Are You Sick and Tired of Windows? - Comments Page 1

I ran Linux Mint for several years because at the time I could not upgrade to Windows10.
I really liked it but at work we used Windows 10 and I was the primary person to help everyone with PC problems so I had to put it on my home computer to research problems and fixes.

About 2007-2008,I bought a magazine that was promoting a new OS called Linux.It was a disc that had Ubuntu version 7 or 8.I was hesitant about installing this unknown OS that was not Microsoft Windows.

I had a used HP desktop with Windows XP and decided to try a dual boot with this new OS.There was no guarantee on the machine,so I figured if something went wrong,I could just fix it with a reinstall.I was very pleased with the new OS so much that after a few months,I decided to eliminate the Windows installation and just have Linux Ubuntu.

I haven't looked back and now when I get a used machine,a version of Linux is installed,usually Unbuntu,Mint or Debian.Good luck with getting away from Microsoft Windows.

BOB:
For those of your readers (me) who are less skilled and/or nervous about making major changes, would you write a column dedicated to all the steps you took to install Peppermint Linux. Plus explain all the other things you did to get your laptop running the way you wanted it.
You also mentioned your Windows partition .. more details on that would be useful as part of the column.
Thanks in advance :-)

Agreeing with Lucys post above.
Thanks for all you do!

I started out using DOS, then moved to a Mac, then to Windows 3.1, and have been using some version of Windows ever since. I'm currently on Windows 7 and do not want to go to 10. When XP was about to end its life, I tried a dual boot with Ubuntu, and except for a few things, I liked it. However, I moved on to Windows 7 because of the software I was used to. Because of peripherals and software I currently use, regardless of what I decide to move to next, there will be changes I'll have to make.

If I go with a Linux distro, most (if not all) software will be free. If I go with Win10, I may have to buy some new software, something I'd rather not do. I'll definitely need to buy a new PC just to run the OS.

Based on some of the problems I've read about with the Win10 updates, I don't see that as my first choice for a new OS.

One thing I don't understand is the pricing of new PCs that come pre-installed with Ubuntu or other distros of Linux -- talk about expensive! If the OS is free, why do the new machines cost in excess of $1000?

I am 72. I have been using windows since windows for workgroups 3.1 in the late 90's. I have never think I should change. Yes , it is possible to be annoyed once in a qhile, but when you are an ordinary user,
you don't need anything special.

I am not a geek, but I build my own computer once a while, (usually 5 years) and every time I put windows on it.
Richard.

Agree with Cat and Lucy. It would make me nervous. I have an old machine that my wife just needs to run some google docs and email. Sounds like it would fit the bill.

Windows is nice because it allows my 11 year old laptop to run as well and as efficiently as on the day I bought it. That is not so with my 7 year old iPad. Even removing most apps from it many website will load at a very reduced speed and sometimes I have to reload it a few times to get the whole page. So Windows is greener than iOs.

I have played with Linux ever since Slackware came out on a stack of 1.44mb floppies in 1994, and have it as my near-only OS since Mandrake Linux 6.1 came out in 1999.
For a couple of software that only exist for Windows I have dealt with for many years by having the computer dual-boot in either Linux or Windows, but nowadays only run Windows when needed, in a virtual machine, using Oracle Virtualbox which allows me to have both Linux and Windows running at the same time while of course sharing the same data if needed.
This is the best of both worlds.

I've been a penguinista for a long time. Partly because I use UNIX at work (Solaris, HPUX and now moving to Linux) but also because I prefer it.

At home I buy refurbished Lenovo laptops and replace Windows with Linux. My wife and I are now using Mageia KDE and the children have Mint. Apart from games where we do have Windows installed on the main computer there isn't anything they want or need to do that can't be done on Linux.

Most modern Linux desktops can be made to work pretty much like Windows does and use named "folders" like Windows (Documents/Photos) so the fact that the disk doesn't have a C or D drive doesn't come up.

Very interesting article but I feel you are scaremongering a bit with regard to the change to Windows 10 from 7. I did this early this year and found no problems with the transition to 10. It is a very logical system and basically if anyone is used to Windows, upgrading to 10 was a doddle.
Keep up the good work.

