Ditching Windows 10

[gunluvingirl]

I made the switch to linux from windows10 myself this year.. I'm dual booting just in case but haven't found the need to go into 10 for a while. I've tried many linux distros over the years but they never seemed fully developed until now. I'm currently running linux mint on my primary laptop and Linux mint runs great with the same hardware which 10 dogged on and has no issues seeing windows partitions and files.

For the netbooks I'm running linux lite since they have less horsepower. You can run wine for windows apps but the apps I use are either cross platform or I've found linux equivalents. If you have any special software for special hardware you may have a prob, otherwise go for it.

 

[deerwhacker444]

Ubuntu will be on my next one. Lots of folks really like it.

 

[ConstitutionCowboy]

I'm running Windows Seven and have Windows XP in a virtual machine so I can run an older program that won't run on anything newer than XP.

I have a small Acer laptop/tablet that is running Windows 10 and I dislike it almost as much as I disliked the Windows 8 that came with it. 8 and 10 are not as 'intuitive' as 7, and 7 is not as 'intuitive' as XP. I still miss Windows 98.

If it gets any worse, I'll start buying the newspaper again and rely on local retailors for my purchasing needs and gun shows for business.

Woody

 

[p238shooter]

I am still running Win7 with a little program called Never10 that is supposedly blocking an "automatic" upgrade install. 7 does all I need to do, which is quite a bit. I am sure my 7 will get pushed out of being functional for my needs one of these days.

Kinda like my 1911 when they get the laser guns that started out needing a C-130 to haul them, then down to a Blackhawk, and now down to jeep mounted, they will get down to hand size. Might there be a Phasor in your future? Thank you Captain Kirk.

 

[BReeves]

I'm running Windows Seven and have Windows XP in a virtual machine so I can run an older program that won't run on anything newer than XP.

I have a small Acer laptop/tablet that is running Windows 10 and I dislike it almost as much as I disliked the Windows 8 that came with it. 8 and 10 are not as 'intuitive' as 7, and 7 is not as 'intuitive' as XP. I still miss Windows 98.

If it gets any worse, I'll start buying the newspaper again and rely on local retailors for my purchasing needs and gun shows for business.

Woody

Me too.. on 98 you could back up the whole hard drive with an XCOPY32 command. I really liked Windows 2000 but was forced to move to XP by a couple programs I had to have. Am still running XP on my main office computer and 7 on everything else. I really tried to like 10 but after a few months gave up and went back to 7.

If I was younger and had the energy would go to Linux but too much work and too many pit falls to get back to what I have working now.

 

[NightShade]

Question: IF one changes to linux, how many of one's computer programs will run on that, especially if one has been on a Windows platform? If one is changing to linux, will there be problems with one's older programs and data?

It depends on the program but a lot of them can be run with a compatibility layer installed or just run a VM (Virtual Machine) with a Windows OS and run the program that way. However you may find that you no longer need to buy software that you would have with windows. There are a ton of things that can be replaced if you do a search, just put the program name and the words "Linux alternative" and you will often find things out there to replace what you are currently using. Generally you can find ways to make pretty much anything work though but it just depends. As far as the data you will want to make a backup of everything before making a complete switch. But if you have a computer with a large enough drive and you don't use much of it you can easily install a copy of Linux as well and then just choose what OS you want to boot in to.

If I was younger and had the energy would go to Linux but too much work and too many pit falls to get back to what I have working now.

I would suggest grabbing a Linux based ISO and then try it in a VM. Virtualbox works on everything but you may have to tweak a few things but there is a ton of people out there who have likely already done it in some way and posted their steps and results. It is also possible to run a Linux OS from a USB thumb drive. The only issue with setting Linux up on a USB drive is you will want to disconnect the pc's physical hard drive before doing the install so that the boot loader is placed on the USB drive and so that you can not mess up your computer. It will run a touch slower than if it was natively installed to a drive but you can use it for a ton of stuff and it will work just like a regular computer. Minimum size I would use is 16GB and larger is better, USB 3.0 drives are better as they are much faster if they are used in a USB 3.0 port on the computer.

I'm running Windows Seven and have Windows XP in a virtual machine so I can run an older program that won't run on anything newer than XP.

I have a small Acer laptop/tablet that is running Windows 10 and I dislike it almost as much as I disliked the Windows 8 that came with it. 8 and 10 are not as 'intuitive' as 7, and 7 is not as 'intuitive' as XP. I still miss Windows 98.

If it gets any worse, I'll start buying the newspaper again and rely on local retailors for my purchasing needs and gun shows for business.

Woody

I agree, XP worked and everything was where I needed it. I have found I can make 7 work with some tweaks here and there. 10 is a wash, to use it you pretty much have to change out their menu system and a bunch of other crap. But that is easy enough, http://www.classicshell.net/ Sadly the developer is no longer adding new features and is ceasing development but for non 10 users it does not matter, the reason for the stoppage of development is that Microsoft is breaking things constantly with each update (Likely on purpose) and the developer just is tired of trying to keep up with it and the crap they are adding http://www.classicshell.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=8147#p34960. I have 10 running on one machine and it can not update so I don't have to worry about changes. They did release the source code so I am sure others will pick it up and move on with it though. Plus others are available out there https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Start_menu_replacements_for_Windows_8

Eventually Microsoft will take the windows as a service too far and it will become a paid service. At that point a lot of people will either have to enter a credit card to use their computers, switch to a Open Source OS, or use an old unsupported OS. For the Mac fanboys I expect around that point in time they will also make the switch to a pay to use service as well, sorry. The switch will just end up shooting themselves in the foot however and will end up helping Linux/BSD OS' flourish as well as be the final step for software to be released by all the major players that will easily be supported.