Operating systems

[exscentric]

None of my computers were eligible for the Windows 11 upgrade so I bought a new mini computer with it preinstalled. All went well, liked the new system UNTIL - one of the updates crashed my new computer - totally crashed. I had toyed with the idea of Linux for a long time, and this was just the push over the edge that worked.

I've been on Linux for a couple of months and have found enough freeware to continue using my computer the way I like. It hasn't been all that smooth sailing - it has involved a ton of web searching to find answers, but I honestly do not feel any need to go back to Windows.

I have a couple of lightly used Windows 10 units that will ultimately find themselves in the Linux world.

I told Linux users in a forum many years ago that they needed to become more user friendly to expand their horizons. They haven't done all that much in that area - they still name their stuff with wierd names (though some are kind of logical

Just a Commodore/Timex Sinclair geek that found windows for awhile and has again moved on

 

[Ben1445]

None of my computers were eligible for the Windows 11 upgrade so I bought a new mini computer with it preinstalled. All went well, liked the new system UNTIL - one of the updates crashed my new computer - totally crashed. I had toyed with the idea of Linux for a long time, and this was just the push over the edge that worked.

I've been on Linux for a couple of months and have found enough freeware to continue using my computer the way I like. It hasn't been all that smooth sailing - it has involved a ton of web searching to find answers, but I honestly do not feel any need to go back to Windows.

I have a couple of lightly used Windows 10 units that will ultimately find themselves in the Linux world.

I told Linux users in a forum many years ago that they needed to become more user friendly to expand their horizons. They haven't done all that much in that area - they still name their stuff with wierd names (though some are kind of logical

Just a Commodore/Timex Sinclair geek that found windows for awhile and has again moved on

I have been frustrated with the direction Microsoft has been heading for a while.
I will keep this in mind going forward. If you had posted this about a year ago it probably would have been a move over for me.

Do you have any trouble with compatibility?
What do you use for a word processor? Linux is for me in the realm of “I know it exists.” I don’t really know much about it. I can’t say that I have ever seen it running.

 

[exscentric]

Ubuntu Mint and I'd guess others come with Libre Office which is adequate for most office stuff. Europe has been shifting away from Microsoft to Linux and is pretty much kicking MS to the door. There are graphics replacements as well, Gimp being one. Steam works well for games.

I used MS Money, an old outdated version. There are several money type programs - I haven't worked through one of those yet.

I use Esword which runs in Bottles/Wine. I've found other replacements. Zim desktop wiki for one note replacement. Chrome worked identically.

All in all the only problem I've had is when I was messaged some pictures on my phone. I saved them/emailed them to my self but they were in an apple format. I searched for an hour or two to find some way to convert them. They were converted, however, I do not remember the name of the app will have to do some digging around for that.

 

[jakethebaptist]

I personally use FreeBSD. Similar to, but different than Linux and with older roots going back to AT&T Unix. I wouldn't recommend it to someone as a simple Windows alternative as there is a significant learning curve, but once you have learned the system, it's really good.

There are many challenges for using any of these alternate systems. Many Linux distributions are aiming to be "just as user friendly" as Windows, but to do so end up becoming so much like Windows you might as well stay with Windows. Those that are not (such as what I use) still have a significant learning curve that non-technical people will often get frustrated. Even bigger is the software incompatibility. Programs that you use and know well are unable to run on anything but Windows, or maybe a Mac. There are alternative programs that are often "good enough" but if you use them heavily, you quickly can find the shortcoming compared to more established programs. At the very least, if you are considering them, most all have versions available for Windows, so you can try the programs out before switching to see if they work for you. Here's some alternatives to check out:

Word Processing/Spreadsheet Office: LibreOffice, Softmaker Office. These fall squarely in the "good enough but not as good as MS Office" category. Libre is fully free, while SM Office is a commercial product with a free trial. I feel like SM Office has the better future of the two, and while they push for their subscription version, they have a one-time purchase option available. If you live in PowerPoint or do advanced Excel stuff, you're going to be very frustrated with the limitations of these compared to Microsoft Office.

Bible Study: BibleTime, Xiphos. I use primarily BibleTime. It is similar to e-sword. If you love Logos, aside from me thinking you're crazy, you won't find anything equivalent. I actually prefer BibleTime to Logos, and not by a small margin. Xiphos is similar, but with some different interfaces. I haven't tried it too much, but what I've seen is fine.

Audio processing: Audacity. This really isn't an "alternative" from my perspective, because I have been using Audacity to process audio on Windows and BSD for a long time, and it works just as well on alternate operating systems as it does on Windows.

Serious Video Editing: DaVinci Resolve. Natively built to run on Linux, as well as Mac and Windows. Professional program, so every bit as good as anything else, just different if you are used to Adobe Premiere or anything like that.

Image editing: Gimp, Raw Therapee, Darktable. These will work, but if image editing is your jam, and you need to get off Windows, seriously consider going with a Mac, as these really fall short of commercially available products.

Plenty more I could list, but this gives a few pointers someone could use.