I'm typing this on a laptop running Linux Mint. Next to me are two other laptops running Windows 10, with a (too small) Linux partition. To those who said they were nervous about trying to install Linux Mint, I can tell you there are numerous guides all over the Internet. It's really easy! Just think first whether you want to get rid of Windows and use only Linux, or if you'd like to try both on one computer. Then plan ahead. (As I said, I first made my Linux partitions too small on the dual-boot Windows laptops. Not quite enough space for everything I want. Live and learn.) With various problems I've had lately, I'm about two hair-widths from going Linux all the way. (P.S. My favorites: No. 1 Linux Mint, No. 2 Kubuntu)

hi bob,
i finally bit the bullet and went ubuntu linux. i run it on a win 10 machine with an oracle virtual box that i run the ubuntu inside of. i do my web with ubuntu, don't miss windows at all... and do my programming and work with the win 10, with classic shell installed cuz i hate the cell-phone like win 10 interface.
i DID hose my puter trying to do a dual boot, luckily one of my friends was geekier than i and managed to fix it. i have a dual boot on my backup machine. again, i use linux only for internet stuff so the combo works out great, and the win 10 isn't so damned intrusive and annoying. i REALLy dislike it as an os, i hate having to deal with permissions to open my own files, etc... but i figure keeping windows largely off line and linux on is the way to go.
anyways, as always, great article brother. keep 'em coming!
jimi

Now 84, about 5 years ago with metered mobile internet I realized I could not live with Windows anymore. I still have 7 mainly for Adobe Photoshop Elements but never on line and on another HD. I stumbled on PCLinuxOS considered the most Windows user friendly. I persisted through the learning curve with help from their excellent forum and my only regrets are for not having changed sooner. The peace of mind is boggling. Your system can't steal data. You have full control and no worry about antivirus and malware. PClos has a number of versions. I've tried others bu KDE 5 is most popular I stick with that

Both Micro$oft and Apple are doing "a race to the bottom".
Windows 10 has these upgrade issues. I use it for engineering work but I am always afraid that the next unwanted update will brick my system. And forget it if you are running Windows Home. You have no alternative to their feature updates.

Apple is really no better. I am currently using a 2014 MBP that serves me will. The current generation of Macbooks are overpriced with serious hardware issues.The most appalling is using proprietary silicon to prevent anyone from repairing their own Macbook, even of they have smd rework tools. And they charge extra for this.
So I am really stuck for my next laptop. I am probably going to use a dual-boot windows/Linux laptop. Compared to Windows/Mac Linux always has issues with multiple monitors, device support b/c it only has 2% of the market. Even made for Linux PCs have these issues.
N.B. I was able to run my MBP in a classroom setting with 3 monitors. I was able to mirror 2 monitors ,one being a video projector, and the other was mirrored in Webex. The 3rd monitor I used for preview. I didn't know it was possible to have this hybirid setup but the Mac handled it well. IDK if Windows could have handled it.

Currently my desktop is running Ubuntu as the OS of choice. I also can dual-boot into Win 10, only because there are some programs that will only run under Windows. I'm not sure if any income tax programs (as an example) run under Linux.

Really, I had a real love affair with Win 7. But the motherboard I was running on died, and the replacement is locked into Win 10 (for Microsoft) only. I find the Ubuntu runs smoothly and does almost everything I want.

I really have no idea what all the changes are that keep coming along with Win 10. I want an operating system that I don't have to relearn every few months, and to be constantly buying upgrades. Seems like Microsoft has gotten into the idea they can shake down their customers constantly. Being on a limited income, that idea doesn't appeal to me.

And, for those that want to run an extremely stable version of Linux -- I also will mention Slackware. I have one computer running Slack that must go back 20 years. It just sits there and does it's little job, and has never crashed. Maybe not as user friendly, but solid!

