Windows XP home users should upgrade to Linux -- not Windows 8.1

Beta News ^ | 30 January 2014 | Brian Fagioli

[ShadowAce]

The Windows XP death clock is ticking away. While Microsoft has extended support for malware protection, do not be fooled -- XP will be officially unsupported on April 8. If Microsoft has its druthers, these XP users will upgrade to Windows 8 and maybe even buy a new computer.

However, there is a problem with this -- the Windows 8 UI is radically different from XP and people do not like change (especially people clinging to an operating system from 2001). Also, they may not need to buy a new computer, because their existing is probably fast enough... for Linux!

Yes, Linux is far less intensive than the arguably bloated Windows. And so, if a user wants a supported operating system that should work well on their existing, but aging hardware, a Linux-based OS may be the best choice. The problem is, what distribution should a user choose? What software is available? No worries, I'm here to help.

Introduction

First things first, what exactly is Linux? Well, technically Linux is a kernel -- not an operating system, but an aspect of one. However, there are operating systems, called distributions, that utilize that kernel. It was invented by a man named Linus Torvalds in 1991. Yes, Linux is hardly new -- it has a long history and a large user and developer base.

It is used in many things such as web servers and even Android phones. Believe it or not, if you own an Android phone, you are already a Linux user and probably didn't even know it -- nice job! Don't confuse this to mean that Linux distributions will run Android apps, they are not exactly compatible.

Why

So, why should you switch from your comfortable Windows XP operating system to a Linux one? Besides Windows XP support ending on April 8, here are some other compelling reasons:

• Linux-based operating systems are less likely to get viruses.
• Software can be easier to find and install.
• Both the operating system and software are free.
• There is a large community on the internet available to help you.
• You get to learn something new.

Backup

Before you do anything, I urge you to backup your files -- pictures, documents and anything that is important to you. You can do this a number of ways, but the easiest is to use a fat-formatted flash drive or external hard drive. You can copy the files back once the new operating system is installed

User Interface / Environment

Before you can pick a distribution, you must decide on an environment. You see, many distributions come in various "flavors", which offer different environments or user interfaces. Let's be honest, if you are still on Windows XP, you probably do not like change. With that said, the ideal environment for an XP user would be KDE, Mate or Cinnamon -- all of which resemble the classic Windows Start button philosophy.

However, my suggestion would be the Mate environment. While KDE and Cinnamon are great, they are likely too intensive for an older XP machine. Mate is a lightweight desktop environment that isn't flashy. It is easy to use and a Windows XP user should feel very comfortable with it.

Distribution

So, which distribution do I suggest? Linux Mint 13 LTS Mate. What is nice about this operating system is that it is LTS, meaning Long Term Release. What does that mean? Well, it will be supported until April 2017. This means you will have access to updates and support for many years. You will not be on the bleeding edge, but you will be very stable.

Most importantly, it is based on the popular Ubuntu distribution, which is a rock-solid foundation with access to a lot of software (packages). It is available for both 32-bit and 64-bit processors as well. You can download the operating system and user guide here. Please follow the guide to install it.

 Software

OK, so let's assume you've successfully installed Linux Mint by following the user guide. Now what? You want to install Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer right? Not so fast there. All of your favorite Windows programs are not here. Don't panic though, there are plenty of fine alternatives that are not only great, they are free. Yes, you will no longer need to purchase software for your super-cool Linux computer. Below are some suggested programs and the Windows equivalent.

• Firefox -- Web browser (use instead of Internet Explorer)
• LibreOffice -- Office suite (use instead of Microsoft Office)
• VLC -- Media player (use instead of Windows Media Player)
• Shotwell -- Photo manager (use instead of Picasa)

That is just a small sampling of what is available. There is a cornucopia of programs available in the Software Center. This is much like the app store that can be found on modern smartphones. You can search for, install and remove software using this one-stop-shop. This is unlike Windows which makes you search all over the internet, at various sites, to get programs. Not only is that time consuming, it can put you at risk of malware too.

Speaking of malware, Linux can be considered, for the most part, free of things like viruses. While some viruses do exist, they are few and far between. Besides, whenever you install something in Linux, you are prompted for your system password. If you do not know what is being installed, do not enter your password.

