Why did you switch

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reddot

Re: Why did you switch

Post by reddot »

i came from photoshop also, i have mastered gimp, does everything i need. youtube is the way to go. there are a few courses out there too. but the only way i learn sometimes is getting my feet wet! inkscape is hard AF :lol: have very limited usage, but will get up to speed eventually

Lynda - Inkscape Essential Training(have not looked through)
Lynda - Gimp Essential Training
VTC Gimp 2.6 (old)
JohnGy

Re: Why did you switch

Post by JohnGy »

DeanoVip wrote:
" Is there any other great resources out there or tips people would advise?"

One feature of Windows which I missed was System Restore. I had used it on several occasions to restore the system to a previous state when something had gone wrong, and I found it very useful. I am currently using Timeshift on Linux. I have set it to make scheduled backups once a week but I haven't yet had to use it to restore the system, so I can't comment on how well that would work. Perhaps someone else who has used it could comment.

A description of Timeshift is here:
https://mintguide.org/tools/203-timeshi ... -mint.html
deleted

Re: Why did you switch

Post by deleted »

I wanted to use my CPU cycles for things other than virus scanning and defragging ;)
Seriously tho, I needed a 64 bit C/C++/Java/CVS development environment in 2006.
At the time there was XP 64, but that was not really for "prime time",
I say with it, even @ home, because it is pretty much worry free.
-Hinto
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Re: Why did you switch

Post by Schultz »

Evading the Windows 10 nagware Microsoft tried to sneak in every patch Tuesday on my Windows 7 machine, plus all the spyware and all the reported phoning home Windows 10 does. I intended to wait until Windows 7 support ended in 2020, but Microsoft went too far. I've totally switched to Linux Mint except for the one program I use that has no equivalent in Linux, and for that I've bought a refurbished Dell that came with Windows 7 (and have never had it connected to the internet).
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Re: Why did you switch

Post by kyphi »

Sitting at the computer one day in 2005 using Windows XP, up comes the blue screen with a message urging me to contact Microsoft or else my operating would cease to work (no kidding). I phoned them, they asked for my software authentication number. The technician, unable to communicate in intelligible English, eventually transferred me to someone who spoke English clearly. I was given a new authentication code and cheerfully told "there you are, all fixed now". Of course I asked for an explanation and was told that I must have changed too many components in my computer. All I had changed was replacing a hard drive that had failed.

How could I have been so gullible to think that I owned the computer I had paid for?

But that got my hackles up and I searched for an operating system that would not spy on me and restore me as the owner of my computer. First Fedora Core 4 then Ubuntu 5.04 where I remained until Unity marred the friendship. Then Debian followed by Linux Mint from 2011.
Now I build my own computers without strings to MS and Linux Mint is where I will stay.

Just another variation to a common story.
Linux Mint 21.3 Cinnamon
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Re: Why did you switch

Post by Amii_Leigh »

I started using a computer back in 1998 with Windows 95, I was later forcibly switched to Windows 98, then I 'had' to progress to win2k, which I really liked a lot. I loved all the ways you could configure almost *everything* about it. Then for some odd reason, 'everyone' and his brother had to make me switch to winxp. I spent the better part of a month or two making it look as much like win2k as possible, in *every* way and Windows had done their level best at the time to make end user configuration harder than it was in win2k. Once it was setup just exactly the way I liked it, that's the way it stayed until March sixth of this year. I think that's the better part of ten years with one operating system. During those first few months, I would google trying to find ways of tweaking Windows to how I liked it. Some things worked, some things didn't. But I did get used to using a search to fix problems with my computer.

However, it seems that all good things must come to an end, no matter how well they work, or how well liked they are. Despite all the trouble I had went to in order to make my winxp as secure as possible,(I read (and watched) a lot of security forums, anyone heard of Steve Gibson?) using it that last month seemed like I was asking for trouble as Mozilla didn't update the winxp version of Firefox, and it didn't seem like any other browsers were going to step up to the task. Antivirus and security/cleanup programs weren't even trying to be backward compatible with winxp,the only thing on their agenda was to update to the latest version of Windows. That meant Windows ten.