Thank you, Mr. Rankin, for another smooth article on a worthy topic.
I think this topic centers around the ages-old attempts at 1)the ‘dumb terminals’ for computing of the 1980s, 2)the ‘subscription-based software’ of the 1990s, 3)the ‘smart’ phone invasion of the 2000s, and 4)the ‘software-as-a-service’ of the current decade. Yet, this topic really resolves around the competing arguments between “Local” versus “Cloud-based” computing.
Long-term hardware/software compatibility, flexibility, consistency, reliability, ergonomics and availability, without the security and privacy implications forces me to violate your worthy wisdom; since I “have no choice but Windows”. If familiarity is the bane of innovation or breeds apathy, then please pencil me as a Luddite!
Some kudos must (and should) go to Microsoft in their continual upgrades to keep their Operating System(s) relevant, current AND compatible with transition to the app-based (mobile/cloud/synced) trends of the 2010s.
@Richard: LOL to "penguinista"

I can NOT tell anyone how many times I yelled, screamed, throw things across a room and simply cried over Windows Operating System!!! It does matter which version of Windows, I have done all of the above actions with each and every version of Windows since I got my first computer!

I started with Windows 98se. Thank the heavens above, I did NOT do the Vista version or either Win 8 & 8.1 versions. I loved Windows XP Pro, to me it was the easiest of all the versions. Since, I was exposed to the Pro version, I have chosen to stay with the Pro versions. It is so much easier to work with MS Office, when you are using the Pro version. I have also found that working with the Pro version, the whole system seems to be more stable.

I have heard the Windows 2000 was the best the MS ever did. I wished that I could have used that version in my computer past. Yes, I finally got "hooked" on the Pro version with Windows XP. Since then I have been using the Pro versions, I even have Win 10 Pro. I was able to upgrade to Win 10 Pro, since I had the Win 7 Pro.

As for those who have just started using Win 10, I would assume that upgrading today to Win 10 is so much easier than when a lot of us chose to take advantage of the year FREE Upgrade. I took advantage of that free year. I can tell you that many times in those first couple of years with Win 10, the updates made a lot of computers go crazy or non-functional on many apps, even those "approved" by MS.

One point ~ When installing any Operating System the first tiem, using a DVD, most things will usually go "smooth as silk." Why? You are doing what they call a "clean" install. Meaning that your Hard Drive or SSD is wiped clean and there are no "codes" or left over OS on the drive to interfer with the installation.

As many times that I curse MS Windwos, as still do to this day, I truly like Windows. Mainly, because this is the only Operating System that I have ever used. I am not a Gamer, but I do have plenty of Causual Games on my computer. I play those religiously. Since, most Causual Games need to be played on the Windows Operationg system, Windows works for me, overall.

Probably the worst aspect of any computer Operating System ia to have to wipe out your entire Hard Drive or SDD. However, it is necessary to have a "blank" HD or SSD to re-install the Operating System once again. The installing of the OP is the easiest part. The hardest part is getting all of your Causual PC Games, the Office program, the Anti-Virus/Malware programs and all of your Email accounts back on to the newly installed Windows System.

I am not an Apple fan, but respect all who are. I am not an iPhone fan, either, but again respect those who use them. Basically, I am a Windows, Android fan. Why? Simple. I have been using both for years and I am so comfortable with both. I hate change, more than anything. Both Windows and Android giva me "security" in the fact that I understand how they work and can handle most issues comfortably. So far, I have NOT sledge hammered any of my multiple computers to date. That is truly saying something, in my book

I concur with the previous posters that asked for detailed steps on how you installed Peppermint on you laptop. I also have a old Toshiba that I would like to experiment with installing it and if it works I'll put it on my desktop Dell. Thanks

EDITOR'S NOTE: Hi Jim, if you go to the Peppermint LInux website, you'll find a nice user's guide (https://peppermintos.com/guide/) which details how to download and install it. In summary, download one file (the ISO image), then use Rufus to convert the ISO file into a bootable USB drive. Insert the USB into your laptop and restart. Follow the prompts to add Peppermint as a second operating system.

Oh goodie! Another opportunity to growl about the scourge of Windows 10. When I tried to upgrade from 7 in 2015, it bricked my machine. A new motherboard is running Windows 7. Microsoft has ceased to exist.