[[As soon as I get around to it, it’s getting a clean install of Linux Mint thrown on it.]]
download and burn a copy onto a disk to give it a test go- I like the mint cinnamon version- kinda like windows feel to it- you can try it out on the disk without installing it, and even make changes (ie set up desktop how you like it- install programs etc- and it won’t change anything on your actual desktop- as soon as you reboot, it gets rid of all the changes (you’ll have to reinstall programs and make changes again every time you boot to the disk unless you make a new disk with all the changes made- I am not sure how to do that though))
It’s a good way to give it a try without actually installing it
Yep, When test driving it you can’t download anything and save it, and any temporary changes you make will reset to default next time you boot it. But once it is installed the gloves are off and it is good to go.
But here is something cool Bob. You can take a 32 or 64 gig thumbdrive and set it up to be a portable linux computer that you CAN download to and save stuff just like a portable hard drive and OS. When you boot to it, it just borrows all the hardware but operates like a whole separate PC, changes, downloads, apps and all!
I use a program called Rufus - it’ll make any media bootable and install the the OS to the destination drive. Easy to use with a flash drive - I’ve never tried using it to install an actual OS to the flash drive and booting from there, but I guess as long as the flash drive itself is bootable, I don’t see a reason why it wouldn’t load the OS behind it. I used to fiddle with Linux back in the day (Mandrake, Red Hat, Mandriva, Kubuntu, Goblin, Xandros) but that was back when you had to manually partition the hard drive and name each one, and there were the usual command line routines and packages to pick out. My main monitor is a 32” flat panel, I guess the only thing holding me back is motivation and a KVM switch.