Changing OS

Has anyone here used Linux or Ubuntu on their laptops/desktops as default OS? I've used it once when my laptop had crashed, and liked the simplicity to it, not to mention that it runs really fast. Now, I want to change my Current Win 8.1 laptop to Linux -- just experimenting something to do away with the crappy tiles.

Will the windows applications like Apache office and other games run smoothly in that OS? And what else could I be risking here?

I'm new here, but I do run Linux on all of my devices I own (at least what isn't given to me by my job *sighs*)

On my phone I use Android (running Linux Kernel 3.4.0-4408911)
On my desktop I run KUbuntu GNU/Linux 15.04 which is also my personal server.

Ubuntu is Linux, Linux is not Ubuntu - Square is a Rectangle, a Rectangle is not a Square type deal.

My switch was on October 25, 2005 when my laptop running XP kept BSOD-ing like clockwork every 2 weeks. I threw up my hands and said, "Fuck this shit, I know Linux is going to be a learning curve, but I'm done with this shit."

Never looked back - except once. *looks at the date* Oh jeez really almost 10 years now? Blessed Black Hells.

So, What can you expect...

1) Expect a massive learning curve - akin to trying Mac OS X out if all you've used is Windows before now on a desktop - things work and run differently because they are different systems.

2) Expect anything with a .exe not to work unless it has a Linux version built for it or a suitable alternative.

3) Prepare to get really friendly with Linux Gurus or Google - either one will work if you are ready for some deep diving into things.

4) Expect in the case of laptops to have some minor hardware issues; Desktops are less prone to this but it can happen with your plugins like Webcam. In my case back in 2005 the major issue was WiFi, but that hasn't been a problem in years now. Graphic cards are odd and you will need to install drivers for them from AMD/Intel/NVidia depending on what you got in your box.

Linux MIGHT be for you if...
1) You like to have absolute control over your computer; Linux is first and foremost a Server OS and is the base of most servers on the internet. Depending on how much control will decide the various other aspects but when you boil down to the superuser terminal - you have absolute control over your system for better or for worse. Great Power and all that jazz.

2) You are not afraid of the terminal / command-line; There will be times - sometimes often where you will need to use a terminal for one reason or another. If you're lucky the commands will already be written out for you by a tutorial/guide and all you have to do is change maybe one or two things for it to work for you.

Alright now to your concerns on programs.
1) Apache OpenOffice - this was on Linux first; Ubuntu comes with a slightly different version ready to be installed called LibreOffice, but they are functionally the same using ODF as the base and able to read MS Office documents with some minor pain.

2) Games - This is where most of the pain on Linux will come from; I'm not going to lie to you. Gaming on Linux sucks. There are a lot of good games that do have Linux versions and some that don't.

Some ports are better than others. Minecraft for instance is actually better in my current rig on Linux than Windows, but your hardware might be different and thus have a different result. Where you'd want to look is first at each game and see if they have a native Linux support (like Quake 3, Unreal 2004, Minecraft, Portal, HL1, HL2, etc.) and if not then look at WINE (https://appdb.winehq.org/) and look up your game to see if it runs good (if at all) under WINE; my example here is Diablo I & II works great not just because I have overpowered hardware for it's time, but the emulation for it is smooth as silk.

Where as I can't get AC2 to run at any decent speed. So look them up and see what comes of your current library. You might want to run a Dual-Boot setup for the best performance and keep Windows as your gaming side and Linux for the everything else. (TeamSpeak works great native; Vent via WINE works too)

Do not expect AAA games of this year, last year, or next year to work without some blessings from either the devs themselves or WINE - and even then good is always questionable.

3) You can bet money that most apps you have probably have a good Linux version especially if you use Open Source Software or Free Open Source Software. If it doesn't, then if the company doesn't have a Linux version your next best bet is Wine if you can't find a good alternative (I like GIMP, but it's not Photoshop) and should like in the Photoshop case, not able to run it then you can either dual-boot for it OR run a version of Windows inside a Viritual Machine which is how I use Photoshop now on my Linux Machine.

4) Browsers - If you use IE, Edge, or Safari - kiss it goodbye. You'll have a lot of options and a lot of GOOD options including Chrome and Firefox being the big dogs in the park with a ton of other browsers as options.

5) Skype has a Native Linux version - it's not as good as the Windows/Mac version, but they haven't completely boned it up either.

6) Yahoo is shit on Linux. MSN isn't too bad. Hangouts work excellently. AIM? *looks at you weird* Yeah that works too; I suppose. All in one client too like Mac OS X's Adium but it's called Pidgin or Kopete depending on which EXACT version you get with.

7) Flash Storage. Luckily all Microsoft based storage (FAT, NTFS) works perfectly well in Linux; but the same can't be said for the reverse (EXT3 or 4) so be aware of what you're doing with you reformat a disk and make sure it's in vFAT, FAT32, or NTFS to make sure it gets read everywhere.