So, left with no other options, and not even checking to see if my computer could even run Windows seven, I took the advice of a friend of mine that had given me my last computer that I'm using right now for free, and made a live disk (only one of two empty dvds actually} and made the jump to Linux Mint Cinnamon. I had been trying the last year or so to make myself more acquainted with as many open source programs as possible, and this was my third try into Linux, and this has went much better than my last two.
Needless to say, I am SO happy everything has went SO well. Short and sweet: I quit Windows because it quit! Long live Linux Mint! I even printed up a bumper sticker for my car! You know the one...
नमस्ते = Namaste
I honor the place in you in which the entire universe dwells.
I honor the place in you in which is of love, of truth, of light, and of peace.
When you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me, we are one.
sphyrth

Re: Why did you switch

Post by sphyrth »

What made me switch to Linux?
Microsoft ditching XP.
Bad news for me as this was the start of their explicit shove-it-in-yo-face antics.
Bad news for them as they stopped supporting XP at the time when distros for casual users already exist.

What was my main hurdle?
I already know that Linux isn't Windows, so learning how it's different is the only real hurdle I had. Having an experimental machine (I wasn't aware of VMs and Live Disks at this time) and the willingness to learn helped a lot.

What would urge me back?
Proprietary Spyware - Remove that from the definition of Windows, and I MIGHT be urged back.
The Old Timer

Re: Why did you switch

Post by The Old Timer »

I personally have no complaints when I was using Windows XP or Windows Vista.
I'm not a fan of Windows 7 / Windows 8 / Windows 10 although since I made my living working on Windows based computers have tried them.
To be fair I've never had to pay for any Windows OS as they were available to me from my employer.

While recovering from a full hip replacement I decided to download and try Linux Ubuntu 14.04 and it worked for what I needed to do and I then wound up trying different Linux distros and decided that Linux was a better choice for my minimal computer needs.
Only real complaint I find with Linux is Linux doesn't have a good Flight Simulator. I can purchase X-Plane and that does run on Linux but I can still fly using Windows XP. I don't worry about any Windows XP problems with viruses or malware as I keep it unhooked from the internet.

I never had any complaints or any of the problems that i read about or that everyone else has experienced when I was using Microsoft Windows.
I no longer use Microsoft Windows except for Flight Simulator and I keep it off-line.

Linux Mint works OK for what I need a computer to do so know complaints.

The Old Timer
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Re: Why did you switch

Post by Portreve »

I switched (basically) from Mac OS X to GNU+Linux.

I was growing increasingly discontent with the actions and the ethics of tech companies, so once I liberated all of my data to libre formats, I permanently moved to Linux Mint. I had, of course, experiences of various kinds and degrees, with GNU+Linux going all the way back to 1997 and RedHat 4.2.

I couldn't be happier to have nothing dependent upon any company, and to have no further ties to any proprietary anything.
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Re: Why did you switch

Post by BG405 »

DeanoVIP wrote:I'm curious to know why people have switched from Windows to Linux?
I initially started using Linux Mint near the beginning of 2016 more by accidnt than by design.

I was trying various "bootable" tools to try to recover a deleted partition on my tablet and nothing I tried worked except Windows installers (which would simply wipe the thing) and, after quite a fight with the 32-bit UEFI got it to boot a live session of Mint 17.3 Cinnamon. I liked what I saw and decided to swap the hard drive in my NB305 and install Cinnamon.

From that point there was no turning back. :mrgreen:

A week or so later I found a forgotten laptop I'd been given ages ago to fix and as usual it was the display cable, so I connected a monitor to find Windows Vista on it .. which I simpy erased and installed LM17.3 Cinnamon 32-bit - worked like a charm. About a month later I reinstalled it using 64-bit this time. This quickly became a media centre as well as a fileserver & workstation.

It worked so well, this led me to try Mint KDE 32-bit on my Acer dual-core netbook which had been gathering dust awaiting completion of a Win7 reinstall .. something I wasn't exactly looking forward to knowing how long it takes. KDE is easily the best one out there for me! I've now put Xfce on the NB305 which just needs a few tweaks.

The Win10 forced upgrades were the final nail in M$'s coffin for me.
DeanoVIP wrote:What hurdles have you come across
Apart from the tablet (which I'll get round to sorting out at some point) the only two issues with 64-bit Cinnamon were the WiFi (fixed using Driver Manager) and the drivers for my colour laser printer (not yet fixed, but I can print from the 32-bit Mint machines).
DeanoVIP wrote:and do you ever get the urge to go back to WIndows?
Definitely not! :shock: :lol: Pre-Win8 versions for a bit of fun maybe but not for serious use, mainly to prevent me from forgetting essential stuff for tech support.
Dell Inspiron 1525 - LM17.3 CE 64-------------------Lenovo T440 - Manjaro KDE with Mint VMs
Toshiba NB250 - Manjaro KDE------------------------Acer Aspire One D255E - LM21.3 Xfce
Acer Aspire E11 ES1-111M - LM18.2 KDE 64 ----Two ROMS don't make a WRITE
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Re: Why did you switch

Post by majpooper »

I had to use Windows at work - it seemed like there were more and more issues - it really started to ge worse with Win7. Same deal with our Windows PC and laptop at home. Security was also becoming an issue to some extent as well.

