Why you should replace Windows 7 with Linux
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@mossman said in Why you should replace Windows 7 with Linux:
@justinzobel said in Why you should replace Windows 7 with Linux:
@bonetone I just removed them all and slimmed the Start Menu down to one list (the left side).
Funny enough, I had forgotten how to junk all the junk for the start menu on this recently installed laptop and just looked up how to do it five minutes ago - as you describe.
Typical Micrsoft bad UI design that there is no description anywhere why those tiles are there and no option to just get rid of them(*). No, you have to figure out yourself that they are applications which have been "pinned to start" by the system in the first place - and that to get rid of them you have to right-click each one and un-pin it manually....
(*) there are options for including or excluding "most used", "recently added" etc. but clicking all those options affects everything EXCEPT the ones I wanted to get rid of! Why not have another option for "pinned tiles"?!? Then you could not only get rid of them with one click, you could also figure out why that junk is there in the first place...
I've seen a few powershell scripts to remove MOST of the titles, then you just clean up the few that remain.
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@Catweazle said in Why you should replace Windows 7 with Linux:
(Curious that Krita, an OpenSource program, which can be downloaded for free from the official website, in the Windows Store is offered for € 9.95)
https://binary-factory.kde.org/job/Krita_Stable_Windows_Build/ Daily Windows builds of stable with bug fixes on top, linked on Krita download page.
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@Catweazle said in Why you should replace Windows 7 with Linux:
@mossman , this may also work on the company's PC, provided you are authorized to create a folder
I posted after doing that... I see the list, but a lot of them require admin to open the actual settings.
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@Catweazle said in Why you should replace Windows 7 with Linux:
To facilitate access to all options you can create a God mode in Windows10.
Simply create a new folder in any directory and call it
GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}Warning! This does weird things in Windows Explorer...
I had a bit of a panic this morning because I could not find TotalCommander which I always run instead of Windows Explorer. It was still listed in the start menu and when I opened it I discovered that every folder containing my own software was visible in TotalCommander but missing in Windows Explorer (including Vivaldi). This was the same area I had put the God Mode folder.
When I moved the God Mode folder, all the software folders reappeared in Windows Explorer...
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I never had this problem, although I have not put this 'God Mode' on the desktop, but in a separate folder and on the taskbar, there I also have access to the programs I use most. I don't like the desktop full of icons, as some have.
PD I use Double Commander (Same as Total Commander, but Open Source, 100% free, cross Platform) -
Linux Mint is very good too, very friendly.
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Made the jump almost 20 years ago now. Was a bit surprised back when, when I had to switch to the Windows 2000 machine for a bit after a hardware failure - and found I hadn't used it in a year. Sync is nice as portal of backup. Before the last upgrade, I opened all the tabs on another machine and after the upgrade, simply reversed the process.
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@folgore101:
check these links out:
https://rufus.ie
https://www.tecmint.com/linux-mint-installation-guide/Just make sure that you can boot your PC from a USB drive, this might require some settings in the BIOS settings.
Great christas project!
/Niels -
@folgore101:
For the best result I'd suggest you use the 'Erase disk and install Linux Mint' option.
/Niels -
@nielsrasmus said in Why you should replace Windows 7 with Linux:
@folgore101:
check these links out:
https://rufus.ie
https://www.tecmint.com/linux-mint-installation-guide/Just make sure that you can boot your PC from a USB drive, this might require some settings in the BIOS settings.
Great christas project!
/NielsThanks, i know the first one and i use it. The guide will certainly be useful.
@nielsrasmus said in Why you should replace Windows 7 with Linux:
@folgore101:
For the best result I'd suggest you use the 'Erase disk and install Linux Mint' option.
/NielsI have an SSD that advances me and will be completely dedicated to Linux Mint.
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For those who want to switch to Linux and don't know which distro to choose, this page can help them find exactly the distro that best suits their needs.
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@Catweazle I did the test and got this: "We could not calculate a list based on your given answers"
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@seeley Maybe you should start a new distro
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Just to put a little bit of balance into the conversation...
I started using Microsoft Windows when it was version 3.1, and Autocad came on something like 20 1.44 floppies. I then moved on to Windows 95, 97 and ultimately XP. In my opinion XP was the best Microsoft had to offer, and after using Windows 7 and 10 intermittently I believe this is still the case.
