[ShadowAce]

[Kleon]

I’m still on Windows 7 for the email. What’s a good Linux for conservatives?

[C210N]

eeeks.... and to think I completely missed Win8, Win9 and now Win10.

If my Win7 goes bonkers, I’ll have to revert to MS-DOS.

[Responsibility2nd]

If you’re seriously into gaming or have a need for high level business computing - go with Linux.

If you’re in the majority of PC users - Get a Chromebook which uses a Linux-based system with a user-friendly interface.

[eyeamok]

If I could get Quickbooks Pro and UPS to work on Linux, I would never use windows again for anything

[Leaning Right]

> I can't say that I blame them. Windows 11 sucks almost as much as Vista – remember that stinker? <

Remember Vista? My PC is still running Vista. I use it these days as a word processor only, with no internet connection. And even as a word processor it does goofy things.

I’ve thought about moving on to a newer PC, but I’m told that now I can only rent Microsoft Word. On my Vista I own it.

So I’m sticking with my Vista. And with my old, paid-for car, too.

[aquila48]

A month ago I installed the latest Mint on an old PC (dual boot) and it runs fine. Very pleased so far.

I first created a bootable USB drive, tried it out that way and then installed it.

[MayflowerMadam]

I had Vista about 15 years ago and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. Then I went to Windows 10 and decided I was madly in love with Vista.

[Billthedrill]

I rebuilt the old Linux box last night. My Win10 workstation is failing - got 13 years out of it, after all - and I have only a few games that require Windows to hold me back from complete transition right now. The author of this article suggests buying new hardware to support the games, but that's exactly what Microsoft is demanding, and the answer to both is a hard No.

It isn't obvious yet and won't be until about this time next year, what sort of market share Microsoft is risking by this change. They're offering paid support for another year or so but that's only putting the problem off. And it doesn't prevent a repeat - "Hey, Windows 12 is coming out but you're going to have to buy a new infabulator in order to run it and we're pulling support for everything else. Have a nice day." Nope.

[bankwalker]

Does Linux support backwards compatibility with older versions?

[Bob434]

For those that want to keep using a secured windows 10, there is the ability to pay (ugh spit) for updates for awhile longer, and then there is a site that will do updates well beyond microsoft’s end date- can’t recall it now- I’ll see if i can find it

[Openurmind]

Good article Ace, Thank you!

[Myrddin]

I was a UNIX user on a daily basis starting in early 1983. At home, I used Xenix on a 68000 based TRS-80 Model 16. It was mid-1985 before I put Windows on a box for the purpose of compiling C++ with the Borland product in support of Phil Karn's KA9Q TCP/IP over AX25 effort. Phil was instrumental making mobile TCP/IP practical during his tenure at Qualcomm. At the office, UNISYS mainframes and minis and Western Electric 3B20 processors. Large scale UNIX. Later, HP9000 to host a specialized project. I prefer a UNIX environment. I observed over many years as Linus attended UseNIX and gleaned valuable support in his crafting of Linux. Eventually it was ready for prime time. It became my default at home and office.

Today, I have good, working Windows 11 hardware. I also have 2 hardware platforms running Windows 10 that aren't supported by Windows 11. One is a desktop built in 2013 with an i7-2600k CPU, 32 GB RAM and 4 TB SSD (SATA III). I will have to migrate the data off that box, gut the motherboard/CPU/RAM and rebuild with Windows 11 compatible hardware. The other platform is a nice ASUS laptop. 16 GB RAM, i7 CPU, 1 TB nVME disk. No upgrade path, but also very little time invested. It will find a new life as a Linux laptop. If I need a Windows 11 laptop, I'll buy one.

[Dr. Sivana]

The web version of Excel is NOT real Excel. That goes double for Outlook. I wish Corel would bring back WordPerfect for Linux, and that Claris would make a FileMakerPro client. Some good sites run poorly on Linu. (e.g. cardgames.io, stratego.com), or maybe I have to tweak my java.

[dagunk]

I buy refurbs from Amazon, usually less that $150. Had to replace the hard drive in one out of five, they’re cheap. They all get the windows wiped anyway.

Loaded Linux Mint on one for wife after having to fix windows one-more-time. Did a backup of her home directory/folder tree to an external drive, uploaded it to the Linux Mint.

To back up the Firefox I did a backup from the bookmarks manager and an import from the bookmarks manager to the replacement machine. Everything transferred, no problems.

Showed her how to get to Firefox and her recipes/pictures/etc files. No further problems with her machine, although she forgets to turn on the printer sometimes (she’s getting better).

Wife is very happy with the performance and trouble-free operation.

I’m on FreeBSD. I like it better and I’m an old command-line dinosaur. I run X so I can have a batch of terminals open. If “command line” makes your eyeballs cage you probably don’t want to go here. I also used it at work for programming to control and download test equipment, crunch and graph the data for reports, and write the reports.

Also have FreeDOS and Borland Turbo C loaded on an ancient laptop.

And I still have my MSDOS 3.3 on 5 1/4” and 3.5” diskettes.

Raspberry Pi4 floating around here too. It’s more a Science Project / toy but it runs fine.

No windows machines here.

[Myrddin]

To the best of my knowledge, there are no Linux antivirus programs available for desktops.

Ignorance doesn't look nice when pretending expertise. I've been installing McAfee and related AV software on our Linux and UNIX systems since 2009. I did some support work for the Army Corps of Engineers where there were thousands of Linux/UNIX systems that receive daily security scans and checks to ensure the AV software and databases are up to date. To be sure, there are also thousands of Windows 10/11 machines getting the same scrutiny.

UNIX/Linux wasn't as attractive as a target for viruses and malware early on. Windows was the big payback. Not so much any more. Linux is a legitimate target. Protect your systems. Fedora has a free AV called "clam AV". Easy to install and updated regularly. If you need enterprise quality protection, McAfee is a good starting point.

[SkyDancer]

I’m still using Windows 7, some friends still have Vista.

[dagunk]

I buy refurbs from Amazon, usually less that $150. Had to replace the hard drive in one out of five, they’re cheap. They all get the windows wiped anyway.

Loaded Linux Mint on one for wife after having to fix windows one-more-time. Did a backup of her home directory/folder tree to an external drive, uploaded it to the Linux Mint.

To back up the Firefox I did a backup from the bookmarks manager and an import from the bookmarks manager to the replacement machine. Everything transferred, no problems.

Showed her how to get to Firefox and her recipes/pictures/etc files. No further problems with her machine, although she forgets to turn on the printer sometimes (she’s getting better).

Wife is very happy with the performance and trouble-free operation.

I’m on FreeBSD. I like it better and I’m an old command-line dinosaur. I run X so I can have a batch of terminals open. If “command line” makes your eyeballs cage you probably don’t want to go here.

Also have FreeDOS and Borland Turbo C loaded on an ancient laptop.

And I still have my MSDOS 3.3 on 5 1/4” and 3.5” diskettes.

Raspberry Pi4 floating around here too. It’s more a Science Project / toy but it runs fine.

No windows machine here.

[doorgunner69]

I have more than a few expensive old programs like Autocad that will not run on win 10+. Since retireing, will not be paying to upgrade, all of which are really software leases these days.

Can they run on Linux?

[roving]

I had no problem with Windows 11.