As fate would have it I have a brother who has used Unix for probably 20 years or more. Linux was a natural for him as was the command line - he raved about Linux but the first time I tried Linux I was pretty much over matched.

I was really curious though and determined so I took a Linux class at the local Community College where we learned on Suse. Suse was not very user friendly to less experienced users with limited technical computer skills like me - I really didn't like it. Then a friend suggested trying Ubuntu in VirtualBox. The learning curve with Ubuntu was relatively short and I felt pretty comfortable with it to the point that I started running Ubuntu as the host OS and Windows as a VM.

Finally an IT security guy I met at a wedding reception told me about Linux Mint. It just worked out of the box. By then I had found native Linux programs to replace everything I used on Windows except for PlayOn TV (not to be confused with Playon Linux) I just bagged PlayOn TV and went all Linux Mint.

I would never go back to the less stable, less secure, expensive frustrating to use and update Windows. "Just another OS - one not better than the other" not IMHO.
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Re: Why did you switch

Post by Rosko »

DeanoVIP wrote:I'm curious to know why people have switched from Windows to Linux?
The last straw for me came after Windows 10 uninstalled some 3rd party programs from my computer ... without my permission :evil:
What hurdles have you come across
None really, just the expected learning curve
and do you ever get the urge to go back to WIndows?
No.

I used WinXP for 13 years and was happy with it, but I was tempting fate too much using for a long time post EOL, so began trying Linux last summer. Then I got a new computer last Sept, it came with Win8.1 (hated it) and I soon moved up to Win10 (hated it a bit less). I setup a dual boot with Win10/Linux and planned to migrate to Linux once I was confident in my abilities with it so Win10 remained my main OS for awhile ... until that day it dawned on me that MS thought they owned my computer :wink:
mwbworld

Re: Why did you switch

Post by mwbworld »

A stranger in an alley whispered to me as I walked by: "Psst. Hey mister would you like to try Linux? It's free!" I looked at this person and thought well...momma said not to talk to strangers. Then they followed up: "I'll give you some pecan pie too..." I paused and said "hmmm, well Windows keeps crashing my system and updating at the most inconvenient times, but I don't know." Then they swirled the distributions discs about in a hypnotic circle slowly in front of my eyes saying: "Homemade Pecan Pie!"

The rest is history! :D

More seriously. Paradoxically while I think Microsoft's Office suite is great and was getting better, their OS has been getting worse and worse. Windows 10 I had been finding was causing all the problems that they warn us about if we dared to switch something open source like Linux. (Windows: "Linux be afraid. Be very afraid! Booga, booga!") Finally one update crashed my system and I switched.

Sure it is an adjustment learning a different OS and software suites - but I've done that so many times over the years that I was less worried about that. Plus it is so much better in my view to support open source philosophically and I gain the benefit of better software and support from the community when I run into problems.

So far no urge to go back. It feels freeing in fact.

Still no sign of that pecan pie though!
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Re: Why did you switch

Post by austin.texas »

My move to linux happened when MS decided that I did not own the operating system that I purchased, and I could not install it to all of my computers.
I had 4 home-built computers for the 4 members of the family. To buy Windows and the other needed programs for each computer would have cost hundreds of $ - couldn't do that... so adios Windows...
Portreve wrote:once I liberated all of my data to libre formats, I permanently moved to Linux Mint.
Interesting that you should mention that... I had to use Windows on my office computer, while using linux at home, and I resolved the problem of going from MS Office to Open Office by converting all my documents to html. It took a while, but now 99% of all my documents are html, which can be viewed in any browser with any OS (and posted on my websites). The remaining 1% are .txt files.
mwbworld wrote:Still no sign of that pecan pie though!
Would you settle for a Cinnamon, Honey and Mint Cupcake?
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Moxie

Re: Why did you switch

Post by Moxie »

I switched Because I thought now
I am so tired of windows spying on me 10 is worse than 7

I upgraded my job{promotion} :D
I moved to a new {to me}country :?
I thought it was time to toss windows & find out how to make myself productive in Linux

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Re: Why did you switch

Post by Portreve »

austin.texas wrote:My move to linux happened when MS decided that I did not own the operating system that I purchased, and I could not install it to all of my computers.
That's actually been the case for every version of Windows I've ever used, and probably was also true of MS-DOS before that.

