I hope to find out it isn't, because otherwise I'm buying an overpriced Apple.
I use Linux Mint in the latest long term support version. The easiest thing to do is to install whatever Linux distro that you want alongside your Windows in a dual boot config. Then you can exercise it and see if it will do what you want it to do.
I don’t have a very fast internet connection so I get disks from osdisc.com. They are generally live/install versions. It will run the live first (booting from the CD) and then will give you the option to install if you like what you see.
In install, it will detect the existing OS and will ask if you want to replace or run along with the existing. Then you can decide how much space on the HDD you want to use for the new install.
“Is it a difficult task to change from Win 7 to Linux?
I hope to find out it isn’t, because otherwise I’m buying an overpriced Apple.”
Look, I do not want to come off as a Apple fanboy here. I am NOT!
However, follow the link below to Apple’s Refurbished site (ARS) and check out the Mac Mini. It’s very reasonably priced and, like everything on the ARS they all have the same 100% guarantee.
BTW, you can purchase Parallels software and run Linux inside a Mac.
http://www.apple.com/shop/browse/home/specialdeals/mac
“Is it a difficult task to change from Win 7 to Linux ?”
Close to 20 years ago, I started running Linux as a hobbyist. It was rather difficult and time consuming to learn, so as I replaced my computers, I abandoned Linux and went back to Windows.
When all this controversy with MS forcing upgrades to windows 10, I decided to give Linux another try.
If you have a spare USB flashdrive an easy way to find out if Linux is right for you is to go to https://sourceforge.net/projects/unetbootin/ and download unetbootin. Once you have it, execute it and it opens a dialog to allow you to choose the distribution you want to try. Choose the USB stick as the destination to install the files for the distro you want to try.
I chose Linux Mint 17.2_Live_x64 and was very pleased with it. Unlike the old days, the installation was automatic and found all my hardware without issue.
Once the download is complete and you’re ready to reboot, just do so, and when your computer starts, press the esc key, F8, DEL key, or whatever your particular system requires to allow you to select which OS to start.
Like I said, the installation process is almost completely automatic but most questions are multiple choice. Just choose the ones that apply to you as to timezone, authorization info if you have a wireless connection, etc.
The best part is, doing it this way you never touch your existing Windows system. The Linux OS runs entirely from the files on the USB stick. Any changes you make to the system like screensaver, applications you install, etc last only until you reboot the computer. Once you turn it off, it reboots as if it’s the first time and you start again.
The default installation comes with firefox browser, but if you prefer chrome, you can download and install the appropriate package from google.
In my case, almost everything I do is done in the chrome browser so I can’t really address issues like photoshop and other apps.
If your computer activity is mostly web browsing, Linux is a very good alternative to Windows. Hope this helps.