[Bob434]

I haven’t heard of any ‘phone home’ crap that they’ve included in windows 7 recently- nothing like windows 10 anyways- I would trust it m ore than windows 10 anyways- but i dual boot and only very rarely allow windows to access the Internet- i use linux for almost all online activity- and shut off the connection in windows 7 via the network connection icon-

Windows 7 is only gonna be updated for another couple of years- so at that point I’ll likely never allow it access when that happens- and just keep it around for things like windows only games, photoshop, and a few MS only programs-

The following is extolling the virtues of linux- skip if not interested- don’t mean for it to be sale’s pitch, just a recommendation to those hwo might be considering dual booting or running linux- it’s not meant to be an anti-windows pitch

5 years ago i never thought I’d switch from windows- but when windows 10 crap came out- i motivated me to try linux in a dual boot scenario- Best thing I ever did- but admittedly, I do have a little techie knowhow (although not much- but enough to figure out some of the linux stuff like command lines needed for installing some htigns- although most things are just as easy to install as windows programs nowadays)

I like that it’s free- I like that once it’s tweaked the way you like it that it’s a lot like windows in look fell and function- and since i don’t do a lot of geek stuff- it works perfectly fine for on-line activity and email, and even skype like chatting through a browser- these things all work just as easily as windows- Drag and drop shortcuts to favorite websites on desktop- double click to go to site, easy peasy- printer works fine- everything recognized by linux like vid card, usb 3 card- etc- up and running in no time- all automatic=-

i installed a few linux programs that were not listed in the super easy ‘software manager’ app=- and they took a little finagling to get working- but no big deal- most programs are installed through the software manager with a click or two- super easy- but to be fair linux programs do kinda stink compared to windows programs like word- or photoshop- but again, i simply boot into windows for that stuff- I do use gimp- but kinda reluctantly- much prefer photoshop-

oh well- linux is still loads more safe than any windows distro- which is why i only go online mostly with linux-

[Windflier]

I appreciate you taking the time to flesh out your experiences with Linux. That’s helpful to me, seeing as I might be forced to go the same route in future.

Thanks!