I want to so bad switch to Linux but I feel like I can't right now. I hope I'm wrong.

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jc0481
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I want to so bad switch to Linux but I feel like I can't right now. I hope I'm wrong.

Post by jc0481 »

Hello everyone!

I'm so tired of Windows 10. I love the compatibility of everything though. I hate the slowdowns, the registry, viruses, spyware and worse ransomware. Also how Microsoft spies on me.

I want the best of both worlds one day. The compatibility of Windows with the security and stability of Linux in general. When I attended an online university a couple of years ago. The whole curriculum was on Windows. Professor wanted us to do different things in Windows. Task manager, processes, control panel, etc. Also Microsoft Office was required. I asked the school about Linux support. They said no sorry. just Microsoft Windows. It's so aggravating.

My son is currently attending an online program called Upstart. It's very touch screen based. He is learning this. Just wanted to mention this because not sure how Linux Mint supports touchscreen. The program is web based. No program installation needed.

Also every night I've been teaching myself Microsoft Excel. So I can get certified one day and add this to my resume. I'm also teaching myself Adobe Photoshop as a side hobby. I will be attending an online university and I'm concerned about the required homework that they will be giving me.

I know what you're thinking I should use Virtualbox. I worry about the performance hit when I use Virtualbox. I hope one day I can just start up Wine and it can run all of my programs without any issues and it will run at native speeds. One day this will happen.

Specs of my laptop are:

Intel® Core™ i3-7100U (2.4 GHz, 3 MB cache, 2 cores
1 TB old fashioned mechanical hard drive at 500 rpm. I know I'm waiting for a great deal on an SSD.
8 gb of DDR3 RAM
Intel HD 620 graphics.
17 inch touch screen on my laptop.
802.11ac wifi chip.

I hope someone here can help me with this.

If someone can tell me any solutions I would appreciate this. If I can run Virtualbox on my laptop without a big performance hit I would be oh so happy.

Thank you.
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: I want to so bad switch to Linux but I feel like I can't right now. I hope I'm wrong.

Post by xenopeek »

jc0481 wrote:I hope one day I can just start up Wine and it can run all of my programs without any issues and it will run at native speeds.
This statement summarizes why you should probably just stay on Windows. As long as your ideal for Linux is to be able to use it to run Windows programs, you're better of just using Windows. You can hammer nails in with the side of a multitool, but it goes a whole lot easier with a hammer. Use the right tool for the right job and all that. For Windows programs, that remains Windows.

As for security, Wine can also run Windows malware and viruses.

VirtualBox always will have a little overhead. With 8 GB RAM, if you're only going to use one virtual machine at a time, I'd say give it 3 or 4 GB RAM. With less, Windows probably will be using swap for the programs you mention and as swap will use your very slow hard disk, that is a bottleneck. Anyway, with enough memory for the virtual machine and probably tuning Windows to disable some fancy features so it uses less resources it may all run a bit better. Also be sure to install the VirtualBox guest additions on the Windows virtual machine. That will make Windows work better as a guest on VirtualBox.
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Re: I want to so bad switch to Linux but I feel like I can't right now. I hope I'm wrong.

Post by jimallyn »

If you have just a few Windows programs you want to run, Wine or VirtualBox would probably be good for you. VirtualBox is a bit slower than native, but for most things it works fine. The gamers won't use it, though, too slow, but for everything else, it's fine. If you need to learn Excel or PhotoShop, you'll need a Windows install for that, but there are Linux native programs to do just about anything you could care to do on your computer, the program just has a different name, that's all. Wine will run some stuff, some not. Sometimes you have to use a particular version of Wine, or other little inconveniences like that. Anyway, I think you've got several choices:

1. Stick with Windows.
2. Dual boot, so you can boot into either Linux or Windows.
3. Run Windows in VirtualBox in Linux.

If you want to run a lot of games or Windows-specific programs, option 2 is for you. And it might be good to dual boot until you get used to Linux, then go to option 3. A lot of Linux users start out dual booting. I did. I'd do everything I could in Linux, but if I had something I needed to get done on a deadline and didn't know how to do it in Linux, I'd boot into Windows, get the task done, and go right back to Linux. Now my computer has only Linux on it.

I don't own anything with a touchpad, but I'm sure Mint has at least partial support for it. I searched the forums for 'touchpad' and a lot of people are using touchpads on Mint.
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Re: I want to so bad switch to Linux but I feel like I can't right now. I hope I'm wrong.

Post by Portreve »

xenopeek wrote:
jc0481 wrote:I hope one day I can just start up Wine and it can run all of my programs without any issues and it will run at native speeds.
This statement summarizes why you should probably just stay on Windows. As long as your ideal for Linux is to be able to use it to run Windows programs, you're better of just using Windows. You can hammer nails in with the side of a multitool, but it goes a whole lot easier with a hammer. Use the right tool for the right job and all that. For Windows programs, that remains Windows.
I'd second this view. If all you want is "another Windows" then you're really approaching this from the wrong philosophical standpoint.
As for security, Wine can also run Windows malware and viruses.
And, as good as it is and as much time and effort and energy as has been put into WINE's development, it's still not Windows, and it does not run all Windows software as well as Windows.
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Re: I want to so bad switch to Linux but I feel like I can't right now. I hope I'm wrong.

