Why switch to Windows 10 or a Mac when you can use Linux Mint 17.3 instead?

My buddy David Gewirtz recently wrote about the question of whether you should move from Windows 7 to Windows 10 or a Mac. I have another suggestion: Linux. Specifically Linux Mint 17.3, Rosa, with the Cinnamon desktop.

Linux Mint 17.3 is a great replacement for Windows 7. In fact, it's a great desktop operating system period. sjvn

Yes, I'm serious. I use all the above desktops -- yes I'm a Windows 7 and 10 user as well as a Linux guy -- and for people I think Mint 17.3 makes a great desktop.

I've been using Mint as my main Linux desktop for years now. Unlike some desktops I could name -- cough, Windows 8, cough -- Linux Mint has never had a flop. Every year that goes by, this operating system keeps getting better. The other desktops? Not so much.

There's really not much. While it's even easier for a Windows XP user to move to Mint than a Windows 7 user, any Windows user won't have any trouble picking up Linux Mint with Cinnamon. There's a Start Menu and settings are easy to find.

I regard Cinnamon 2.8 as the ultimate Window, Icon, Menu, Pointer (WIMP) interface. Is it ideal for tablets or smartphones? No. Is it perfect for long-time PC users? Yes.

Cinnamon does add some nice features. For example, if you mouse over the Window list, you'll now see a thumbnail for each application. It also has improved performance, system tray status indicators, and music and power applets.

What I like best about Cinnamon is that it doesn't get in the way. There's no learning curve. You may have never used Linux in your life but you can just sit down and start opening directories, runing applications, and modify your PC's settings.

One small feature I like a lot, since I always run multiple workspaces, is that the workspace switcher applet now shows a visual representation of what's running in each workspace.

Don't like Cinnamon? Unlike any version of Windows, Linux Mint comes with many different desktops. These include KDE, MATE and Xfce. Find one you like and enjoy,

It's true that Linux doesn't have as many application choice as Windows does. But, how many applications do you really need in 2016? I do most of my work these days on the cloud with software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications. These apps work just as well on Chrome, my favorite Web browser, on Mint as they do on any other desktop.

That said, there are many excellent Linux desktop programs. For example, instead of Microsoft Office I use LibreOffice 5. I don't use it because it's free, although most Linux desktop applications won't cost you a cent, but because it's an excellent office suite in its own right.

I also use Evolution instead of Outlook for e-mail and GIMP instead of Photoshop for my basic graphic editing needs. The bottom line is that are many great Linux programs that you can use in place of Windows appliations.

Are there some Windows programs that you can't live without? Well, you don't have to live without them.

There are two ways to run Windows programs on Linux. One is to use CodeWeaver's CrossOver Linux. This program enables you to run many popular Windows applications on Linux. Supported Windows applications include Microsoft Office (from Office 97 to Office 2010), Quicken, and some versions of Adobe Photoshop.

The application you absolutely must have won't work with CrossOver? Then run it on a virtual machine (VM) program such as Oracle's VirtualBox.

I don't care what some people say, Windows Phone is dead to me. And, pretty much everyone else.

Mint, however, is a pure desktop play. Yes, Android is Linux, but it runs in parallel with the desktop Linux distribution. That may change as Android creeps toward the desktop, but we're not there yet.

Ubuntu, which is Mint's foundation Linux distribution, parent company Canonical is working hard on making its same code base work on PCs, smartphones, and tablets. So, eventually, you may be running Mint on smartphones. I'm not holding my breath.

If you want one operating system family on all your devices, don't waste your time -- for now -- on either Linux or Windows. Just go ahead and buy an iPhone and a Mac and be done with it.

While Windows 7 is far more stable than any other version of Windows, I haven't had Linux Mint ever -- ever -- stop working.

If you want a desktop that can take a licking and keep ticking, you want Linux, not Windows or Mac OS X.