Conclusion

So, congratulations, your computer is now supported until 2017 and it cost you nothing. You have a powerful operating system that is chock full of useful software and is less likely to get viruses. You should be proud of yourself. While Microsoft may have lost a Windows sale, you now have extra money in your wallet -- take a loved one out to dinner, courtesy of this BetaNews guide.

[rlmorel]

After reading that post, I am not sure who the zealot is there...

[driftdiver]

“Any router+firewall from any big box electronics store will protect your XP well enough. (”

Thats just not true. A basic firewall is certainly good but it will hardly protect you from application based malware or hacks.

[tomkat]

Well said, and needs trumpeted to all those running around with their hair on fire over the 'death' of XP !

1) To begin with, MS 'support' has always been shite .. as you mentioned, try calling them, but have a couple sandwiches and beverages handy to get you through the wait.
    (not to mention an interpreter)

2) Home users (ie. at your residence) should be running a NAT router (inexpensive) and software firewall (mostly free) regardless what flavor OS they're using.

3) Top those two items off with a decent free anti-virus app

4) Don't be a moron and download stuff like clickthisvirus.exe etc

While no hardcore techie/coder/etc, I've been a Win user for a long time, but MS's current release cycle is even more egregiously cynical than usual, and they can kiss my white ass.

I have two machines running XPpro and they'll continue to do so into the foreseeable future.
I am, however, thanks to Ace and a couple others, going to setup a dual boot on both of 'em w/ some flavor of linux and see how it goes.

If the results seem workable, the two W7u boxes here will be getting the same makeover.

Hopefully the day will come that my comfort level with the open source stuff will allow me to have a ceremonial MS bonfire out back.

(btw, did i mention that office 07 sucks with a ferocity that can't be described without a major profanity-laced rant ? !)

[Dalberg-Acton]

“it will hardly protect you from application based malware or hacks”

Will if you turn off the power. ;^)

[rlmorel]

See my post at #39. Upgrading a company that has a relatively homogenous software distribution is not all that bad I would think, just the initial costs, setup and training.

But in a large medical environment, there are hundreds or even thousands of different vendors whose software has been used relatively reliably for a long time, and hasn’t been upgraded as often due to the onerous testing regimens that have to take place with every piece of medical software.

We have been unable to upgrade from Windows XP in the area I work in because the vendor of the software (used throughout the institution for critical imaging functions) has not delivered a version that can work on both XP and Windows 7. We need the memory benefits of Windows 7 in my area, but the rest of the hospital cannot justify the costs of upgrading.

And for us, even though we have server-grade hardware being used as workstations for the physicians who must have that kind of performance, we faced budgetary constraints because the high-end specialized video cards have to be replaced in all of them (can’t be used in Windows 7)

There are a lot of factors involved. And don’t get me started on applications wedded to specific versions of Internet Explorer. I bloody hate it.

[rlmorel]

I upgraded to Office 2010 a few months ago, and I cannot believe how poorly it performs. Especially Word and Excel when opening documents, not to mention Outlook. Even worse is the UI change.

But it is what it is.

[driftdiver]

You’ll be forced to upgrade eventually. Without patching support the XP machines aren’t HIPAA compliant. (IT Security standards)

[Greysard]

I gave my Mom an Averatec laptop several years ago and I suggested we replace XP with Linux.

Averatec made very bad laptops. I have one. It is terribly underpowered. Its WiFi is an internal USB card, and the switch only applies power to that (simulating insertion/removal.) I was unable to install anything but XP onto it (and it's struggling even with that.) The company was so bad that in December 2012 the company filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy and went out of business. It takes a talent for a Korean OEM to fail in producing laptops. They had that talent; their notebooks were awful.

You would be INFINITELY better off buying a modern, thin and light laptop. You can buy it with Win7 from many OEMs, or you can install any other OS onto it. But know that WinXP does not automatically optimize itself for an SSD.

For the purposes that you described (e-mail, face book and solitaire) you may need only a Chromebook or a tablet (iPad or Android.) One advantage of those is that they are stable. There is nothing to download every other Tuesday, and no need to reboot, and they don't crash, and they are far more portable.

