I'm seriously considering switching to Linux Mint....

[jc0481]

Right now I'm using Windows 7 64 bit on my desktop computer. Here are the specs:
CPU
AMD Athlon II X2 245 31 °C
RAM
8.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 533MHz (7-7-7-20)
Graphics
Acer S232HL (1920x1080@59Hz)
ATI Radeon HD4200 (integrated)
Hard Drives
466GB Seagate ST3500418AS SCSI Disk Device (RAID)
Optical Drives
TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-222AL SCSI CdRom Device
Audio
Realtek High Definition Audio

I really want to switch to Linux MInt but I have some hesitations.

1. Will I get better performance running LInux Mint KDE than Windows 7 and also less memory to run it? It has to be KDE for my wife who is used to the Windows look. I showed her others Xfce, Gnome, Unity, LXDE and she hated them all. She still prefers KDE because of the Windows look and feel.
2. I know Wine does not run 100% of all Windows programs perfectly and even if it does run it probably won't run perfectly either. So I want to install Virtualbox on my computer or buy VMWare Workstation to run on my computer.
Does anyone know if I run a Windows programs in a virtual environment that I will just see the Windows program and not the Windows OS? I think one of the virtual software programs called it "Seamless mode" can I do that with Virtualbox? Of course I will try Wine first to see if the programs I use will work or not.
3. Also regarding Virtualbox how is the performance? Do you think it will run good on my computer? By the way sometime early next year I will buy a SSD drive and make it my new boot disk and the older one to save data onto it.
I just want a very fast virtual environment.
4. I'm a online student at my local community college. Has anyone ran into any issues or had no problems when going to school with Linux Mint on your computer?

If anyone else you would like to share that will help. Please do. Thanks for reading.

[RobertLM78]

I really want to switch to Linux MInt but I have some hesitations.

No need to hesitate - you may regret doing so later

1. Will I get better performance running LInux Mint KDE than Windows 7 and also less memory to run it? It has to be KDE for my wife who is used to the Windows look. I showed her others Xfce, Gnome, Unity, LXDE and she hated them all. She still prefers KDE because of the Windows look and feel.

Absolutely; even running KDE, the system will be using less resources than piggish Window$.

2. I know Wine does not run 100% of all Windows programs perfectly and even if it does run it probably won't run perfectly either. So I want to install Virtualbox on my computer or buy VMWare Workstation to run on my computer.
Does anyone know if I run a Windows programs in a virtual environment that I will just see the Windows program and not the Windows OS? I think one of the virtual software programs called it "Seamless mode" can I do that with Virtualbox? Of course I will try Wine first to see if the programs I use will work or not.

You'll still see Window$ OS - but it will be in a window within KDE (unless you go fullscreen by pressing Host+F (Host = right Ctrl). I'm not sure about a seamless mode, but I know that the only things that give me problems with wine are graphic-heavy programs (games, basically). The other two things I run are for real work, and run just fine under wine

3. Also regarding Virtualbox how is the performance? Do you think it will run good on my computer? By the way sometime early next year I will buy a SSD drive and make it my new boot disk and the older one to save data onto it. I just want a very fast virtual environment.

With how much RAM you have and your processor, you should be just fine running a virtual machine .

4. I'm a online student at my local community college. Has anyone ran into any issues or had no problems when going to school with Linux Mint on your computer?

I'm not an online student, but I am a student nonetheless, and as I said as the beginning, I regret not switching to Linux sooner - I've had no issues whatsoever .

[Orbmiser]

"I showed her others Xfce, Gnome, Unity, LXDE and she hated them all. She still prefers KDE because of the Windows look and feel. "

Hmmm that's different hated KDE way too much in your face overwhelming tweak everything to the point of confused clutter.
Coming to Mint Cinnamon reminds me more of Windows than KDE does.

As using in school many times yes. Also depends on what courses you are taking as some require MS or Adobe products use.
And may or may not be a success in VM and less likely running windows program in wine.

