Switched to Linux

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I’ve had it with Microsoft – from now on it’s Linux for me.

This is not due to any specific event or MS Misstep – just the drumbeat of increasing data grab and self-serving decisions by the big M.

I’ve used Unix/Linux off and on for decades, so making the move is not a big deal. I’ve settled on Linux Mint with Cinnamon desktop.

The few MS apps I like – Word, Excel, Access – are all working acceptably well in Wine.  I can still get Quicken 2004 to run well enough to convert my old checkbooks to .qif files for importing into gnucash. There are some quirks, but not enough to be discouraging to me. Anything else I need is available in native Linux – often in a variety of flavors. There’s not a good replacement for Access yet, but I’m not a big user of it.

I’m not advocating for everyone to follow my choice. But I do recommend at least taking a look at the alternatives. There’s freedom in FOSS!

 

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Mike Cataldo, JPMedia, jburk07, Charlie, DrBonzo, Cybertooth, cybercrone

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I tried moving to Linux back in the ’90s, because I was already fed up, but I found the Linux cabal so unfriendly and actually hostile to newcomers that I had to go back to Windows since no help was available for someone starting at my level.
And I tried several versions of Linux then – can’t even remember what my favourite was.
But you sound as if you can figure things out on your own, so you should have fun with it.

"She was not quite what you would call refined. She was not quite what you would call unrefined.
She was the kind of person that keeps a parrot."
--Mark Twain

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steeviebops, DrBonzo, WSJahnTee

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For a while, Linux forums definitely seemed to be populated mainly by people whose attitude was, “if you can’t figure it out yourself, then don’t bother asking.” But in recent years I’ve found the great majority of people replying to my questions about Linux to be informative and eager to help. The general attitude has changed, at least in my experience.

 

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wavy, jburk07, Charlie, DrBonzo, WSJahnTee, cybercrone

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That’s good to know.  Which distro do you run?

"She was not quite what you would call refined. She was not quite what you would call unrefined.
She was the kind of person that keeps a parrot."
--Mark Twain

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I’ve been on a molasses-speed transition to Kubuntu Linux since about 2017. Been doing more and more of my work on it and am very happy with it, especially given recent improvements in WINE that make working with Windows software much easier and more feasible.

It’ll probably take just one or two “full-dress rehearsals” with work projects to determine how soon I can complete the switch.

 

Keep Running Windows 7 Safely for Years to Come  
Make Windows 10 look and work like Windows 7

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cybercrone, DrBonzo

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@Cybertooth – I agree with your assessment: it seems to be friendlier now than ‘back then’. In addition, nowadays there is are a lot more answers to common questions already posted on the web, plus lots more tutorial sorts of things. So far, I’ve not needed to ask a question on any forum due the the wealth of info out there.

It may also depend on which distro you are working with. I’ve noticed the responses on some fora are rather terse as compared to others. Mint seems pretty friendly to me.

@cybercrone – You’re right – I am comfortable fiddling around with this stuff! Also, the more popular distros, like Mint, become easier to do every year. I just added Mint 21.3 to a Dell laptop, dual boot with Win 11; it was (to me) easier than installing Windows 11. A lot more setup chores are handled with GUI apps these days.

It still helps to know a few terminal commands though! (and vi 

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I have no experience with Windows 11, but anyone who can install Windows 10, or upgrade from 8.1 to 10, or do an over the top repair installation of 10, can install Mint (or Ubuntu). I agree with @cybercrone that a Mint installation (either as single or dual boot) is easier than installing W10 (probably because I don’t have to worry about setting up whatever the equivalent of an MS Account would be as opposed to a local account, and I’m not incessantly nagged to do this or that or whatever).

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Since 2017 I’ve been running some combination of Ubuntu 16.04 and 18.04, and Mint Cinnamon 19, 20, and 21 (each with various “point releases”), always at least 2 computers and sometimes as many as 4. The prevailing attitude in 2017 with Ubuntu was that you were too stupid to live if you couldn’t diagnose and solve issues yourself using the command line. Mint was better but still leaned in that direction. Now, generally that attitude has reversed, and help on the Mint forums and other forums as well is usually quite friendly and helpful. There are exceptions, of course, but you’ll find exceptions on macOS and Windows forums as well.

For me, Mint is hands down the best OS out there (the qualifier is that I’ve only used and tried Ubuntu and Mint; I’m so happy with Mint that I’ve not looked seriously at other distros). Extremely stable and no patching soap operas, patches/updates really do “just work”, and I have complete control over those patches. I rarely have to use the command line for anything.

Before deciding on a distro be sure to try it out from a bootable flash drive and also spend some time getting a feel for how useful that distro’s help forums are going to be for you.

As they say, YMMV, but things have changed a lot for the better in the last several years.

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