AND with all that said.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOWcZ6Wicl-1N34H0zZe38w
TekLinux - a Tech based youtube channel that gives some more stuff to know about Linux and see if it's right for you and giving you some helpful guides through it. They also run a general tech channel as well.

*takes a deep breath* If you have other applications of concern Feel free to message me and I'll answer to the best of my knowledge or point you in the right direction should you wish to give this into the breech. IF required I can provide more information on contacting me for this goal should it be a required - i.e. you don't have to do this alone.

I'll be keeping both Windows and Linux. That should work fine. Much thanks for the detailed info, man. Always appreciated.

I'll try this thing and see how this works. Shouldn't be a pain in the ass.

I've been using Linux for the past ten years, originally dual booting with Windoze but mostly now as the main OS.

Desktops seem to be no problem, I've used many different flavours of Linux, all with no problems.

Laptops can be a different kettle of fish and for me have been quite an adventure. The main stumbling block seem to be the graphics chip.

My Toshiba satellite runs Ubuntu (14) fine, Bodhi 2.3 fine, Fedora 19 fine (but not 20, 21 or 22). It'll run CentOS 7 fine too. Annoyingly it didn't seem to want to run Mint 16 or 17.

My Acer Aspire runs Mint 17 fine but doesn't like Ubuntu (14 or 15). Consequently it also doesn't want to run Lubuntu, Kubuntu or any other similar derivatives.

My Lenovo Flex has a Bay Trail graphics chip and won't handle the graphics of Ubuntu, Mint, Debian etc but when connected to my TV via HDMI output it's OK with all of them. Strangely the Bay Trail chip is fine with older distributions, eg CentOS 6 & Mint 14


As for which distro to use, I, like many others, prefer Mint (cinnamon),

Check out DistroWatch to get an idea of how much choice you have when choosing a Linux distribution.

If you can download and burn CDs (or make boot-able USB drives), many Linux versions have "trial versions" that require only the CD (or USB drive) to run. You can play with the desktop, etc and see if you like it.

When you find something that you like, there is almost always a "install with dual boot" option on the CD that will let you have both until you're ready to delete c:\windows and c:\Program Files (or successors).

Here's a link to creating a bootable USB for Linux Mint. USB will run much faster than the CD as there is no mechanical motion to wait for.

What ReadyOne said:

If you can download and burn CDs (or make boot-able USB drives), many Linux versions have "trial versions" that require only the CD (or USB drive) to run. You can play with the desktop, etc and see if you like it.

When you find something that you like, there is almost always a "install with dual boot" option on the CD that will let you have both until you're ready to delete c:\windows and c:\Program Files (or successors).

Here's a link to creating a bootable USB for Linux Mint. USB will run much faster than the CD as there is no mechanical motion to wait for.

Click to expand...

I've used openSUSE, Ubuntu, and Linux Mint over the past eight years. I finally settled on Linux Mint Cinnamon. From the desktop standpoint, it appears very much like Windows XP. Unless you have unusual needs, your Linux desktop will handle about 99 percent of your daily computer chores. You get a free operating system, word processor, spreadsheet, presentation manager, photo viewer, graphics manipulation program, audio and video players, Internet browser, web camera manager, and much, much more. If you paid for Windows and Windows programs to do all these things, your cost would be well over $1000, but they are all free.

There is a downside, however. Since you pay Microsoft $495 for an Office suite, you can call them for support. With Linux, you have to find support from on-line help, one of many Linux forums, or from a Linux guru.

While you can do most things from the GUI, there are others which are faster/simpler using the command line. For command line options, I recommend the book, "Linux in a Nutshell," published by O'Reilly. It covers many useful Linux commands which save you time over using the mouse to navigate.

I found the time and effort to learn Linux to be worthwhile and find that I spend about 95 percent of my time using Linux and 5 percent using Windows (most Linux installs let you keep Windows and give you a choice of which operating system to use at boot time).

One feature I like about Linux is that I can open files on my Windows partition to read or back them up. However, Windows has no clue about how to read a Linux file. In fact, it doesn't even realize it's there.

Download a Linux distribution to a DVD and give it a try. Doesn't cost any more than a blank DVD. It won't affect your Windows installation if you don't install it, so you can play with the demonstrations of many programs. If you like it, and want to use it, back up your Windows files, then follow the instructions to install Linux. If you can find a current Linux user, you'll be in a much better position to try it out. Hang on to your Linux demonstration DVD, because if Windows can't boot for some reason, you can still get to your Windows files by booting your Linux DVD.

Privates1stClass said:

if Windows can't boot for some reason, you can still get to your Windows files by booting your Linux DVD.

Click to expand...

Yes, that's saved my bacon a few times. Also, you don't need the Windoze password to do this either (suspicious spouses or parents take note )

However, most Linux distros offer the option to encrypt your hard drive during install, which can't be overcome by someone else using a Live CD/DVD/usb