[ShadowAce]

Tech Ping

[dhs12345]

#3. Ubuntu. Works well for me and has pretty good support for really old hardware.

Remember if you plan us use Linux, it is pretty good at what it does. Not perfect sometimes, but better than average. And it is limited in what it can do. For general desktop stuff, it is adequate.

But you can't beat free and the fact that it supports old hardware (computers).

[martin_fierro]

Me likee Mint.

Only complaint is the startup chime, which to me is like nails on chalkboard.

[SpaceBar]

Slackware. Once you figure out how to configure everything by hand, any other distribution is cake.

[Regulator]

Centos is rocket fast

[taxcontrol]

Bump for Linux Mint

[ConservativeMind]

For beginners in search of a Mac or Windows replacement, I’d suggest Elementary or Zorin, followed by Linux Mint. The other two mentioned in the article are server level installs.

Linux Mint is versatile, but not nearly as seamless as Zorin or Elementary.

[SanchoP]

Any distribution that uses systemd is NOT Linux.

[FXRP]

I have to have Gnome Mahjong.

[Trailerpark Badass]

Thanks for posting this. I am planning on putting Mint on my laptop, which is running windows (8.1?). I don’t have any specific Windows software requirements, so if the linux works out, will I be able to get rid of all the installed Windows (and Acer) software? I am new to this, but I will be able to figure it out.

[sjm_888]

Linux bookmark

[SuperLuminal]

Nice summary article...

Wonder how much RAM would be required to run a VM for one of these... Trying out the Linux experience is one of the items on my "before-ground-temperature" bucket-list...

[Pollard]

We run a lot of laptops here and all have Linux on them AND windows. My son and daughter run windows mostly. My wife was on windows but went back to the Linux side and I mostly run linux unless I want to use TurboCAD or my auto repair programs.

I just swapped from Linux Mint KDE which has the Plasma desktop to Kubuntu which also has the Plasma desktop.

Gnome Ubuntu is installed on my daughter's and wife's touch screen laptops and also on a rugged tablet I have because the Gnome desktop is about the best Ubuntu compatible one for touch capabilities.

Since then, Ubuntu has started using Gnome as their standard desktop and the people that make Gnome, no longer make their own version of Ubuntu. That means eventually I'll have to swap three systems over but it's a very easy thing to do without losing anything. All documents AND settings are kept in your Home folder. Back that up, reinstall another Ubuntu and all your programs and restore the backup.

I have one other laptop with Xubuntu which is Ubuntu with the XFCE desktop, which is a lightweight desktop.

I like the Plasma desktop because it's very customizable and has bells and whistles.

The clock and system stats are called Plasmoids and I used to have a To Do List plasmoid up top but I use a program for that now. Evolution, email/calendar/tasks/notes.

Left hand side is favorite programs. Bottom, L to R is Apps, Power button, 6 virtual desktops, running programs, task bar/indicators and date/time. With the virtual desktops, I can have a program or two open in each one and hit Ctrl+Alt+Left or Right arrow keys to cycle through them and it looks like a cube rotating when I do so. The penguin's name is Tux and he's the Linux mascot.

Startup time is just as fast as windows and shut down time is less than 5 seconds. Installing updates can be done while working/surfing and there's hardly ever a restart required and it also does not affect that <5 second shut down time. My wife got back on windows yesterday after not having been on it for a while and it took a good 20 minutes to shut down. She was actually doing a restart to go back to Linux which made it pretty aggravating.

This whole thing about Linux plus a desktop is confusing to newbies. The base of Linux and later Debian, Ubuntu, Cent OS etc does not have a GUI aka Graphic User Interface aka Desktop. Linux/Ubuntu/CentOS run the internet for the most part and those Server versions have no GUI. You use them like the old MS DOS, typing commands in. Eventually, they added a GUI to Linux but decided to add it as a layer on top of the non-GUI version. That allows multiple GUI/Desktop versions to run on Linux. I'm running Kubuntu which comes with the Plasma desktop but I could simply install the Gnome desktop or XFCE or quite a few others and choose one when I log in to Ubuntu. Plasma does tend to get buggy on occasion so I've been meaning to install Gnome for those times.

[MarkL]

Am I dating myself when I say that my first version of Linux was Yggdrasil from about mid-1993? Later on a few years later, I wound up moving over to Caldera Linux, I think about 1996 or 1997.

Right now I need to pick up a drive to back up my Linux system running this box, so I can upgrade it to the next version of Linux Mint.

At work I'm constantly working in a Windows environment, but also have some VMs around running Ubuntu server for utilities.

Mark

[kalee]

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