Why you should replace Windows 7 with Linux
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@nekomajin: Lovely, I use linux too on my personal laptop and have been using it for just over 4 years
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Hi, it is possible to get Extended Security Updates for Windows 7 Professional and others for several years.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4497181/lifecycle-faq-extended-security-updates
I read in German CT magazine it is about 50€ per year.
It is may not for user with old hardware an low budget.
A friend use accounting software not running on Windows 10 is really happy about, for example.Cheers, mib
https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Windows-7-Extended-Security-Update-Programm-startet-4600178.html -
@mossman I would build up a distro from the base of something with a window manager instead of a desktop if I was limited to 2GB of RAM. Something like i3.
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@justinzobel You might like WindowMaker; I use it on my Acer Aspire One to help reduce the amount of system resources Q4OS uses, keeping the netbook running as fast as possible. From what I can tell, WindowMaker is a little more up-to-date than i3 (at least from what I can gather from their respected websites).
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@justinzobel said in Why you should replace Windows 7 with Linux:
@mossman I would build up a distro from the base of something with a window manager instead of a desktop if I was limited to 2GB of RAM. Something like i3.
I think you and others who replied to me are taking it a bit further than I need... This is a netbook which is used by the family to very occasionally watch a video and maybe check mail on holiday. I don't want to invest much time and effort into it, and it needs to be easy enough for everyone to use.
That's why I want it to work more or less out of the box with me just adding Vivaldi or whatever to the default.
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@mossman , This is what I mean also, in a netbook with limited resources, some of the light distros mentioned before, is indicated. Some basic applications and for occasional uses, using online applications, such as SSuite (small and light office suite, free and without registration necessary and quite good for domestic use), Lunapic, etc.
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It's good that V. is recommending switching to Linux from about-to-be-retired Win7. But it is not good to recommend Solus, or even any single distro, as the replacement. Solus is nice, but young. After now installing it, I see it does not remotely compare to my MX Linux. Give people a few options to choose from, or simply point them to an article comparing distros strong in crossover characteristics.
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@LordOfTheNet1 I'm gonna have to find a cheap used laptop to test all the Linuxes, lol. So many of them sound good, I really need to try all the recommendations to see which one suits me the best. Thanks for your post, good to know.
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@paul1149 said:
It's good that V. is recommending switching to Linux from about-to-be-retired Win7. But it is not good to recommend Solus, or even any single distro, as the replacement. Solus is nice, but young.
I guess that mentioning Solus was just an example as there are tons of different distros to choose from
I've been on Linux since 1998 because of frustration with the constant BSOD on Win95 and havn't looked back since.
I'm using Linux Mint now, and have done for 4 years now.That best distro so far, IMHO.
/Niels -
@nielsrasmus With which DE?
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Ubuntu is not a functional equivalent to Windows anything. Linux Mint's Cinnamon desktop environment is a much closer approximation and has useful features that are missing from Ubuntu/GNOME3. Nobody who is a casual user is going to like Ubuntu after being entrenched in Windows's design philosophy.
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@AMDphreak, I think KDE got pretty close on their desktops. At least I found Kubuntu (19.04) quite similar to Windows, an elegant UI and a simple use.
Ubuntu that I used before, did not convince me at all, I found it quite rough and unstable, with a quite conflicting Compiz that left me twice without a desktop, at least in the version of that time. -
@Catweazle One of the reasons I like Q4OS is that their default desktop is TDE. TDE is a fork of the KDE 3.x desktop. This was before the redesign of KDE 4, which, from my opinion, turned it from a fast, responsive, and easy to configure desktop, into a frustratingly, slow and sluggish desktop.
I think TDE is as close to the classic XP desktop as I've ever seen on Linux, which is probably why Q4OS uses it. It makes it easier for the Windows converts, I think.
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@dbouley , from what I have seen, it is certainly a good alternative for Windows users with a computer with few system resources. I have not tried it and I have to focus on the screenshots of Q4OS, which I think are very reminiscent of the XP and certainly more elegant than the UI of other small distros. I think therefore that for a netbook or tablet it would be a very suitable OS to replace Windows, without complicating too much the life.
Kubuntu is also a good substitute, although not so much for devices as those mentioned, it already requires a not so basic PC, to run smoothly. -
@folgore101:
I'm running Cinnamon 4.2.4 here. It really have improved greatly the last couple of years. It works flawlessly, is speedy and have all the features i want.
It's the only DE I would recommend right now.
/Niels -
Started using Linux a while ago, even before using Vivaldi. Solus is a really good distribution, very stable, but very few applications in the repository by default. You have to use the third party repo and Linux Mint is good for five whole years of support, they have equivalent repos with Ubuntu and even more as Linux Mint's dev team work to support Mint even after Ubuntu has moved on to something shiny and new. Linux is indeed lighter in most cases, but A fun one to try on old systems is Puppy Linux found at puppylinux.com The forums there support people running versions that span all the way back to tahrpup a version built from scratch, but package-wise based losely on Ubuntu 14.04.
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@mossman: Puppy Linux has that but Vivaldi is offered as a community maintained package and the whole thing runs off of RAM so no installation. You can save your documents to it via a save file which is persistant volume.
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As for system requirements, 1 GHz processor and 1 GB RAM is enough for Linux, but not enough for up-to-date sites and browsers
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@d_A_y_x , That the minimum requirements grows over the years, unfortunately it is inevitable.I don't know if there is something equivalent to a Windows function in Linux, which is called Ready Boost and allows you to expand the RAM using a flash drive. This would then be the only possibility, if the PC is too short of memory and you don't want to spend a lot on expanding a very old PC.
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@nielsrasmus Thanks for the information, i've been trying Linux for a while now and maybe during the Christmas holidays i'll try it.