Why you should replace Windows 7 with Linux
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@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.
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Apart of the already mentioned:
Shut Up 10 by O&O SoftwareFor those who have/want to use W 10:
https://forum.vivaldi.net/topic/3921/how-can-i-get-away-from-using-windows/5(The previously mentioned)
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@mikehoulden said in Why you should replace Windows 7 with Linux:
@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.
I have not lost anything at all with Win10, I could even use old XP stuff again that was not compatible with Win7.
I certainly also prefer FOSS, although not fanatically, if a proprietary thing is better than the FOSS alternative, I don't mind using it. Apart there are more FOSS for Windows than for Linux. -
@seeley said in Why you should replace Windows 7 with Linux:
Windows 10 is not a true desktop OS. It's obvious because it's screen elements/text and the space between those elements are HUGE enough to select with your big toe on a touch screen and not a mouse. Therefore, based on Microsoft cutting corners with lousy design implementation, I will NEVER use any Windows OS past Windows 7 unless Microsoft designs a DECENT OS strictly for a desktop PC like Windows 7 was. Apple designs separate OS's for their desktop, their tablet and their phone. Microsoft should learn from Apple.
I thought about Linux for years but the only thing that's keeping me are the choice of programs and the ability to run a windows Adobe Creative Suite without much hassle. Also, I believe storage drives would need to be reformatted which would be a pain.
The tile desktop is optional in W10 and designed for the user of a Tablet, on a PC or Laptop, the desktop is the same as in previous versions of Windows.
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@JoelYoung He speaks about the UWP apps of Windows 8 & 10 that were meant to be running on any Windows platform, tablets, phones, PC. They are not native for the PC but "universal", like the Calculator, Weather, Calendar, Camera, Mail, Movies & TV, Voice Recorder, etc... unfortunately for everyone Windows Phone died a horrible death as expected and this junk was left in the OS for everyone to... admire.
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It's funny that no one has wondered WHY there would still be machines running Win7. The only reason I can see to suggest Linux in this instance is because someone found an old machine that has it and it can't run 8 or 10 or the cost to upgrade outweighs the benefit.
Think about it.
Arguably, any PERSON still using Win7 either didn't care enough about it to upgrade when they had the chance in which case they're not going to care (and probably not know) that Win7 is obsolete or that Linux even exists.
So while we all agree that Linux is a great OS to replace Win7 for the MACHINE, it probably doesn't matter to the OWNER. Saying that you SHOULD do it takes nothing but the machine capability into account.
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@aeonscrim ,I think the reasons can be limited only to ignorance or costs, since Windows 10 does not use much more resources than Windows 7, in fact there are even tablets and netbooks that work with Windows 10.
In general, a PC where Windows 7 works will also work with 10, otherwise they are very old PCs with XP or earlier where there may be problems and where Linux really would be the only alternative. -
Not so.
Many games do not behave properly in windows 10.
This is often due to DirectX no longer handling old functions properly, and MS trying to phase out OpenGL support, so often leaves developers with an SDK they cannot use even if the game works OK. -
@Dr-Flay , it's relative, I have some old XP games that didn't work for me in Windows 7, but now in Windows 10 they work without problems. Windows 10 has a better compatibility mode than 7. For example Dark Messiah in Windows 7 only works with a patch, ,I don't need in Win 10.
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@catweazle: In general, just because a machine will start up and boot an OS doesn't mean it "works".
I shouldn't have to "down tune" Win10 to make it work on a machine previously running 7 full on. I have had to do that more often than not when performing upgrades for customers.
As a matter of fact, I've got an HP 255 G4 on my bench now that absolutely won't work with Win 10 but works with 7 experiencing only minimal issues. It flat out hated Ubuntu 18-10, performed decently with Lubuntu 19-10 but ultimately is now just too under-powered for any real use with a current OS regardless of what's on it.So while you're not wrong, your comment was not helpful in the slightest and I stand by my point of "not all Win7 machines will work with Win 8 or 10".