For the maximum in flexibility a lot of people go the dual boot or in my case triple boot. As have Win7,Winxp & Linux mint and can go to windows if the need arises. HD are pretty big in capacity. And putting Windows on a 30gb partition just in case for that strange or errant program absolutely required and may not run in Wine or VM well. And Linux is still lacking in some arenas. Like more capable windows Video Editing,CD/DVD burning options. Games which I don't do much myself. Image & Graphics I know many schools require Photoshop learning as part of the course.
.

[richardsdma]

switching to linux is a bad idea for your machine due to the ATI poor video driver for linux.
my honest advise is to stick to windows. if you already have a valid licence of W7, there is no point to go to linux.
so, you can install linux mint 13 or 14 cinnamon 64bits "alongside windows"...you give it 15 GB of space, and then, install gnome-shell to have a decent desktop enviroment.
but as a told you before, when it comes to amd and ati video card, windows rules, especially W7!

[Orbmiser]

Is my card an exception Ati 4350 ? As running dual lcd setup and running great. Also have a AMD Athlon II X2 250 dual core.
Tho not running propriety drivers. Just the default Gallium 0.4.
.

[richardsdma]

i am not saying that is not working, i am saying that the performance is way behind the proprietary driver in windows. let's face the fact.
i have an ati x1270 on my laptop and the sVideo output doesnt work anymore in linux, 2 or 3 weeks ago it worked.....but not always.
in w7, due to the proprietary driver, the sVideo output works big time with no issue.
need to say something about the framerate?

later edit:
as far as the internet browser goes...go for google chrome, dont waste your time with other "open source" crap. go to google, download the .deb package, install and go ahead and enjoy the surfing!

[Orbmiser]

Yep just wondering. As still hmm'ing and hawing if I should try the proprietary drivers and would see any kind of improvement. As no lagging or tearing,sync,etc.. that can come with problematic drivers for linux.
.

[jc0481]

I love these forums. Thank you all for the replies.

Regarding the video card issues. I will be disabling the integrated video card and putting a new video card in from Nvidia.
What I'm questioning right now is the performance of Virtualbox running Windows. I know it won't be the same as native hardware but I want it to be close. Well I will be using it until Wine is able to run all my regular programs I use. I don't run any Windows games by the way. Since I'm a student I get a good discount for WMWare Workstation don't know much about the performance though.

If anyone is wondering I will be using Windows 7 in a virtual environment. Instead of Windows XP.

Also regarding doing a dual-boot I think it will get irritating pretty quick. I would rather run Wine or through a virtual environment. Wine being the first preference.

The reason I'm tired of Windows is the usual reasons a lot of people get tired of it as well. The viruses, the slowdowns as time goes by, you watch the news and the reporters tell you to be cautious and update your antivirus programs because of a scam, an email going around that wreaks havoc on your system, etc.

Here are the programs I use currently on Windows 7

1. Microsoft Office 2010
2. ConvertXtoDVD
3. ImgBurn
4. Quicktime (just to watch movie trailers)
5. Adobe Flash (not really sure how Adobe Flash is under Linux. I'm hoping better)
6. Speccy (I help out family and friends finding out the specs on their machines)
7. PDF X-change
8. Notepad++
9. Adobe Air
10. Adobe Photoshop (I don't use this regularly. Just once in a while just to learn how to use it.)

I went to my community college to register on the computers. I logged in and found two programs I might use while going to school. Not sure though. Mathematica and Matlab. I think when I need to I can just go to school and run these programs there.

[Orbmiser]

That much Windows use and dependency I would definitely setup a dual boot for myself.
.

[richardsdma]

use vmware all the way....virtual box is a joke. there is vmware player witch is free.
so, lets kick it:
office 2007 works pretty good under wine. i dont know about 2010
imgburn also i heard that it works under wine
for latest flash player you will need google chrome (nou chromium)

about the others, maybe someone else!

@Orbmiser
you are right man, he should stick to windows.

