Posted on 04/08/2025 7:22:00 AM PDT by ShadowAce
I switched to Linux because Windows kept getting s-l-o-w-e-r and slower over time no matter what I did. It was inevitable. Linux is still as fast as the day it was installed years later. I’m no techie and I do have problems with it from time to time but I get by.
I keep hearing about this phenomenon. Since I've been on Linux full-time (since 2000), I've either forgotten about it, or I switched before that started happening.
I put a solid state HD in my 2014 Mac Book Pro and it runs like lightning and shows no signs of decline.
” If you want a Windows-like experience, stay on Windows. “
~~~
This is misleading. It sounds like it is meant to scare people away.
While I will admit that your average, non-nerdy, low tech, or “I just want to check my email and shop amazon” types should probably stay on Windows, but as someone who has used several version, I can say that’s not difficult to load and run at all. From what I have seen, they typically have things like the package manager, so you don’t need to access the command line or no how to sudo.
If you have used windows since windowsXP or before, you have seen so many versions of windows in the past that some of the interface differences in many of the Linux systems aren’t going to put you off very much.
Like asking for a hot young new wife but the same old nasty mother-in-law.
I think he’s missing what people are really looking for. The biggest thing that people, especially non-techie people, like about Windows is that you don’t have to mess with it. A default install of Windows will 95% of what people want without the person ever having to dig into the guts and configure stuff they’ve never heard of. They don’t want an OS to be passionate about, they just want to click icons and run software.
It’s like the car world. Whenever I got a car my brother-in-law would ask me all these car nerd questions, what’s the engine size, what’s the horse power, all this blah blah. But I’m not a car guy, I don’t care about any of that stuff. I could tell you the seat is comfortable, I’m happy with the handling and acceleration, and about the stereo, cause I’m a music guy. People who want a “Windows like” experience have the same relationship with their OS I have with my car. They just want to turn the key and go.
While this is a good outlook, don’t “expect” Linux to be windows. Linux Mint Cinnamon actually does “mimic” Windows 7 and is as close as you can get. But don’t expect it to be exactly like windows and have all the exact same features because it is not and will not.
Can I edit videos and images on Linux? Can you docusign on Linux? Email clients I’m sure must exist but what else? Anything as “good” as Excel or Access that isn’t cloud based? Will it sync messages with an iPhone? Can it run windows apps (I’m guessing not, or not well without some kind of emulation software). I’m not being a jerk - serious questions. I use app for all the above applications how or why should I switch? Most people who use those types of apps chose IOS. I find it confusing. iOS buttons are backwards or something.
Ubuntu here
If I have old windows program
I use ,wine,
I love my Irfanview for stills
Ubuntu has a great free video editing tool
Switched wifey-dear from windows to Linux Mint. She does Firefox and recipes. She can get to both with no problems. Retraining was “This doohickey starts Firefox, this doohickey starts the file manager and here’s your recipes”.
She is completely non-technical.
However - I got home from work one day and found sitting in her office watching Gunsmoke on her computer. Her only complaint was she had to wiggle the mouse to keep the picture up. I set the screensaver to two hours.
I’m pretty sure I do NOT want to know how she figured that out.
“I keep hearing about this phenomenon. Since I’ve been on Linux full-time (since 2000), I’ve either forgotten about it, or I switched before that started happening.”
It is getting real bad. Remember the speed of 386 systems? Not much better.
I don’t agree. I’ve tried some Linux distributions that are pretty close but I’m still sticking with Windows for now because of a game I play.
My Windows machines tend to not get a lot slower like most peoples' do. But it's probably like my phone doesn't get slower either. Why? Because I don't install a bunch of crap onto them. And what little I do install I tend to go into the startup sequence and remove them, thus those apps start in the background only when I want them to.
Exception apps are things like my DB that I have on my current Windows laptop. My boot process takes a while because I have MS SQL service start on bootup. But once it starts, my 4-year-old laptop flies (quad core, SSD, 32 GB RAM with 2400 MHz clock speed).
I'm banging away on creating the text, when my Windows computer decided to show The Blue Screen of Death (tm). Reload and recover the last two hours of work, no huhu. Until it happened for the third time. The deadline for submitting the manuscript was a firmly fixed one, and the computer problems were messing up meeting the project goals. (Fun fact, I was using MacProject to track this.)
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing multiple times and expecting a different result. My reaction to the third crash was to re-evaluate, and do something different. Enter the Linux desktop system, with LibreOffice. No more Blue Screens. I finished the manuscript, and shipped it off to the publisher.
I never looked back.
My transition was a little unusual, because I was already familiar with Linux as a server: mail server, file server, and firewall. Moving to having Linux as my desktop machine involved a learning curve, and discovering software to replace all the Windows-ware that I was using at the time.
What do I use today? Ubuntu on my desktop. Mint in my laptops. Everything I used to do on Windows has been replicated in the Linux environment. It's not perfect, but good enough to earn money and get projects done.
What I "miss" most is Microsoft's we-know-best attitude toward computer usage. Recall. Co-pilot. The damn registry. Mandatory registration of a Microsoft account.
Oh yes, all of it and much more. There is now nothing windows can do that Linux cannot also do. Linux is the base OS, Everything you mention above are Applications. And Linux Apps are now doing all the same things your can do with windows.
As for “feel and function” I’m going to do exactly what the articles says I should not do. If you liked Win 7 then get Mint. Task bar and everything is in the same places. Right click menus have all the same options and more.
I’m running Linux Mint on what was, until last week, a Chromebook with 4GB of memory and 64GB of storage (ACER CB315-3H). I had to open it up and temporarily disconnect the battery to defeat the write protection as part of the install, but it was worth the time and trouble.
Good points. Also, Windows still supports the most frequently used software, and it’s difficult/frustrating for average Windows user to switch and learn other software.
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