By Windows 95 I had started experimenting with Linux distributions, which at that time, could be quite challenging to install on some hardware.
By Windows XP I was dual booting and doing as much work as possible in Linux. This was primarily due to it's stability and usability. Even then I found the KDE or Gnome desktops far easier and better integrated than any of the Microsoft distributions I had used. At one point I installed a window manager for 97 and XP called Litestep. I did this just to give it a chance of competing with the multitude of excellent Linux desktops and window managers available.If I sound like I'm just a Microsoft basher, I'm not, there are a number of Linux distributions that I've tried and did not like. This is possibly the difference between myself and Koolio. I simply prefer the choices I get using Linux. If I don't like a distribution or a particular window manager, I don't use it, and choose another.
I believe the "complete amateurs" referred to have done an amazing job, for which I am very grateful, and I prefer it to whats on offer from the consummate professionals at Microsoft.
BTW: Vivaldi is a great browser and I hope it does well into the future. However if you change to Linux and start to become used to grouping your work in super efficient virtual desktops, you may find tabs will start to get in the way.
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@buzzb , for users familiar with Linux, naturally this is no problem, but for those who are new in Linux. It is naturally convenient for them to replace Windows with an OS as similar as possible.
Even more advisable to do it in dual boot, keeping Windows for home use with its customary programs.
But adding, for those who mainly move on the network, the OS they use, in the background is irrelevant. -
@Catweazle , absolutely, that is how I started.
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@buzzb , and me. The only problem with Windows 7, when it stops receiving support, is that it gradually loses security on the network, but it will continue to work perfectly as far as the user wants, for example with its office applications, games, etc. Then Linux he can use for navigation, where it is not so important what distro use for.
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i have used vivaldi as my main browser for many years... been a solid linux user since 2014 and have ran windows on machines since 1990 , had also ran and worked on computers since 1986. I can say that Vivaldi is one awesome browser and i would love for it to implement a way to back up and restore locally,even my synch password so that if i format a machine,I would have a way to restore all of my favorite sites (Including this page) without hassles.
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@linfan: be glad... windows 7 was ok but then proprietary. When win 10 came,many lost thier stuff.. lol this is why i am an avid linux user.
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I got lured in with these kind of articles, and replaced the hard-drive of a brand new HP laptop with a bigger SSD and installed Linux Mint...
Things that made me give up on the idea and why that laptop sits in a corner, never used again:
Repeatedly having to go back to forums and ask noob questions... and not understanding the answers.
Learning that the developers of Mint didn't consider it a replacement for Windows and code it 'just for fun', with no interest or intention of helping Window users migrate (and this is meant to be THE distribution for those like me, migrating?)
Clunky irritations that weren't worth doing the noob questions thing about but which still irritated
The fact that not only is Office not available for Linux, nor are the Serif/Affinity alternative to Adobe. Nor is my fav video editor... Basically I realized all my fav software was Windows, and while some alternatives existed, they mostly suck like free software always does. Always.
The final straw was when the 3rd hotel in a row had awful wifi that I just couldn't connect to... until discovering that some or all versions of mintylunuxdwardfwhatever WON'T CONNECT to Wifi unless it's private WLAN, regardless if you want to or not. So I was lugging my laptop around like a paperweight, while becoming increasingly rude to various (entirely innocent) Malaysian hotel staff.
Oh and the password thing. Got SO effing sick of typing in my password, holy %##Technically I know I CAN use it for various tasks, if I really have to, but my levels of enjoyment went from "Yeah! Sticking it to the man! It's gonna get MINTY fresh around here!" to "Password again? I'm not USING that deposit thing, I deleted it already, why does it keep telling me it can't update it? And what the heck is... oh wait, why? Oh WTF? Look, can I just.. password? Oh it nearly 8pm? Welp, time for bed then...I have a headache"
Oh and that was a previous version of Mint, 11 I think, as the latest version at the time had all kinds of issues, including not booting, that the fanboys just didn't bother to mention for my first 3 days of trouble-shooting the thing.
And much as I despise Win10's updated updates of it's updated updating updates, I've always found 'free' (my time isn't) software to be no better in that regard.
I'll stick with Win7 until it physically quits working. And I have backup hardware.