[xenopeek]

Here are the programs I use currently on Windows 7

1. Microsoft Office 2010
2. ConvertXtoDVD
3. ImgBurn
4. Quicktime (just to watch movie trailers)
5. Adobe Flash (not really sure how Adobe Flash is under Linux. I'm hoping better)
6. Speccy (I help out family and friends finding out the specs on their machines)
7. PDF X-change
8. Notepad++
9. Adobe Air
10. Adobe Photoshop (I don't use this regularly. Just once in a while just to learn how to use it.)
I went to my community college to register on the computers. I logged in and found two programs I might use while going to school. Not sure though. Mathematica and Matlab. I think when I need to I can just go to school and run these programs there.

There are plenty of free alternatives on Linux for most programs on your list.

1. The LibreOffice office suite is installed on Linux Mint by default, or you may enjoy Calligra as a KDE native office suite (LibreOffice will work fine also though).
2. There are a ton of programs to convert an AVI to an image you can burn on a DVD. Like DeVeDe. Not sure if that is the best suggestion, but that is the one I found + a small guide for Linux Mint: http://www.ehow.com/how_5815532_convert ... -mint.html
3. Brasero image burner is installed on Linux Mint by default, or you may enjoy K3b as a KDE native image burner.
4. Quicktime isn't needed, Firefox on Linux Mint comes with the needed plugins to play back movie trailers (also QuickTime movies from Apple Movie Trailers).
5. Firefox on Linux Mint comes with Adobe Flash installed.
6. Speccy is something to run on somebody else's computer, right?
7. Linux Mint comes installed with a PDF reader. If you need a PDF editor, there are various solutions though they may not all satisfy depending on your needs. PDFedit or PDF Studio should go a long way. A review of the latter: http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/openso ... tudio/2388
8. Linux Mint comes installed with a good text editor; Kate on KDE or Gedit/Pluma on the other editions. You may like Geany as an alternative if you are into programming.
9. Adobe does not support Adobe AIR on Linux. Though you can still install Adobe AIR for those programs that needed it, this is one you would probably stick on Windows.
10. GIMP is installed on Linux Mint by default. There are various other options, but GIMP is a pretty good alternative to Photoshop. There are plenty of plugins and scripts available to extend it should you need specific functions. There is extensive documentation available. (I have no affiliation with them, but NoStarch press is pretty awesome with free software books and has a GIMP book out next month: http://www.nostarch.com/gimp)

Finally, Mathematica and MATLAB both also run on Linux. I don't know how easy those are to install, and you do need a license. Might be best to stick with your plan on these

Handy link is http://alternativeto.net/, which will let you search for programs you use and find suggestions for similar programs (you can narrow down the platform to Linux suggestions only).

[TBABill]

Anytime you have an issue where proprietary Windows software will be required and there is uncomfirmed functionality via Wine (or VM), dual booting is the only safe way to go. So often people wipe an entire hard drive, not realizing their Windows backup and restore capability used to reside in a separate partition on that drive. Once any Linux distro is installed, unless caution is taken to protect the various partitions, the Windows install is lost. A better bet may be to defrag the machine and shrink the Windows partition, creating enough room to run Mint side by side in a dual boot. Or use a virtual machine. But either way, keep that Windows install.

It's even more important for students. You never know what odd program you may need for school and without Windows you may not be able to run it. Instead of risking an incompatibility at a time when you need to most focus on studies, just keep Windows there just in case. It has no impact at all on the Linux install and it's a savior for the one or two times you may need it (or decide to return to Windows as some users do).

I'm not advicating that you avoid Mint, but rather than you remain prepared in case it doesn't meet every need. For me it does, but for some users they later realize they need Windows for some purposes.

[RobertLM78]

i am not saying that is not working, i am saying that the performance is way behind the proprietary driver in windows. let's face the fact.
i have an ati x1270 on my laptop and the sVideo output doesnt work anymore in linux, 2 or 3 weeks ago it worked.....but not always.
in w7, due to the proprietary driver, the sVideo output works big time with no issue.
need to say something about the framerate?

As my signature indicates, I'm using a Radeon HD 5450 and the only issue I've had with the proprietary driver is having to re-install it after upgrading the kernel.

later edit:
as far as the internet browser goes...go for google chrome, dont waste your time with other "open source" crap. go to google, download the .deb package, install and go ahead and enjoy the surfing!

