have an option to restore the laptop to the "as shipped version of windows. In the BIOS you can find the way to do that depending on the model of course.

[Tom Stenzel]

Hi Rich,

In Mike Circo's post he mentioned a release Ubuntu LTS. The letters LTS stand for Long Term Support. The LTS releases get security and stability updates but not changes in function. If you find one of these works- and it probably will- you will at least have a system you don't have to abandon for a while.

I'm not required to have Windows for any reason either. The big weakness of Linux is games. Since I've had a home computer since '78 I burned out on computer games a couple decades ago. That's what the Wii is for.

Still, all is not swell on the Linux front. Recently the weather applet on my Mate Desktop stopped working. It turns out that the noaa.gov web site was shut down and the function transferred to weather.gov. Ok, swell. Unfortunately the web addresses were hard coded into the libraries. And the old obscure Mate branch isn't being updated for me. I have to fix it myself. It's really simple. All I need to do is:

1. Download the development files with apt-get. No, the ubuntu commands won't work, haven't sorted out what will. Synaptic package manager to the rescue! I think.

2. Find the offending lines with noaa.gov in some *.c file, replace them with weather.gov and a few other changes. At least finding out what's needed for that part was relatively easy to find on the 'net.

3. Compile the resulting mess with a command that looks like it came out of broken typewriter.*

4. Create the installation file (.deb in my case) with another broken typewriter command.

5. Run the GDebi deb installer.

6. Turn the applet on.

(I haven't done this yet so I don't know if it'll all work out)

See? Wasn't that simple? If it all works I now know what the temperature is outside! Yay! Or I could have looked at my outdoor thermometer. But how progressive is that?

;-)

-Tom

* I've taken a C programming course but still can't program my way out of wet paper bag. It takes a mindset I just don't have. But I've found and fixed a few problems in other's programs.

[Rich Riddle]

Here I thought you were talking about windows in houses. I was wondering how you would get around that pesky code that requires them. Convert to a Mac and get over it. Once you do, you won't look back.

[Keith Outten]

I agree with Rich. I made the switch to Apple products several years ago and in spite of the higher initial cost of the hardware I think its cheaper in the long run. Their machines just work and I haven't had one to die or fail to boot up yet. Way less stress using the Apple operating systems, this is worth the price of admission in my book. I keep my systems updated and always wait at least three days before I upgrade, by that time millions of people have proven the upgrades to be sound or Apple has had time to make adjustments when they have problems.

I still own one PC running Windows XP Pro that is in my workshop. It runs my Laser Engraver and my CNC Router but it is not connected to the Internet.
My first iMac has had Parallels installed so I could install Windows 7 on it and use it in my office for CNC and Engraving design projects...but I don't use the Windows side of the machine on the Internet. This has been working pretty good for several weeks now and I really like the large screen and very high resolution of the iMac. Drawing with CAD/Graphic programs is so much easier with a large high definition monitor.

[Barry McFadden]

Now that I'm retired, I no longer need to run Windows.
I've been putting off the switch to Linux, but, last night's fiasco upgrade of Win 10 - that I neither wanted or needed, but, the Microsoft gods felt my puny opinion didn't count,,,,trashed my laptop.

Rather than try to repair the Windows, I believe now is the time to make a clean break from Microsoft and switch to something else.

Anyone running a Chrome book?
What's a simple easy bulletproof build of Linux?

All I run is a browser (Chrome) and LibreOffice & a few real basic - like picture and mp3 player programs.

Can I run either as a virtual PC?

Mac is out. Too expensive.

I don't understand when people say the Win 10 upgrade was "forced" on them. I, like everyone else, kept getting all the reminders to upgrade but I never did upgrade and nothing was forced on me.

[Mark Blatter]

I don't understand when people say the Win 10 upgrade was "forced" on them. I, like everyone else, kept getting all the reminders to upgrade but I never did upgrade and nothing was forced on me.

I didn't either, until my laptop just upgraded without my approval. I had it on one day and it just ran the upgrade, then it said, 'upgraded to Win 10'. I was able to backtrack because I refused to accept the terms of service. I am back to Win 8 which I hate, but am getting used to. I would much rather have Win 7, but also don't want to buy it so I muddle on with 8.

[William Adams]

There was at least one notice pushed out where closing the window was interpreted as a yes.

[Curt Harms]

Rich, for a fairly simple and painless transition, take a look at Mint with the Cinnamon desktop. Mint is built on Ubuntu's LTS. Benefits of Mint include more codecs for multimedia, a 'sane' user interface and may have better hardware support. Zorin is another distro that is supposed to be good for refugees from Windows but I've never used it. The linux model is quite a bit different than the Microsoft ecosystem. It has its advantages and disadvantages. It sounds like your usage is similar to mine and I haven't needed to start Windows in months except to install updates. I still keep an updated Windows install for the occasional need such as updating a Garmin GPS.

The most frequent problems seem to be hardware support, particularly WiFi. The reasons are too complex to get into here but older hardware is likely to be easy to get working, the newest shiniest stuff may be impossible. A live USB distro is a good way to get a taste for how a distro looks, feels and works with your hardware. It is limited in that it can't be updated and data is not persistent between restarts unless persistence is enabled. Even then there are limitations. There is another way to get a fully functional operating system without installing to a hard drive. It's possible using Ubuntu or Mint's installer to install to a suitably sized flash drive. There are still limitations on speed and durability but you can install hardware such as printers and save data just like to a hard drive. If you want to be safe, create a live USB using something like Unetbootin or Rufus for Windows - there are several programs that do the same thing - then unplug your hard drives. Insert the live USB and a blank flash drive of at least 16 GB. The Live USB drive should boot, click the 'install' icon. That assures you won't mess with your existing setup. You may have to mess with your boot order in BIOS. Oh, and machines that came with Windows 8 or later use UEFI by default. Ubuntu & Mint should work with UEFI and Secure Boot but many disable Secure Boot and use BIOS compatibity mode. Apparently UEFI is implemented differently by different manufacturers, sort of like the early days of IBM clone machines.