[Utilizer]

I prefer Mepis Linux. Stable, based on Debian, and works across pretty much every machine I have access to. Mepis 8.0 needs only 512 Megs to run since that version is a few years old, and Mepis 11 requires only 1 Gig on more recent machines. Debian has been around for many years and is a well-established version of Linux, however a plain vanilla Debian install is not for the casual or newbie user. Mepis has some very good auto-installers built in and does a good job on detecting hardware, including video and network chips. Too, there are both 32 and 64 bit versions available for both releases.

[CowboyJay]

Good post. Linux has come a long way in the last 10 years. Really, Mint is better than the newest Windows in nearly every way. It’s UI is intuitive, it uses way less memory sitting in desktop, it’s less virus-prone, and it’s free. Like getting a Mac without paying Mac prices.

That said, I don’t use it anymore. It’s not compatible with some proprietary apps for work/school.

[Utilizer]

Another sad plea from Linux for more converts.

Another sad opinion from the clueless, doom-and-gloom moaners. Why does it bother you that despite your uninformed opinion a Unix-style OS is gaining in popularity more and more over the years? Wouldn't your teeth-gnashing serve more purpose bemoaning the popularity of a ChiCom-supporting company's actions and popularity such as Google?

[rlmorel]

Yeah. We took the bull by the horns and our desperate need to upgrade is opening the door for the rest of the institution...

We are running two applications that are enormous memory hogs, a speech recognition app, and an image manipulation and display app that has to read, display and manipulate huge image sets with little or no delay for the person facing the screen.

We were the vanguard of the purchase of Windows 7 in the institution, and were the first ones allowed to formally get any of them on the network with full IT support, and they have had to begin upgrading hardware, policies and support tools to keep up, so they are positioning themselves to make the move...soon.

Thank goodness. I don’t blame IT, it was a thorny issue. We have also been drivers of getting movement towards gigabit to the desktop, which we really need as well.

[GeronL]

There is an opportunity for a programmer to make money on things like that I think. I hear that every police station in France has switched to Ubuntu. That is at least several thousand copies of Windows not purchased, I see things like that spreading.

[Utilizer]

"Patch Tuesday Becomes Virus Tuesday"

Please. That's the best you can do? Proclaim the sky is falling because MS is discontinuing support and link to some company's insurance against impending hacking? The 'nix crowd has always been right up there in the fight against malware, oftentimes posting far faster patches and notifications than the MS pukes, and often without Redmond even acknowledging any problem whatsoever. I do not see that changing any time soon, especially with the number of computers still out there running XP.

[Gene Eric]

Eclipse

[GeronL]

Linux programmers need a kick in the pants if they want to push the OS over the hump. That means something is not going to be free.

[Greysard]

A basic firewall is certainly good but it will hardly protect you from application based malware or hacks.

Nothing will protect you from application-based malware except a locally executed, periodically updated antivirus that is hooked into the Windows kernel and intercepts OpenFile/OpenFileEx API calls. It works the same on any Windows, from Win95 to Win8.1. The antivirus software is available from many vendors, and it runs on XP just fine (and will continue to run, as long as the vendor has enough XP users.)

IE is yet another channel of virus distribution. Get rid of it by blocking it with a firewall (Sygate, ZoneAlarm and others allow you to block individual applications.) Run Firefox with AdBlock and NoScript addons, and drive-by payload will have no chance to even get downloaded, let alone run and escape the JavaScript sandbox. Your Internet experience will improve dramatically. Firefox is supported and updated regularly, so this channel of intrusion should be blocked on all platforms (XP and Win7/8/9.)

In my use scenario XP boxes are not used for active Internet browsing. They instead have industrial use - they run certain equipment. Nobody touches them for weeks, and certainly nobody surfs the Internet with them. Other people may use XP for Internet browsing, but very simple measures will ensure (well enough) that the computer is safe. Those measures equally apply to any version of Windows.

[Jeff Chandler]

My entire hospital has Windows XP.

That's what I'm trying to tell people.

XP was a wonderful OS for its time, but its time is up.

[GeronL]

Mepis Linux only needs 512 MB??

Well, that kind of answers a question we were discussing

[Jeff Chandler]

Without patching support the XP machines aren’t HIPAA compliant.

Bingo.