You do realize that Chrome (like Safari) has back doors which allows its makers access to your machine?

OP: I wouldn't go with this browser. There are many alternatives than to go with something that compromises your security. To name a few:
1) the venerable Firefox
2) Sea Monkey
3) Opera

[RobertLM78]

<SNIP>
I went to my community college to register on the computers. I logged in and found two programs I might use while going to school. Not sure though. Mathematica and Matlab. I think when I need to I can just go to school and run these programs there.

I'm running Matlab R2012a on all three of my machines (all running Mint 13 ). It is really simple to install; feel free to PM me if you wind up installing it and need some assistance .

[caerolle]

So, why do you want to switch to Mint? It seems you have a long list of reasons NOT to switch! Unless you are willing to spend quite a lot of time trying to make things work, and it will take a lot of time, even if just to track down and install all the new apps you need, and learn how to use them, I would stick with W7-it's fast and stable, works great with everything you have, and is compatible with pretty all the formats you need to share things with other people (such as for school). If it is for speed, you might not find as much difference as you expect. Although these are both pretty new computers, Word loads as fast on my spouse's i3 with Windows 7 as LibreOffice Writer loads on my i5 with Linux Mint. Her computer is newer than mine, so likely it has a little advantage here, but her Windows system boots to use in 60 seconds, and my Linux system takes about 50, so it isn't several minutes versus 1 minute or anything.

At the least, I second the idea of dual booting! See if you can do the things you need to do. If you are going to do ANYTHING to your hard drive though, make sure you back-up all your unique files (music, photos, docs, all that) AND make a recovery disk (you sound like someone really on top of working with computers, so sorry if this seems condescending, but I can't tell you how many smrt, experienced people don't do these things). Most of your files will easily move over to the Linux install, if you decide to stick with it, and the recovery disk should enable you to go back to the Windows set up you had without having to reinstall all the individual apps and files.

FWIW, and good luck,

caerolle

[richardsdma]

i am not saying that is not working, i am saying that the performance is way behind the proprietary driver in windows. let's face the fact.
i have an ati x1270 on my laptop and the sVideo output doesnt work anymore in linux, 2 or 3 weeks ago it worked.....but not always.
in w7, due to the proprietary driver, the sVideo output works big time with no issue.
need to say something about the framerate?

As my signature indicates, I'm using a Radeon HD 5450 and the only issue I've had with the proprietary driver is having to re-install it after upgrading the kernel.

later edit:
as far as the internet browser goes...go for google chrome, dont waste your time with other "open source" crap. go to google, download the .deb package, install and go ahead and enjoy the surfing!

You do realize that Chrome (like Safari) has back doors which allows its makers access to your machine?

OP: I wouldn't go with this browser. There are many alternatives than to go with something that compromises your security. To name a few:
1) the venerable Firefox
2) Sea Monkey
3) Opera

people have obsession about backdoors or something.....let me tell you man: if the goverment wants to take you, they will send a swat team to your door and take you anyway. i told you the reason why use chrome and a reapeat:
is way faster than other browsers
is the ONLY way to have the latest flash player (for lower CPU load)
it keeps the bookmarks, usernames, pass, settings very clear in google account.
and so on.....

and about the video driver....he has HD 4xxx, i think it is not supported by AMD anymore and i understand them, why support a OS witch has only 1% market share and it is like a cult. lets face it.

@caerolle
goddamn right man! w7 is a very good OS, i admit that! due to the long list of apps, the man will spend a lot of time to make things work.
if the windows is broken, it is much easier to reinstall it, is pretty easy. and then, be very carefull to browsing and the files you are opening. install microsoft security essentials.

the best experience with linux is to run the native apps.

[jc0481]

So, why do you want to switch to Mint? It seems you have a long list of reasons NOT to switch! Unless you are willing to spend quite a lot of time trying to make things work, and it will take a lot of time, even if just to track down and install all the new apps you need, and learn how to use them, I would stick with W7-it's fast and stable, works great with everything you have, and is compatible with pretty all the formats you need to share things with other people (such as for school). If it is for speed, you might not find as much difference as you expect. Although these are both pretty new computers, Word loads as fast on my spouse's i3 with Windows 7 as LibreOffice Writer loads on my i5 with Linux Mint. Her computer is newer than mine, so likely it has a little advantage here, but her Windows system boots to use in 60 seconds, and my Linux system takes about 50, so it isn't several minutes versus 1 minute or anything.