Post by michael louwe »

@ jc0481, .......
jc0481 wrote:I hope one day I can just start up Wine and it can run all of my programs without any issues and it will run at native speeds. One day this will happen.
The free Wine program is no longer in active development = it can mostly only run/emulate Win XP-era(2000s) Windows programs. Wine was "replaced" by the non-free CrossOver program from Codeweavers, which can efficiently run nearly all modern Windows programs on Linux, eg M$ Office 2013, Adobe Photoshop, TurboTax, Quicken, etc.
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jc0481 wrote: Just wanted to mention this because not sure how Linux Mint supports touchscreen.
Ubuntu should have better touchscreen support than LM because at one time there was Ubuntu Touch for smartphones and tablets.
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You can also run LM off an external USB hard-drive as a dual-boot with Win 10/8.x/7 that is on the internal hard-drive in your laptop. It is not recommended to install Linux alongside Win 10 on the same drive because forced updates/upgrades in Win 10 will often bork the Linux system.

You could have avoided the Win 10 'Abomination' by staying on Win 7/8.1 until their EOL in 2020/2023, eg Dell still sells new Win 7 Pro Business PCs online; buy a Win 8.1 license online and a refurbished Win 8.1 computer; buy a Win 7/8.1 Pro Retail or OEM System Builder license online and a new and affordable OEM Win 10 Pro computer which automatically has downgrade rights to Win 7/8.1 Pro; etc.
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Re: I want to so bad switch to Linux but I feel like I can't right now. I hope I'm wrong.

Post by Pjotr »

michael louwe wrote:The free Wine program is no longer in active development
Untrue. Development is very active, and a new Wine version was released only 10 days ago:
https://www.winehq.org/news/2017111101

But I second xenopeek: the OP should probably stick to Windows, at least as boot option on a dual boot machine. Wine will never be perfect, and it's malware-compatible into the bargain.
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Re: I want to so bad switch to Linux but I feel like I can't right now. I hope I'm wrong.

Post by Spearmint2 »

Solve the problem by dual boot and run both of them. When you need windows for those specific programs, use it. The rest of the time use Linux for personal activity. At my home we have both types of OS, but the family computer is Linux and nobody is allowed to use a credit card or do shopping on windows computer. That computer runs off a USB flashdrive with persistence on it, currently version 18.1 Mint. Same setup on my laptop, which I removed the hard drive from. Laptops can "walk away" and my entire system is on a flashdrive, on my keychain, so it's always with me. I can also use it to boot most other computers if available without leaving a trace of anything I've done, so very secure.
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Re: I want to so bad switch to Linux but I feel like I can't right now. I hope I'm wrong.

Post by michael louwe »

@ Pjotr, .......
michael louwe wrote:Wine was "replaced" by the non-free CrossOver program from Codeweavers, which can efficiently run nearly all modern Windows programs on Linux, eg M$ Office 2013, Adobe Photoshop, TurboTax, Quicken, etc.
.
Pjotr wrote:Nonsense. Development is very active, and a new Wine version was released only 10 days ago:
My apologies.
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Wikipedia wrote:The main corporate sponsor of Wine is CodeWeavers, which employs Julliard and many other Wine developers to work on Wine and on CrossOver, CodeWeavers' supported version of Wine. CrossOver includes some application-specific tweaks not considered suitable for the WineHQ version, as well as some additional proprietary components.
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Some applications require more tweaking than simply installing the application in order to work properly, such as manually configuring Wine to use certain Windows DLLs. The Wine project does not integrate such workarounds into the Wine codebase, instead preferring to focus solely on improving Wine's implementation of the Windows API. While this approach focuses Wine development on long-term compatibility, it makes it difficult for users to run applications that require workarounds.
.
Seems, Codeweaver Inc is just using the Free-Open-source Wine for Linux project to benefit its own non-free Wine-based CrossOver for Linux program, similar to Red Hat Inc's Free-Open-source Fedora project and Suse Inc's OpenSuse project. Non-free CrossOver was first released in 2002 and Free Wine 1.0 was first released in 2008, ie both were released under Codeweavers.
... IOW, free Wine for Linux is a practically unusable program but the non-free Wine-based CrossOver for Linux program is very usable.

Personally, I had a bad experience using Wine for Linux, ie could not use it to run Windows programs, and it was a headache uninstalling Wine.
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Re: I want to so bad switch to Linux but I feel like I can't right now. I hope I'm wrong.

Post by Pepi »

" I hate the slowdowns, the registry, viruses, spyware and worse ransomware. Also how Microsoft spies on me" You answered your own question. It's time :mrgreen:
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Re: I want to so bad switch to Linux but I feel like I can't right now. I hope I'm wrong.

