Has anyone regretted migrating from MS Winows to Linux?

Title says it all I guess.But to give some background, I've been flirting with Ubuntu (running off a USB stick) for a while and, with some tweaking, have got Wi-Fi going - faster than in Win10 actually.

If I go for a full HD install of Ubuntu it might? trash Win10 (I'm thinking dual boot at first). I'm wonder if I really care though. Obviously I can back up data to an external drive, and I use Open Source software for most things anyway.

I'm thinking out loud here! I think I've convinced myself of the pro's of going this way, but would be interested to hear of any negative experiences people might have had with migrating.

Rob

Windows, not Winows, Mods please edit title! R

Edited By Robin Graham on 17/11/2017 00:05:20

There's another potentially better way. You can get swappable front panel SATA drive-bays fairly inexpensively and simply install (or backup the existing W10) each OS to a separate drive and swap them to suit.

Go for it! I gave up on Windows years ago because it kept corrupting picture files. I still have WinXP, but I use exclusively Ubuntu, selected on switch-on. I haven't had a single problem with it in more than 5 years.

Geoff

I haven't used MS Windows for many years. I use Ubuntu and have not had any problems at all.

Roger

It's just over 4 years since I changed to Linux Mint from XP, it's worked faultlessly now every day since, no 'Blue Screens of Death' and just as fast now as it was when I changed over.

John

Hi Robin,

You 't regret changing to Ubuntu. I have used Linux for years, Mint on very old pcs (maximum RAM less than 1gb RAM), it makes them like when they were new or faster and Ubuntu on the laptop and my workstation. I have a more specialised Linux version for data recovery and fixing hard drive problems on a bootable USB that is also a godsend on old Windows drives. However before installing, back up your data and make a Windows recovery disc or bootable USB key and note the activation key (you never know if you will need it).

Having an ability to have access to Windows is still useful however as sometimes there are programs that only have a Windows version, not so often now but it happens.

The big thing that held me back for a long time from going totally Linux on a day to day basis was Autocad that I have always done my 2D drawings on since 1981. However after I found Draftsight from Dassault Systems the Solidworks people, that went away to. For Linux it is totally free and for me does all I need. For 3D there is FreeCad.

Depending on the size of your existing hard drive I would suggest dual boot as the way to go to.

Using Ubuntu you can do most of your stuff from the GUI a la Windows. After years of working that way I am now learning more about what is under the bonnet and using the terminal more.

Because of Linux being open source and so popular worldwide you will find if you have a problem you will find one or more normally several answers on the net. The askubuntu site seems to come up with an immense amount of help I find.

GO for it.

Paul

I've stayed with Windows (now W10 64bit) for many years now and don't regret it.

Nor have I had any problems with Win10 - apart from trying to run a 10 year old version of TurboCAD on it (It still worked but needed to be 're-authorised' each time) - which I fixed a few weeks ago by buying TCDL 2016 for £20 (at the Midlands Show). I keep a 'clean build' Win XP on a previous PC (never connect it the Internet) for some of my older software which frankly I don't use that much these days...

I have looked at Linux but it seemed like a lot of complex effort to replace something that already works very well, at least for my needs ... a not a very "fashionable" view here perhaps but a practical one.

So no regrets at all - with sticking to MS Win

Regards,

IanT

Rob,

I went through the same a few years ago and dual booted my machine. I found that, as time went on, I realised that Ubuntu was pretty good and that I didn't really need Windows, or any of the crap associated with it (like "I'm going to update now and you will just have to wait until I'm done".

There were two programs which I still needed Windows for - TurboCad and Finale Guitar, however, I discovered that I could use Windows from within Ubuntu by means of Oracle Virtual Box. Although alternative Linux programs were available, I knew how I like to use those Windows programs and the alternatives wanted me to learn something different. I already had an original Vista DVD, so could load that legitimately. I understand that Microsoft make available a version of XP (for free) to run in such a virtual environment if you don't have original media.

The only downside of Ubuntu is that it is written by geeks for geeks (apologies) and they sometimes forget that us mere mortals who don't know the system inside out need keypress by keypress instructions for some things. That said, the only thing I've not been able to do was load something called dxf2gcode. Everything else (including the dual booting and getting VirtualBox and CamBam to work) I managed through following instructions I found on the web.

I do occasionally run Windows outside of Ubuntu but find that happens quite rarely these days and when I do, I get annoyed at how slow it runs and how little respect they have for what you the user wants from the software - the attitude seemingly "you will run this and you will use it this way". Ubuntu isn't like that.

