I bought a new harddrive for £15 from Cex rather than erase everything I have on that Windows drive. I easily swapped the disks in the laptop.

Downloaded the appropriate ISO image of MINT with Cinnamon from here:
https://linuxmint.com/download.php

Clicked the file and selected "Burn to disk". With a blank recordable dvd in the pcs drive.

Rebooted. Installed. About 30 minutes later, I have free software, included all free office applications. Took a few hours to adjust to the new interface and figure it all out.

Really really easy. So far, 3 days in and I get a little bit of happiness every time I realise I am no longer at the mercy of Microsoft's upgrades and the other things that use to annoy me about MS.
There seems to be a lot of upsides at the moment, and not sure whether there will be any downsides.

If you are fed up with Microsoft, this could be a nice and relatively easy alternative for you.

Thought I would share.

Apart from loads of software not running under linux, quite a few printer and other peripherals not working under it and the non-standard office suite you're now running, you'll probably be ok!.
I always amazed at the slating Microsoft get, they've given the whole world Windows 10 free of charge, I really dont see what the issue is, I'm an ex network manager of a local academy and we were predominantly Microsoft based apart from 25 Apple machines. The 25 apple machines caused more support calls than the other 950 PC's that we had.
Good luck with Linux, I worked with Unix for a while (Linux was born out or unix) and it had an awful ability to bite and bite very hard, that said, it was also very, very powerful OS. BMW i3 Electric Car
2012 Full Fat RR 4.4 TDV8 (now gone)
2006 VW Touareg 3.0 TDi V6

@ Sausage Creature

Welcome aboard (been using Linux as my primary Os for 10 years + now), persevere... it will be worth it

@ AJGalaxy2012

"Apart from loads of software not running under linux, quite a few printer and other peripherals not working under it and the non-standard office suite you're now running"

Typical non believer

You find the linux alternative for software, and often find it is better, my 12 year old printer scanner MFP is not supported by Windows 10, but all functions work perfectly under linux, what is non standard about Libreoffice? It sets and operates under the universally accepted standard that Microsoft seem unable to meet.

and of course everyone has Google to use instead of either, just fire up your browser and away you go, no need for anything running on the dekstop. Get a chromebook Rant over back to cars  .
Experience is the only genuine knowledge, but as time passes, I have forgotten more than I can remember
Volvo V70 P2 2006 2.4 Petrol 170bhp Estate SE
MG Midget Mk1 1962

Previous: L322 Range Rover TDV8 3.6 2008; L322 Range Rover TD6 3.0 2002; P38A Range Rover V8 1999

Well having spent a lifetime around programming (realtime machine control) and I.T. I have more than a bit of experience. Some people like to knock Microsoft for the hell of it yet it's a very powerful and stable operating system, the numbers of users illustrate that perfectly. I'm sure Linux is the preferred platform for old and outdated hardware , Windows has moved on for sure and I know linux is good at driving all sorts of peripherals but when it really gets down to the specialist stuff eg radar, sonar, blueview sonar, comms equipment, matrix units Linux is never listed as a n acceptable O/S.

Typical none believer - NO, realistic viewpoint based on years of experience - Yes! BMW i3 Electric Car
2012 Full Fat RR 4.4 TDV8 (now gone)
2006 VW Touareg 3.0 TDi V6

seriously brainwashed

Take a look here:

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/linux-market-share/ .
Experience is the only genuine knowledge, but as time passes, I have forgotten more than I can remember
Volvo V70 P2 2006 2.4 Petrol 170bhp Estate SE
MG Midget Mk1 1962

Previous: L322 Range Rover TDV8 3.6 2008; L322 Range Rover TD6 3.0 2002; P38A Range Rover V8 1999

I've seen it all before, I KNOW what goes on in the real world first hand with industrial, education and home users alike, the majority is definitely NOT Linux for very good reasons. It's not at the market forefront because Microsofts OS is better, end of, it gives completely seamless integration to a wide variety of things that third rate Linux users could only dream of, they just spend their time knocking Windows to console themselves  BMW i3 Electric Car
2012 Full Fat RR 4.4 TDV8 (now gone)
2006 VW Touareg 3.0 TDi V6

I've tried Linux a few times but keep going back to Windows. Linux is just a pain to do stuff with - all that command like crap, setting permissions, etc.

I recently needed to copy some Linux OS files to a drive for a NAS box. What would have taken 5 minutes with Windows took all day with Ubuntu as I searched the 'net for help.

I hate Macs equally. My wife uses one and I find Windows much easier to use. Ron B. VK2OTC
2004 L322 V8 Auto
2007 Yamaha XJR1300
Previous: 1983, 1986 RRC; 1995, 1996 P38A; 1995 Disco1; 1984 V8 County 110; Series IIA

Joe90 wrote:

You find the linux alternative for software, and often find it is better, my 12 year old printer scanner MFP is not supported by Windows 10, but all functions work perfectly under linux,

i use Vuescan too for my old but perfect Epson Scanner, it works really well, great program. BMW i3 Electric Car
2012 Full Fat RR 4.4 TDV8 (now gone)
2006 VW Touareg 3.0 TDi V6

Hi AJGalaxy2012,

thanks for your comments, and I generally agree with the first post. However, I was simply saying that for me, like many, but not all, I am utterly fed up with MS/Win tech and decided to move over. It was easy, simple and quick. So as to encourage others who might feel the same to try.

