I am considering unshackling myself from the chains of corporate oppression and try to convert one of my PC's to Linux to test drive it. I have this PC that has never really run well on Win8.1 out of the box and figure why not since I never use it anyway. Anybody have any tips, warnings, How To help to offer up before I flee to the underground railroad like which set up to use? I know I need to create a universal installer thumb drive but beyond that, I am a babe in the woods as far as converting OS's.
Creating a CD or DVD is also an option. Try Linux Mint at least to start with: http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php You can safely ignore the OEM and no codecs versions listed there. That leaves you a choice between 32 and 64 bit versions with the Cinnamon, MATE, KDE and Xfce desktops. I use MATE, which is a "fork" of the old Gnome 2 desktop. KDE is generally a bit more Windows-like with a single panel/task bar and what is very much like the Start menu. Cinnamon is Mint's own desktop, I think, and it's not bad either. You may want to check out some pictures, even some reviews of each desktop environment, before making your choice. You will also be able to install the other desktops after you've installed the system, though, in case you want to try different ones out anyway. Xfce is a really lightweight desktop that I personally have never cared for. It's funny - my regular PC also came with 8.1 and likewise did not run it overly well, but it rocks - solidly at that - with any Linux distro installed. I've been using Fedora for a good long while, but that one is definitely more oriented towards, shall we say, experienced Linux users. It's still not overly difficult to install and use, but it's more bleeding edge with the tech included (why I like it!) and lacks some of the refinements and amenities of Mint and Ubuntu, such as their handy dandy proprietary driver utility, which I imagine you will want for things like your GPU and your wireless chip. That reminds me - make sure you've got a wired network connection at or after installation to be safe in case your wireless isn't supported "out of the box." Finally, as you can gather from the above, expect to do a lot of exploring and learning. It's often a unique experience from those offered by Apple and Microsoft, though it's also quite familiar in many ways from either perspective.
You need to assess your needs. If you have a specific program or programs that you use frequently, you should make sure there is a Linux version. Internet browsers are no problem, nearly all modern browsers have Linux installers. Look at OpenOffice or LibreOffice which are both office "productivity" suites (spreadsheet, personal DB, document editor...). Games are another story. Steam has a Linux port, I think. However, while the list of Linux-compatible games are growing, some games may or may not work. Try a live CD. Most major distros allow you to create a DVD/CD which you can boot and play around with it, without having to install the full system. When you find one you like, then install it. Windows doesn't always play well with Linux, though. Start with a distro like Ubuntu, it's a bit bloated, but easy to install and use for a beginner. Linux Mint is another good beginner OS. I've never used it, but it's robust and stable
Linux has lot of positives... TIVO is linux based, Android is linux based, many use Linux every day and do not even know it but software will be the biggest concern, need to switch to apps like OpenOffice, ect.... (you can load many of them on windows to to try them first) .
Thanks for the suggestions. I have heard Ubuntu has some kinks in it. Not sure about that one, but I will research others. I have 3 other windows based computers in my house so if I totally screw up, it will not render me locked out of anything other than the computer I am not really using anyway. WP X6 is the only thing I will have to give up any hope of being about to use on the Linux.
Agree with all that has been said. Mint is great. I use Ubuntu as a dual boot with W7 on this laptop. I tried many Linux distros and most are really great to use but I eventually settled on where I started with Ubuntu. There's always a learning curve so don't be discouraged. It's a different way of computing so get used to learning to drive on the other side of the road, so to speak. LibreOffice is great and at no cost. I find I have to tweak my documents a bit when I use it but aside from that it's great. Good luck and if you need help there's always someone around - Google was my greatest friend when I was trying to get started with Linux (used to have two computers running at the same time, one Linux and the other Windows so I could consult the web through Windows while I was trying to work with Linux). It's good fun.
Virtualising Windows to run needed apps is also a good option. There is also a chance that they will work with Wine, and Wine is also often a good way to run Windows games on Linux if no native port is available. You're correct that Steam is available on Linux, and I've seen quite a few titles on there that do support Linux now. It's pretty neat! Web browsers and LibreOffice will likely be included with the installation, and if not they'll be available through the software repositories. The distros you list include user-friendly graphical apps for finding, downloading and installing software. Linux has had such a system for much longer than the commercial OSes have been including things like Apple's App Store, but they all work very similarly. Oh, and I have to recommend Aisleriot for fans of Solitaire Can't have a good PC setup without a good solitaire game! - - - Updated - - - Good news with OpenOffice and LibreOffice is that they offer some pretty darned good MS Office compatibility these days. I'm able to use LibreOffice for my work, and it's very rare that it ever has a bug or causes an issue.
Linux Mint is about the most user friendly distro out there, but it's built upon Ubuntu (except for the LMDE version) so the hate toward Ubuntu may be some carry over from years ago. Today's Ubuntu, Mint and others are pretty solid to use, especially if you stick to the long term support versions. Try the live DVD/CD/USB for a bit and really use them. Try out the software available to see if they fit your needs. And each distro has a forum of helpful users who can walk you through problems when you encounter issues with things like install, partitioning, wifi, other hardware, etc. And you can get advice if you get into wanting to dual boot, triple boot, etc. It's fun, not too hard to learn with an open mind, and don't be afraid to break the install and start over. You can install from scratch in 20 minutes, VERY unlike Windows. As a new user, you'll probably find the fastest, most helpful responses on Ubuntu's forums simply because of the high number of users typically on the forum. But, Mint's forum is also great, as is the PCLinuxOS crowd. PCLinuxOS is another user friendly distro and it's not based on Ubuntu.
One thing I am not liking is that different distros may not have the same software available so that Is where I will investigate next. As for windows, holy hell. I have an old Dell somewhere that I keep just to prove to people who say it couldn't be true that it has 5 installs of XP on it because the first one crashed, and the next 3 would not complete reinstallation and it took #5 to get a working OS back on the machine. I finally said to hell with it and bought a new computer because I was never sure which one to tell it to run when I started the machine up because they all looked the same on the menu but only 1 worked.
One beauty of Linux is old machines can run it much better than they can run Windows, so you can often breathe new life into an old machine. But for software, no distro has more software available than Ubuntu and its derivatives like Mint and others.
Just to throw in my $.02, I also prefer Debian-based distros like Ubuntu and Mint. However, Ubuntu uses Gnome for its window manager, and the last few major versions have been atrocious. As an alternative, there's always Kubuntu, which is basically just Ubuntu with KDE instead of Gnome (although you can install any window manager on any of them).