However, you're probably referring to the activation process for Window XP and newer.
Portreve wrote:once I liberated all of my data to libre formats, I permanently moved to Linux Mint.
Interesting that you should mention that... I had to use Windows on my office computer, while using linux at home, and I resolved the problem of going from MS Office to Open Office by converting all my documents to html. It took a while, but now 99% of all my documents are html, which can be viewed in any browser with any OS (and posted on my websites). The remaining 1% are .txt files.
I used to work for a news magazine, and at the time (1997-8) we preferred our writers save files as either Word 5.0/5.1 or as RTF. Our workflow was such that the writers would mark up their articles with headline, subhead, body text, etc. tags which then exactly corresponded to presets we had in Word 5.1 and QuarkXPress on our computers throughout the Editorial and Production departments. This saved a ton of time dropping articles into layouts.

Ultimately, I left the desktop publishing industry because, at least in the area I live, you can't get a decent job doing that. I was never able to transition from DTP to web design, and in any case, I've found my true calling in life and so it's all good.
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Re: Why did you switch

Post by Jedinovice »

Reasons for jumping:

I could not face Windows 8.
Activation and subscription charging. I realized with Microsoft (and Adobe) I no longer owned my software. {Yes, I know technically that was always the case but we lived as if we owned it. Microsoft now enforce their policy with an iron rod.]
Cost. I had to maintain four laptops and the Windows licenses alone would have beggered me.
Fed up with being forced to pay money to upgrade all my apps to carry out the same functions as yesterday.
Hated ribbons in software.
Never liked Microsoft as a company given how they exterminated so many would be competitors… Was happy to finally be able to stop supporting the Bully.

Hurdles:

Working out how keep install files so that I owned the software and was no dependent on servers and the internet.
Learning Slackware! OK, I wanted to learn Linux before I decided to jump fully and so started on a 'low level' version. Great for learning but HELL installing!

After I had learnt enough, and give the red hot (sometimes white hot) pressure f work, jumped to Mint and stayed ever since. Installing software much easier than Windows.

Just want my netbook repaired/renovated so I can check out Mint 18 KDE!!!!

Ever wanted to go back?

Not at all! Mint KDE is the OS I have dreamed off!
Wife and I are both Mint KDE!
And Windows free!
Mint Linux 18.0 64 bit KDE edition.
Video editing (AMV's mainly) on a dual core n2840 atom!
Results here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5Dw91 ... yVKS7X1Rlg
LOOK HERE FOR MY DEMO OF MINT LINUX KDE - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8hDYiGprWs
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Re: Why did you switch

Post by Tomgin5 »

My last paying position working in O&G support designing and building Power distribution units for Working class subsea robots. we were having a lot of problems with foreign countries and competitors hacking into our company computers running Win+ Autocad 2007-2012. Everyone wanted my documentation, especially the ANSI schematics derived from ORCAD. I left there after the BP oil spill that used my design to power the robot that fixed the problem. See PegasusPDX.com. I floundered around for a while as I then retired. My home computer was wormy and the power supply died so I updated to a bit newer computer but Win7 64 Ultimate got so buggy in 3 weeks I put in LM 17.3 Cinnamon 64 dual boot. this worked much better but the hard drive had a mishap and scrambled where the password was stored so I had to re format. The hard drive continued to crash so I replaced it and I have been running many different versions but prefer Cinnamon.
I have built up about 1 laptop or desktop per week ever since. Little or no problems with any of them. Eventually they all have worked except one that had a bad motherboard. Most of the pieces i have used to repair/build other computers. :D
MajorMuff

Re: Why did you switch

Post by MajorMuff »

The answer is simple; I'm a nerd.
DeMus

Re: Why did you switch

Post by DeMus »

Built my own computer from parts I bought in a web store. Did not buy Windows cause I knew I wouldn't be using it. Also the previous computer is an own built. For that one I did buy Windows XP Pro but after a year or so it was dual boot with hardly any Windows boots, and maybe a year after that it was only Linux.
Problems? Sure, there are always things you don't know but the forum here is great so at the moment I have no problems.
Go back to Windows? NEVER!!!
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