Why you should replace Windows 7 with Linux
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@JohnConnorBear As I said: Linux has more options to make your "own thing". But for "simple users" Windows is easier. I tried both an thats my resümee.
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@JohnConnorBear Coincidentally I just had to fix a botched Windows update to 2004... First it screwed up the update, which then reverted and screwed up the existing installation. Then I wasted a couple of hours a day for two weeks trying to fix the broken Windows Update system. I tried every trick I knew and every tip I could find online. Of course, none of the error messages or Microsoft tools/pages were helpful at all. Eventually I think I deleted something which broke Windows completely - making it revert to a clean Windows install (wiping all program files and settings) and in French not English (because I bought the PC in France ten years ago).
Luckily I made a full backup before the first update so I've been able to get back all the software and settings (after another wasted week or two).
I am always amazed just how crap Microsoft software can behave - especially considering the billions of beta-testers they have!
Edit: I agree with people that Linux package management (now*) works flawlessly for everything installed on the system. Microsoft's problem is that they a) only want that kind of thing to work with stuff they control or can sell you and b) they're crap at implementing the many, many such things they've tried (Games for Windows Live, anyone?).
(*) certainly wasn't always the case back in the day
If only Lubuntu hadn't dropped 32-bit support right after I installed it on my ancient netbook...
Now I have to get out of my comfort zone and waste yet more weeks trying out the handful of alternatives I eventually downloaded (thanks to those who gave suggestions in whatever thread that was!). I'll get that netbook updated one day - if only I wasn't so lazy. -
@Koolio I switched from Windows years ago and found Kubuntu the best alternative to Windows. The KDE variants of Debian work the best.
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@JohnConnorBear That's one of the distros I downloaded (ironically, all of them stored on the affected Windows machine...).
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@mossman Necro-bumping the topic to say "hello from a ten year old netbook now happily running Q4OS"!!!
I got hold of an old 2GB memory card a couple of weeks ago (doubled the capacity) and installed a new Linux yesterday... Of all the distros I selected (lightweight, 32 bit...) Q4OS was the only currently maintained one which worked with the WiFi card straight out of the box (I spent most of Saturday trying and failing to get stock Debian to switch WiFi on...). I have to say that with KDE Plasma it's a pretty slick interface... and works much better than the Lubuntu I had installed a couple of years ago; better power management (fan speed actually changing, getting much longer life out of the battery - currently recalibrating as it's been stuck at 8% for about the last hour); hassle-free connection of Windows network drives etc.
I'm actually looking forward to using this when travelling again!
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A lot of good information in this thread, though I did notice one glaring omission as a seasoned Linux user that still keeps a Windows environment on most of his machines for duplicating reported issues and the occasional work with Adobe products: rEFInd, a graphical boot manager for UEFI systems.
If you're thinking about setting up any kind of dual-boot configuration and you're running a UEFI system, this is the only way to go about it, trust me. It lets you pick the environment you want to boot with the mouse or keyboard, and also makes netbooting a cinch too, so you can run things in memory the same way you would off a flash stick, minus the USB drive.
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Ppafflick locked this topic on
