I swapped to Linux Mint. I went back to Windows, here's why

[MurphCID]

His later one: https://www.dedoimedo.com/images/comput ... olored.png

We have a freaking forest and everything else is a deadly wasteland.

That is so true, Mint is a green and pleasant land.....

[meToo]

I did like the caliphate of Xandros. I lived there once upon a time.

Xandros was my introduction to linux, terrible OS (at least the version I had), which prompted me to try Mint (7?) followed by frequent visits to Distro Watch and finally settling back to Mint 19.3.

[AndyMH]

Xandros was my introduction to linux, terrible OS (at least the version I had)

I have fond memories of Xandros, but this was back in 2002.

[tezza]

I never left Windows. That's partially because of inertia. I really needed it when I was employed because my work environment was Windows/Office. Compatibility between home and work was important.

However now I'm retired that's not so important. I run Mint in a virtual machine (VirtualBox) and love several things about it (and Linux in general) compared to Windows. Primarily because runs on hardware that Windows 10/11 would choke on. I've set up two Linux Mint distro on older machines for financially challenged relatives and they love it. Next, it lets me tinker under the hood, which I enjoy as a hobby/learning experience. Finally it is free and Mint doesn't feel like a corporate product I'm simply leasing as Windows does. I like that.

Will I ditch Windows eventually and make Mint my main OS? Not right now. There is room for both in my life but there could be a time when Mint is the main install and it's Windows that's running in the virtual machine. It depends where Winows goes in the future.

[Infidelus]

I recently convinced a friend to try Linux Mint as he'd been moaning about Windows for years. After installing it on his aging (and painfully slow machine), I ended up giving* him one of my old PCs that was a significant improvement.

For the first week or so after setting him up early last December I had multiple help requests, and he also had an SSD failure so I had to pop back round and help him with that. I also had to install VirtualBox for him and create a Windows 10 VM as he uses Publisher a lot and doesn't like/isn't willing to put the effort in with Scribus. No idea if there are better alternatives as I've never had a need to use Publisher, and Scribus seemed to be the go-to from my searches.

Haven't heard from him since Christmas though, apart from a few joke emails, so presumably he's getting on OK. We usually meet up every three or four months for lunch so I'm sure he'll probably bombard me with questions at our next meet.

* I say giving. He gave me £50 - which is less than the cost of the case, but the machine was just sitting around gathering dust so I'm not complaining

[MurphCID]

I never left Windows. That's partially because of inertia. I really needed it when I was employed because my work environment was Windows/Office. Compatibility between home and work was important.

However now I'm retired that's not so important. I run Mint in a virtual machine (VirtualBox) and love several things about it (and Linux in general) compared to Windows. Primarily because runs on hardware that Windows 10/11 would choke on. I've set up two Linux Mint distro on older machines for financially challenged relatives and they love it. Next, it lets me tinker under the hood, which I enjoy as a hobby/learning experience. Finally it is free and Mint doesn't feel like a corporate product I'm simply leasing as Windows does. I like that.

Will I ditch Windows eventually and make Mint my main OS? Not right now. There is room for both in my life but there could be a time when Mint is the main install and it's Windows that's running in the virtual machine. It depends where Winows goes in the future.

I am in the same boat as you are. I retire in May/June, and look forward to learning new things. I also have a great deal of inertia in not leaving Windows on my desktop. My laptops that I use however, are all Linux (2 with MInt, one with Pop OS). I stay on the Mint laptops since they go with me everywhere.