Regards Tom

It's a bit of a paradox. You're effectively asking people who haven't used Windows for years to make a sort of comparison with hindsight and ironically of course, many of them are comparing Windows XP with modern releases of Linux.

I have both, although for engineering business use you pretty much need to have Windows 10. That's basically about compatibility with design tools like CAD. No point getting full of hate - it's a tool, so just live with it.

W7 and W10 are actually pretty lightweight and fast. They also install pretty quickly and easily. If you are worried about cost, you can buy a fully legal, used copy of W10 Pro for literally £3-4 and install it there and then by downloading onto a USB flash drive and booting from it. It will pick up all the wifi, mouse etc etc without you even realising.

Given the low price of a HDD or SSD these days, you may as well unplug your current system drive and plug in a new one for Linux. Then no matter what happens you can swap them back at any time seamlessly. Works for me.

Murray

I've looked at Linux a number of times - got very frustrated by how complex installing software can be (though for a lot of stuff it is fine). I have to use Windows for some of the software I use.

One thing I've come across recently which may be worth being aware of if you dual boot - Linux and Windows store CMOS time differently. Windows writes local time to CMOS, whereas Linux writes UTC to CMOS.

If you change OS (dual boot or swap system disk) it can take a while before system time gets corrected. Many modern licensing systems require contact with a remote server at software launch and will include a time check - if time is significantly out, the software will be disabled.

It is possible to configure Windows to write UTC to CMOS instead of local time - that might be worth looking into if you intend to swap OS.

Installing Ubuntu is as complex as sticking in a DVD and checking a few questions.

Roger

I use Ubuntu for 90% of my home computing : for the reasons given above and others it's my platform of choice. However, as Robin asked about disadvantages:

• Linux is not Windows. Beware if you expect Linux to work in exactly the same way as Windows, and run the same software, and you dislike change or learning new tricks. I have to say this is the real killer in my experience: if it's all you know, the belief that that the Microsoft way is the right way becomes firmly embedded. We all know how difficult is it to break habits, even bad ones like alcohol, pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth!
• Ditto Linux software: for example, LibreOffice isn't 100% compatible with MS-Office. For average home use this may not matter, but it might if you regularly exchange data with a pure Microsoft business, especially if Forms, Macros and Scripts are involved.
• Although Linux supports a good range of software and can run many Windows Applications, Windows does more. The gap isn't enormous but Linux does not run Photoshop, Fusion360, many Games, AutoCAD and a bunch of other 'Windows Only' software. For that reason I dual-boot windows/Ubuntu on my desktop and keep a dedicated Windows10 laptop for Amateur Radio.
• Device Drivers usually appear for Windows first. If you buy new hardware, it may not work until Linux has caught up. Some suppliers deliberately make it difficult for Linux developers, others are helpful. For example HP printers are a good bet on Linux compared with others.
• It may not be straightforward to get LInux on your computer. Some years ago Microsoft introduced a security measure called UEFI that makes it difficult to boot anything other than a Microsoft operating system. These days UEFI isn't a major obstacle to booting Linux but you may have to jump through a few hoops to get it to work. Not everyone has the time or patience!

I hope this doesn't sound intimidating. Many go Linux without problems and find it does everything they want and more. It's not difficult to confirm that your hardware and drivers are Linux compatible before committing to it. You can temporarily boot Linux from a USB stick (or DVD) to check that everything works properly before permanently changing the machine with a full install.

I've never had a problem with dual-booting. Unlike Microsoft which grabs the whole machine, the Linux installer recognises the presence of other operating systems and allows the user to chose if he wants to obliterate them or coexist.

Dave

I've got mint 17 as a dual boot on my laptop. It comes up with a mesage saying something about using the main processor for the graphics, and the background is black whereas it should be a colour. I think this is driver issues, but sorting it is way above my paygrade. Having said that it works perfectly. Unless you are short of disc space, just have dual boot, then you can have the best or worst of both worlds.

Join the Linux Mint Forum, **LINK**

Then post a question on the forum under the beginner's section giving as much detail as possible. Someone will get back to you with a solution or give you some things to do to help the diagnosis.

Russell

Linux Mint includes "Software Manager" giving you access to over 80,000 programs which can be installed just with a single click. I have Linux Mint dual booting with W10 on my laptop for the few programs which are not available for Linux. I use it for just Fusion 360 and for updating my GPS.

