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I agree that Windows 7 was the last good GUI as it used/was based on the classic Windows 95 interface that was created from extensive user testing and feedback and is what established Windows around the world as the dominate desktop OS. But since then it’s been all downhill and Microsoft no longer seems to know how to design/create a functional and productive GUI. Not surprising as they stopped listening to feedback from users (ex. they ignore the majority of it in their feedback hub) as well they really no longer respect the user as has been evident for quite some time with the behavior of their “Windows as a service” that started with 10.
It was all why I stayed on Windows 8.1 for quite a while and used Classic/Open Shell until support ended for 8.1 recently. Since then I have moved on to Linux Mint 21.1 LTS (Cinnamon version) little over two months ago now on two Dell desktop PC’s. No regrets at all, in fact I wish that I had made the switch much sooner. Mint is a great OS, very stable and has an excellent default GUI packed with a ton of features and functionality, so no need for any third party GUI software to correct anything. And best of all Mint still respects the end user with easy built-in control over updates (like Windows 8.1 and older). No worries about triggering the install of anything just by viewing what’s available or having to jump through a bunch of hoops or use third party software to try to control updates.
I still have to use Windows 10 (Enterprise) at work and wish I could install third party GUI software but it’s not allowed. Thankfully they have no plans to even consider Windows 11. Otherwise personally I’m done dealing with Microsoft’s clown show!
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“It’s better than putting up with Windows update craziness every month!”
Yes, very true! Next week’s Microsoft patch Tuesday will be the first time I have not had to worry about updating any personal Windows systems since they are now running Linux Mint instead. Although I think updating Windows 8.1 has always been much easier and much less risky than newer “Windows as a service” versions. But regardless it’s quite refreshing to not even have to think about it anymore. Instead Linux is just inherently more secure and does not require updates every month. So now after running Linux Mint for just a week I can’t help but think to myself, “Why did I not switch to Linux sooner?”. =D
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I understand as I have only used Windows as well (since 1996) and have had very limited exposure to Linux until recently. But the Linux Mint developers have done a great job to make their OS easy to understand and intuitive to use. If you want to give it a test run, no need for a virtual box/machine. Instead see the installation guide here where you can decide what edition (Cinnamon, Mate, or Xfce) to download and how to create a bootable USB drive (or DVD) that will run a live session of Linux Mint and does not affect the existing operating system on your hard drive. However something to keep in mind is that a live session will be slower since it only runs off the USB drive as well as changes made are not permanent and will be lost on a reboot since it does not write anything to the USB drive. If you decide to install Linux Mint on your hard drive you can either dual boot with Windows or backup all your data to an external source then wipe the drive and install Linux Mint. Either option can be done from a live session.
For existing data, I normally keep backups of all of it on a local NAS (network attached storage) device and just copied it back to the SSD after wiping the drive and installing Linux Mint. But if you dual boot, Linux Mint will be able to see the existing data on the drive. For bookmarks, I exported them from Firefox and Ungoogled Chromium to an html file (saved to the NAS) then imported them into the respective web browsers in Linux Mint. For most other existing files (ex. videos, mp3, Microsoft Word/Excel, pdf, etc.) they can be opened in software that is included with Mint (ex. LibreOffice). For data from Outlook that was stored in a PST file, I had to export calendar and contacts to isc files that could then be imported to Thunderbird. The harder part was trying to migrate hundreds of locally saved email. But I ended up using the online account method with my Proton Mail account and their bridge application where I copied the email from Outlook into the Proton Mail account archive folder. Then in Thunderbird on Linux Mint I copied the email back down locally then deleted it from the Proton account since I do not want/normally keep it there. Instead like the PST file before I now backup the Thunderbird profile (that contains the email, calendar, contacts, etc.) to the NAS.
Otherwise all has been working very well on Linux Mint since migrating about 4 days ago. The system is very stable and fast even when running the Windows 8.1 virtual machine. The only issue I’ve encountered was an annoying pop when a new sound would play. But after a quick search online it was easily fixed via a terminal command to prevent the sound card driver from going into power save mode (the pop was caused by the sound card waking up to play the media).
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I have two Windows 8.1 (Pro with Classic/Open Shell) desktops that I was planning an eventual move to Linux since Microsoft’s “Windows as a service” with Windows 10 (or newer) is just not an option for me, primarily due to lack of easy built-in control over updates and dislike for all the telemetry they try to collect. I don’t want anything updating on my system without my explicit consent. And I really don’t care to use third party tools or have to jump through a bunch of hoops to try to prevent Microsoft from controlling my system. But I digress…
I recently started testing Linux Mint Cinnamon a few days ago via a bootable USB. I was very impressed with the setup and operation. Everything just worked, it detected and installed all needed hardware drivers right away and I was able to immediately start evaluating/testing how the system works and that needed software is available (ex. Firefox ESR, Ungoogled Chromium, Proton Mail Bridge, KeePass, Citrix). For f.lux, software that is used to change the color (and brightness) of your screen based on time of day to help reduce impact to your sleep cycle, I found Linux Mint already has the functionality built-in via an application called Redshift. Otherwise the only exception was QTranslate that is only made for Windows and which I could not find a Linux application that even comes close to the same feature set and functionality. However as a workaround for when I need to use QTranslate I was able to use Oracle VirtualBox to run a Windows 8.1 virtual machine. However keep in mind to do that well a computer needs to have proper hardware in particular a high amount of memory (ex. minimum 16 GB) as each virtual machine also needs/uses some of the system’s memory.
So instead of waiting, I decided to go ahead with a full install of Linux Mint on the SSD on one of the two desktops after taking a Macrium Image of the Windows 8.1 system to fall back on if needed. Everything worked even better and was a lot faster being able to take advantage of the SSD. Then after taking a whole day to configure the system as needed I used Macrium to create an image and since the other desktop has exactly the same hardware I was able to simply restore the image to it. So now both desktops are running Linux Mint Cinnamon with the option to run a Windows 8.1 virtual machine.
There is still a bit of a learning curve to learn more details and tips/tricks with Linux. But Mint made the set up and running of a Linux system very easy. It’s very intuitive and works well out of the box.
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