Your response does sound a little like it is coming from an emotional perspective, "things not working" "non standard"...ok, well Im not sure that stepping outside of MS office for a productivity tool really creates any real world down sides. FUD marketing does a lot to keep people in check and here there is no need for it. Everything is working fine, in fact better than it was on Win10. I haven't yet tried my printer, but the drivers are available and I do not foresee a problem. A printer is
a not a complex nuclear reactor, it's simple tech that is well established.

Everything else has been super simple. To address the comments about copying files. My Windows shares between laptop and server were always an utter pain to maintain. So far with Linux this has been trouble free, easy and again, far simpler than in Windows.

Quite frankly Windows and MS are no longer fit for purpose. It's a mess, a sprawling OS overflowing with inconsistent design concepts, and confused architecture, a truly bad implementation that has gotten completely out of control. The problems started with the vista team, and entirely new set of staff to build an entirely new OS that had no legacy or inheritance from the old. This was intended. However, what happened was everyone was so accustomed to Windows that a lot of things got into the new os because that is how the new kids on the block thought it should be done, they built what they were used to even though it was supposed to all be brand new, they re-ionvented the wheels, but made it look and work differently from kernel up. In reality many things were half implemented by people that barely understood what it was they were copying. As a result, an utterly half baked, and totally schizophrenic OS was birthed into Win Vista. Vista, 7, and 8 were all utterly . 7 being the best of a bad bunch, but still awful.
Windows 10 - well, no comment.

I dont hate on MS for the sake of it, I liked MS, and started my career with them and early versions of DOS, I was offered a job at MS and have really enjoyed years of their software and the good times. But they are out of touch, and have no clear idea or direction at the moment and are going from one calamity to another having lost a clear sense of direction with Vista and the new team. That is the heart of the problems at MS. However, the truth is, the current OS and productivity set up is a real mess and just because the exception handling is better, it does not mean that the BSOD has gone away, it's just hidden and handled differently. I still get them though on WIn7.

I've never met a safety critical system, high volume transaction system, or business critical system that would have been more stable in Windows though. Hence the MOD, the large banks, insurance cos, telcos that have been my client base tend to chose a Unix variant. I will say that IMO windows is just the simplest choice for most clients - it is a case of cost/bens/risk analysis. This does not make it the more stable option or the best option though. It is not the best choice, and Linux is generally a smarter choice but many CTOs and CIOs are nervous about stepping away from Wintel for many reasons, some valid, some not. With the new SW eco system being highly cloud driven this makes moving away from Wintel even more of a headache for IT departments, but the buy ins to Wintel are now a noose around ones neck and a very tight leash. This is part of the Faustian deal with Wintel. So once you start to invest in MS these days, things tend to get very stitched up and it is hard to extract.

There are a million facets to this argument and I'd rather go out and do something nice in the sunshine.

The short of it is, dont switch with your eyes closed, however, if you are utterly fed up with Windows (as many rightly are) then why not spend less than 4 pints of beer and a few hours and see if you can find a better alternative.

Last edited by uzp315 on 28th Aug 2019 5:29pm. Edited 1 time in total

Feasible to run Windows and Linux on the same machine? John
2008 Stornoway Grey 3.6 Tdv8 Vogue
2005 TD6 Java Black Vogue - Written off!!
GAP iiD BT
2003 Discovery TD5 Auto, Nanocom Evolution - gone to a new home!
MasseyFerguson 152 - No electronics!! - Sold

You can run "virtual" machines.

Mike

You may not even need a VM anymore. Windows has something called WSL which allows you to run a Linux environment directly within Windows.

I've seen the above arguments "my OS is better than your OS" a thousand times on forums. I work for Microsoft. I run mainly Windows and a couple of Linux boxes. I find Linux incredibly powerful for certain things but I would never consider it suitable for my needs as a desktop environment, even as a personal OS. I have also found it painful to upgrade to a later version (Ubuntu). Might just be me but something always breaks .

There is a lot of opinion in posts above being presented as fact. Pick the OS that works for you. And if it works for you, stick with it. Simple as that. I've never got on with MacOS but that doesn't make me think it's a bad OS. Millions of people adore it. 2016 Skoda Octavia VRS Estate
<gone>2009 FF Vogue TDV8 Buckingham Blue</gone>
<gone>2015 BMW 520D SE (not my favourite car)</gone>
<gone>2009 D3 HSE Galway Green</gone>

I’m not joining the debate (can’t as I have a Mac) but I have Office 365 through my sons work and now that I am retired I just open the occasional MS Word document and even more rarely MS Excel. Happy to say PowerPoint is a thing of the past and i’m sure there is other functionality that I never use. I’m pretty certain I could get by with Open Office or even the free stuff that comes with a Mac - if my freebie ever dries up that is.  Geoff

I just thought of something, the reason I have a Mac is that all my working life I had Windows (Corporate policies) then when I retired I chose the alternative same with the car, never allowed a 4x4 that’s why I have Range Rovers now I can choose  Geoff