Every lousy day a new piece of Windows malware shows up. Windows is more secure than it once was, but it's still easy to bust. Linux, on the other hand, despite the garbage you read about Linux viruses and such, is almost never sucessfully attacked.

not sure what you mean by that? I am simply saying linux meets my online needs- is safer, and doesn’t require me to know hardly anything regarding commands- it’s point and click for hte most part- That’s all i really care about

I tried linux way back when- and it was awful- It required super geeky knowledge to even get running right- and the apps for it really stunk (well ,they still kinda do but have improved quite a bit in some cases- it would be fantastic if windows apps could run on linux easily and with full video card performance, but as it stands now, they don’t- oh well- that is what dual booting is for)

If linux were as complicated and convoluted as it was years ago- I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone but the skilled- but where it has gotten so easy to use- I can now tell folks that it’s a safer option online- and it doesn’t spy on you like windows 10 does- and recommend dual booting IF the person is soemwhat computer savvy and can figure out how to do that- If they aren’t I just recommend they stick with windows- and learn how to turn off most of the spyware crap in windows 10- but inform them they can’t turn it all off and likely will have to keep turning the same ones off after windows updates itself without the user having a choice to update or not

I’m not an anti-Windows zealot (although windows 10 has really made me dislike the os a bit), but I am pro linux for online activities only- but only if you don’t need to do productivity work that requires heavy duty windows only apps- if you do, then again I’d next recommend dual booting- and do a majority of online work in linux if possible and keep windows online activity to a minimum if using windows 10

but that’s just my own personal feeling- I’ll gladly embrace windows again IF they stop spying, AND allow users complete control over updates again- I still use windows 7 and love it- I even use windows 10 in a virtual environment with no access to Internet-

I tried VMware, but had trouble running windows and photoshop- for some reason it would freeze every time- but virtualbox allows me to run it without any issues

Thanks, good to know. I migrated my wife to running Linux on her laptop when XP went out of support because she was going to have to learn a new OS anyway, and almost everything she does is internet so Linux is fine. Even got Netflix working in Chrome without too much trouble.

But...she used to run Print Shop quite a bit and needs to do that again. I can't get it to work under Wine, so a couple nights ago I tried VMware, but the Print Shop install seems to hang. I can probably figure out and fix the issue, but maybe just trying Virtual Box instead of VMWare would be easier. I've just worked a lot more with VMware than Virtual Box so I went there first. Do you know if VBox will work with the VMDK format drive image from VMware, or a VHD from Virtual PC, both of which I have, or do I have to start over with their image type? I've used VB on Windows some, but I think I did a bare metal install in the VM if I recall correctly.

“Don’t you mean “Windows is great for people who want to play games on their computer”?”

I'd probably say that MS-Windows is great for people whose computers are toys, but the maintenance associated with keeping an MS-Windows system healthy is not really something that the average person can deal with adequately/

Corporations use Windows and Apple for a reason. Linux, not so much. In fact, I have never crossed a company where Linux is mainstream. Not a single one.

Typical corporate shortsightedness. In general, most corps would do better with OSX, but they have a huge legion of MSCEs (Must Consult Someone Experienced) who are pretty much worthless except in their own tiny little world, and even there, they often need to be led along with pushbuttons to do the most simple things.

Linux is more for people who want their computer to work for them rather than the other way around. Personally, I don't give a damn if more than 2% of the folks out there ever use Linux, as long as I have the tools at hand for my work when I need it. The rest of you can spend your time and resources on virus scanners, malware scanners, and other associated resource hogs. I really simply do not care. Just don't as me to waste my life or time on it.

[[but the maintenance associated with keeping an MS-Windows system healthy is not really something that the average person can deal with adequately/]]

True- most average users use their computer for awhile, opening every email sent to them with attachments- jokes etc, browse Internet sites that are sketchy at best, go to sites that redirect and automatically download crap to their computer then ‘something starts going wrong’ and call the geek squad to come and remove all the viruses and crap from their computers to get it back working ‘speedy again’- They just can’t stop opening that ‘new joke’ email (with an attachment) that was forwarded to them automatically by their best friends- thinking they would be rude for not opening it-