Russell

I use both Linux and windows daily. Windows 10 is my work PC and a dual boot Ubuntu/Windows.

Have booted Windows once in 3 months to use a Photo processing application. Everything else I can do under Linux. There is a Linux application "Wine", that will run a number of Windows application without installing a Virtual Machine.

Libre Office us a reasonable substitute for MS Office and Libre CAD is reasonable for 2D Drawings.

Sometimes you need more than the GUI, Google is your best friend. I use linux servers regularly for for work and still use Google.

Peter

Perhaps I should qualify my comments - I did say "...how complex installing software CAN be..." the software managers in several Linux versions are arguable even easier than Windows, which is fine if what is covered by the manager is all that you need.

I've spent ages installing a Brother printer/scanner on a Linux laptop (Ubuntu actually) - this involved very close following of not very clear instructions on printer manufacturer's web site - all this done at the command line with little or no feedback on what was happening. I eventually got it to work. Getting DVDs to play on the same system was another long and drawn out process.

Don't even get me started about the software where the only instructions are mention of a few dependencies, or some gibberish about make files - with nothing to explain what this is all about.

There is some very capable engineering software that is produced for Linux - but when there isn't an rpm file or similar it can be a nightmare. I accept that a lot of that is down to whoever produces the software and (lack of) instructions.

One thing that is good about Windows is the software installation process - you buy the software, run the installer, and (the majority of the time) that's all you need to do. I know it does go wrong sometimes!

I'm not anti-Linux, it frustrates me that much of the Linux community wastes effort on creating multiple systems to tackle the same problem, yet (with notable exceptions) does very little to make Linux accessible to new users.

Just spotted the front cover of a computer mag in a newsagent this morning urging readers to dump windows and use free Chrome OS instead. Must admit I did not know there was such an animal.

Rik

My other half was talked into a Chrome Book by a PC World salesman. Never again. Just trying to print something is a huge faff.

I changed from XP to Mint v.13 when Microsoft stopped supporting XP. There were two reasons for this. One is that more and more I don't like Microsoft's business practices (the UEFI being one of them) and the second was that having experienced the slow death of Windows 2000, I didn't want to go through the same rigmarole with XP. I have to say that up to the demise of XP, I was more or less satisfied with 2K & XP.

Many years ago I tried Suse v.9 so I initially tried that: I could not get on with the then current desktop (KDE4). I moved to Ubuntu: I found the icons appallingly large and the colour scheme atrocious. And then it crashed my test computer. And so I came to Mint v.13 with the Mate desktop.

Mint 13 with the Mate desktop worked perfectly right from the beginning. I did use dual boot, but eventually dropped it. Why Mate? Because there was a user guide for it! Firefox, Thunderbird, Libre Office Calc & Writer all worked as required. Paint Shop pro v.7 (yes it's ancient) worked ok with/via Wine. Ultimately when I found that The Gimp offered something that PSP didn't, I transferred. Two Cad programs (actually old version and newer version) both refused to work with Wine 1.4, but the older version started working ok with Wine v1.6. Taxcalc couldn't be made to fully work with Wine or with Oracle's Virtual Box so was dropped in favour of HMRC's online program. Masterfile Professional, a DOS based database program was got working initially via Virtual Box, but with some assistance from another forum it now works satisfactorily via the DOS emulator, DOSemu.

Today, I'm on Mint v.18.1, still using Mate desktop, albeit a later version, Firefox, Thunderbird, Libre Office Calc & Writer still work ok, The Gimp has totally replaced PSP, and of the two CAD programs, I'm now on v.2.?? of Wine, the earlier version is perfect, whilst the later version has a couple of minor niggles, but otherwise ok. And the DOS database program also works well.

So, I'm happy, I've absolutely no desire to revert to Microsoft, and with a 9 year old laptop I'm not too sure that it would be a happy situation anyway.

Printing. I'm not too sure what happened. I used an ancient HP deskjet printer on aftermarket cartridges which the printer definitely was not happy with. I'm not too sure of the software either. I'm currently running an old HP printer on HP cartridges and all seems ok, but, I've a nasty sneaking thought that from the noise it makes, it might have failed mechanically (again). If so, I do have yet another HP printer to try.

I find the biggest problem is that it works so well, that I've more or less forgotten what I did when I initially set it up.

Regards,

Peter G. Shaw