Suggestions from a Windows User
Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 3:05 pm
Hello everyone. I'm a Windows user, which has long loved the concept of Linux, yet hasn't had enough time in my life to "learn" how to use it. Since Mint has been all over the internet as a great distro, I installed it on a family members computer, and mine as well. I wanted to share my experiences in hopes this can help your distro:
1. Installing was WAY easier then I expected. Only issue: not enough details on the partition screen. Windows users DO NOT want to lose anything (dual booting). Adding some text to the GUI slider-bar saying the right side is Linux Mint, and the left side is whatever was already on your computer would have made me feel a lot more comfortable through the installation.
2. Maybe you're trying to save space on the .ISO, but why are there so many things that aren't included? Opera, Chrome, and wine are programs I would recommend to almost anyone. Maybe creating a first-run wizard of some sort would be beneficial to getting all the software I'm looking for without digging through the software manager (explained later).
3. Put an icon on the desktop to the first-run pop-up box, or a link to the tutorials. Most people close this the first time. I'm glad I didn't un-check the "show at start up" option! If you're not targeting new-to-Linux users, then I suggest stating that somewhere.... although my whole post here is assuming that you are.
4. Where is the trash that I'm moving files on the desktop to?
5. Have you considered a "Run as Root" pop up, instead of requiring me to type my password all the time?
6. GUI interfaces. I know you linux guys love the terminal, but come on! Isn't it obvious why WINDOWS IS BETTER than Linux? During my test, I specifically tried to never use the terminal... I failed really quick. For starters, I would suggest having a different Icon in the Software Manager for GUI interfaces. An option to hide non-GUI interfaces would be nice too. Here are few GUI's I've had to install in my first few weeks of Linux Mint:
-Grub Customizer (Not even in the Software Manager, why's that?)
-CMake (although this program is not beginner friendly)
-PlayOnLinux
-GParted
7. Proprietary Drivers. I rolled back to Mint 13 on an old computer that was supposedly not compatible with the graphics card in one of my laptops. It looks like you removed a link to proprietary drivers from the System Settings menu? I'm a huge fan of open source... but I'm a bigger fan of having my hardware work as good as possible.
8. Double clicking on a .deb file doesn't always launch the installer. This might be because I'm using chrome, but then again the first thing I did was install a different browser since Firefox was slow.
9. Clock. Default this to AM/PM. The Military is not going to install Linux Mint, so why did you default me to military-time format?
Thank you for reading this. I hope it helps. This was not written to bash or insult anyone, I really like your distribution... I'm hoping my comments here can help improve something.
Thanks,
1. Installing was WAY easier then I expected. Only issue: not enough details on the partition screen. Windows users DO NOT want to lose anything (dual booting). Adding some text to the GUI slider-bar saying the right side is Linux Mint, and the left side is whatever was already on your computer would have made me feel a lot more comfortable through the installation.
2. Maybe you're trying to save space on the .ISO, but why are there so many things that aren't included? Opera, Chrome, and wine are programs I would recommend to almost anyone. Maybe creating a first-run wizard of some sort would be beneficial to getting all the software I'm looking for without digging through the software manager (explained later).
3. Put an icon on the desktop to the first-run pop-up box, or a link to the tutorials. Most people close this the first time. I'm glad I didn't un-check the "show at start up" option! If you're not targeting new-to-Linux users, then I suggest stating that somewhere.... although my whole post here is assuming that you are.
4. Where is the trash that I'm moving files on the desktop to?
5. Have you considered a "Run as Root" pop up, instead of requiring me to type my password all the time?
6. GUI interfaces. I know you linux guys love the terminal, but come on! Isn't it obvious why WINDOWS IS BETTER than Linux? During my test, I specifically tried to never use the terminal... I failed really quick. For starters, I would suggest having a different Icon in the Software Manager for GUI interfaces. An option to hide non-GUI interfaces would be nice too. Here are few GUI's I've had to install in my first few weeks of Linux Mint:
-Grub Customizer (Not even in the Software Manager, why's that?)
-CMake (although this program is not beginner friendly)
-PlayOnLinux
-GParted
7. Proprietary Drivers. I rolled back to Mint 13 on an old computer that was supposedly not compatible with the graphics card in one of my laptops. It looks like you removed a link to proprietary drivers from the System Settings menu? I'm a huge fan of open source... but I'm a bigger fan of having my hardware work as good as possible.
8. Double clicking on a .deb file doesn't always launch the installer. This might be because I'm using chrome, but then again the first thing I did was install a different browser since Firefox was slow.
9. Clock. Default this to AM/PM. The Military is not going to install Linux Mint, so why did you default me to military-time format?
Thank you for reading this. I hope it helps. This was not written to bash or insult anyone, I really like your distribution... I'm hoping my comments here can help improve something.
Thanks,