At the least, I second the idea of dual booting! See if you can do the things you need to do. If you are going to do ANYTHING to your hard drive though, make sure you back-up all your unique files (music, photos, docs, all that) AND make a recovery disk (you sound like someone really on top of working with computers, so sorry if this seems condescending, but I can't tell you how many smrt, experienced people don't do these things). Most of your files will easily move over to the Linux install, if you decide to stick with it, and the recovery disk should enable you to go back to the Windows set up you had without having to reinstall all the individual apps and files.

FWIW, and good luck,

caerolle

Thanks for the feedback. The reason I want to switch is peace of mind and better performance out of my machine. I understand no computer system is 100% bulletproof. But Linux is better than Windows when it comes to security. It will be nice not having a antivirus program constantly running on your computer in the background. Also not having to worry about keyloggers and rootkits on my computers. I'm not the only one that uses the main computer. Either family or friends use it when they come over.

About a year and a half ago I got hit with a keylogger. I was checking my email and also Itunes at that time. My credit card was stored in my Itunes account. By the way I no longer use Itunes not because of what happened just because I don't have a need for it. At the time my wife had an ipod shuffle but not anymore. She gave it to a friend. I logged into my bank account and see $40 dollars on Itunes songs was purchased. Long story short I canceled my credit card, changed passwords and got my money back.

With so many processes running in Windows.It gets bloated fast. Linux will run faster and has more efficient code to run. It will breathe new life into my aging computer.

The reason I need Microsoft Office is because of the macros. Correct me if I'm wrong I don't think LibreOffice has support for macros.

[Orbmiser]

Simple Google search would answer your question. looks like the answer is No
http://help.libreoffice.org/Common/Using_Microsoft_Office_and

[caerolle]

jc,

Those are certainly some good reasons! Although I haven't had anyone steal my identity, I can relate to the rest. Good luck making the switch!

caerolle

[GarryRicketson]

I am not real "high teck" oriented , nor any kind of programmer, (trying to learn though). I have never liked windows,personally I consider it malware even as far back as 3.1,when I first started with computers, it was only dos, and any internet, was unix, and that was ok, when the first versions of windows 3.1 came out , I kind of dropped out of the computer world, for several years, when I did start back again, and got a laptop, Windows XP, was the malware installed on the laptop,, I never liked it , so I started looking for something better, which led to Linux. Anyway, when I first tried Linux, I tried the Mint for windows, I liked it, so I set up a partition, and started using mint as a dual boot, ( actually 3 Os's , windows, FreeDos, Linux), running Linux Mint, completely seperated from windows, I liked even better, shortly later, I completely formatted the HD, removing windows all together, Now, just free dos, and Linux Mint, I also, have a version of XUBUNTU, I use a little.
Once I had completely gotten rid of windows, I liked Linux even better,.
For me it is a "dream come true", I now, have a laptop, with a OS, that I, control, I can do things with my computer, that before, with windows malware, never could be done, or would be a disaster., I no longer use any windows , MS malware products, so I don't use wine, but I did try it, and it is ok, as a "toy", Dos Box I use more, cause I have a Dos game, I like,..After all said and done, I am so happy with Linux Mint, there is no way I would ever go back, and install the Windows malware, on any computer, If a program or sofware can not be run on Linux, then I don't need it.
My only regret, is, that I did not get started with Linux, a longer time ago, when the development first started, but I was not really very active with computers at that time anyway,..
Ever since I switched to Linux, I never have any of the "crashes", "lockups", files coming up missing, and other "unknown, and unwanted" files, getting made automaticly, etc,..Windows is pure malware, I really don't see why or how it has become such a "popular" Os, but I guess it is mostly due to ignorance, on the part of the general public,
Guess that is all I have to say on that.