Windows was so bad awhile ago that searches for totally innocent stuff like ‘best windows’ or ‘most recommended cabinets’ etc would land you on some stinkin site that was compromised and would redirect you to another site and bam- virus- It got really bad there for awhile- Was constantly having to do a rollback (Thankfully i was using rollback RX- which is basically system restore on steroids- allowing boot system reverts for when computer won’t even start- Anyone running windows it is highly recommended that they run this program, and take system snapshots regularly- it saved my computer many times- without having to reformat- a couple of clicks, and bam- right back to new-)

You are correct, MS is high maintenance- but the average user won’t know how to do it properly- and before long their computer starts ‘acting sluggish’ and/or ‘acting funny’, and they have no clue why- I have to maintain a resident computer for some folks- and it’s like a losing battle trying to get them to understand that no- you really don’t have to open every email that comes along- you don’t have to visit every link they send you- and that no- the Internet is not a friendly benign place- but then again- they aren’t the ones that have to deal with reformatting the computer-

like you- i just got tired of the constant maintenance associated with MS- it was a constant battle- especially when other people use the same computer- I’m just thankful that when i did run it as my only os that i had rollback RX to rescue it all the time-

These threads always frustrate me because of the confusion in most peoples mind between an Operating System ( OS ) and a User Interface ( UI ). Most people conflate the two and get quite upset whenever the user interface they have become accustomed to changes. A UI is not an operating system! I have worked with hundreds of user interfaces and dozens of Operating Systems in my career.

I give you the following link to see what an Operating System is from the perspective if the IEEE.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_Computer_Society

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POSIX

Please see section five of the above link to see where your favourite Interface falls in the spectrum of POSIX compliance.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POSIX#POSIX-oriented_operating_systems

The federal government screwed the entire computer industry in 1988 with the mandated standard of IEEE Std 1003.1-1988.

They did this because the government had gone big time into UNIX in the late 70’s and early 80’s but had problems with software compatibility between the major versions of UNIX. ( ie AT&T, University of California Berkeley, SCO, Interactive etc. )

All user interface development in the UNIX community was put on hold and virtually ceased and compliance with the mandated POSIX standards became the number one priority in the UNIX community. ( IMNSHO this forced the evolution of the Opensource movement and creation of the Open Source Foundation )

In the mean time, Microsoft, which is still not truly POSIX compliant, created the Graphical User Interface called MS Windows and the office productivity tools of MS Office, stole LOTUS 123 and added it to their Office suite and MS Office became the defacto standard office productivity tools. Everyone and their brother learned MS Office if they wanted to keep or get a job.

Then, due to low cost bidding and because MS Office became so well known, the government awarded the desktop computer contract for every government employee to Microsoft because government employees and most other people in the private sector could not and/or out right would not learn anything else.

You couldn’t pay someone to learn different software because everyone new that their next job would have Microsoft products, Period.

Only computer geeks as they are called here would willingly and gleefully pick up something new in its version 1.0 state because we had to if we wanted to keep our jobs.

The vast majority of servers in the World Run a POSIX compliant OS, Linux is making major inroads and MS has some.

The following is screen captures of the UI of the last project I worked on. It has, with some success been ported to WINDOWS. I would not attempt to develop it on WINDOWS!

The software was ported to APPLE’s OSX with some major difficulties by APPLE geeks within the NWS and meteorology community .

The key to success is portability. IE POSIX compliance and OS independence ie C++, JAVA, python, bash etc.

I’ve never screwed with WEB Browser based apps. No desire to play within a browser.

https://www.google.com/search?q=AWIPS+II&site=webhp&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiy-pqfl4bTAhWM7yYKHb2sAJAQ_AUICCgD&biw=1310&bih=805

An attachment to a user interface as religion drives me nuts. For development purposes give me SE Linux for the OS ( Redhat or Debian ) and for a user interface give me Gnome or KDE for the User Interface.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/GNOME

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/KDE

I have the most experience with the Eclipse Integrated Development Environment.

https://eclipse.org/ide/

For just poking around the internet and travel I use a 25 dollar Raspberry PI

https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-3-model-b/

https://www.amazon.com/SB-Components-Clear-Case-Raspberry/dp/B00MQLB1N6

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