Post by Pierre »

michael louwe wrote: .
Seems, Codeweaver Inc is just using the Free-Open-source Wine for Linux project to benefit its own non-free Wine-based CrossOver for Linux program, similar to Red Hat Inc's Free-Open-source Fedora project and Suse Inc's OpenSuse project. Non-free CrossOver was first released in 2002 and Free Wine 1.0 was first released in 2008, ie both were released under Codeweavers.
... IOW, free Wine for Linux is a practically unusable program but the non-free Wine-based CrossOver for Linux program is very usable.

Personally, I had a bad experience using Wine for Linux, ie could not use it to run Windows programs, and it was a headache uninstalling Wine.
well - - considering that Codeweavers AKA Crossover is the Principle & Main Supporter of the ./wine project:
https://www.codeweavers.com/about/support-wine
8)
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Re: I want to so bad switch to Linux but I feel like I can't right now. I hope I'm wrong.

Post by Pjotr »

michael louwe wrote:the non-free Wine-based CrossOver for Linux program is very usable.
That's true; CrossOver is better. :)

Nevertheless, just like Wine, CrossOver is also vulnerable to Windows viruses and Windows malware....
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Re: I want to so bad switch to Linux but I feel like I can't right now. I hope I'm wrong.

Post by phd21 »

Hi "jc0481",

I just read your post and the good replies to it. Here are my thoughts on this as well.

It would help to know more about your system setup. If you run "inxi -Fxzd" from the console terminal prompt, highlight the results, copy and paste them back here, that should provide enough information.
jc0481 wrote:When I attended an online university a couple of years ago. The whole curriculum was on Windows. Professor wanted us to do different things in Windows. Task manager, processes, control panel, etc. Also Microsoft Office was required. I asked the school about Linux support. They said no sorry. just Microsoft Windows. It's so aggravating.
I think your system could run MS Windows in Virtualbox fairly well, just give as much memory and video memory as you can to the virtual machine. You should be able to easily run MS office applications and other MS Windows applications in that, including "Task manager, processes, control panel, etc..." Gaming would not run very well in Virtualbox on this computer with that video card, but there is the Linux Steam system for that.

How to install Windows in VirtualBox
https://sites.google.com/site/easylinux ... ct/oldgrub

Tip: There are still some websites that seem to want or require certain browsers and or operating systems. Anyone can install a "User Agent Switcher" browser add-on to overcome that in Linux which will make the website think you are running Ms Windows using Internet Explorer or Edge browsers, or other ones, when in fact you are using Linux and Firefox, Chrome, Slimjet, Opera, etc...

jc0481 wrote:My son is currently attending an online program called Upstart. It's very touch screen based. He is learning this. Just wanted to mention this because not sure how Linux Mint supports touchscreen. The program is web based. No program installation needed.
If you have a touchscreen computer (Laptop or convertible), or desktop with a touchscreen monitor that is Intel or AMD processor based, then you can run Linux Mint on that. There are also applications with specific touchscreen support like the excellent "SMplayer" multi-media player and others.
jc0481 wrote:Also every night I've been teaching myself Microsoft Excel. So I can get certified one day and add this to my resume. I'm also teaching myself Adobe Photoshop as a side hobby. I will be attending an online university and I'm concerned about the required homework that they will be giving me.
Again, you can easily run MS Excel and other MS Office apps in Virtualbox. You can also install Adobe Photoshop in that and run that too. Keeping in mind there are excellent Linux applications for almost anything, including Photoshop alternatives.


Hope this helps ...
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Re: I want to so bad switch to Linux but I feel like I can't right now. I hope I'm wrong.

Post by bridnour »

jc0481 wrote: Also every night I've been teaching myself Microsoft Excel. So I can get certified one day and add this to my resume. I'm also teaching myself Adobe Photoshop as a side hobby. I will be attending an online university and I'm concerned about the required homework that they will be giving me.
For Basic MS Office Apps (basically anything not requiring VBA ), I found that the online versions provided by Microsoft work reasonably well on Linux Mint.

However, for VBA, I end up using a virtual machine. In my case, I currently use a "cloud pc" (VMware Horizon) provided by my employer. However, I used virtualbox in the past, and have been pleased with its performance.
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Re: I want to so bad switch to Linux but I feel like I can't right now. I hope I'm wrong.

Post by JerryF »

jimallyn wrote:...
I don't own anything with a touchpad, but I'm sure Mint has at least partial support for it. I searched the forums for 'touchpad' and a lot of people are using touchpads on Mint.
I think Jim means touchscreen, not touchpad.
jc0481 wrote: Specs of my laptop are:

Intel® Core™ i3-7100U (2.4 GHz, 3 MB cache, 2 cores
1 TB old fashioned mechanical hard drive at 500 rpm. I know I'm waiting for a great deal on an SSD.
8 gb of DDR3 RAM
Intel HD 620 graphics.
17 inch touch screen on my laptop.
802.11ac wifi chip.
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Re: I want to so bad switch to Linux but I feel like I can't right now. I hope I'm wrong.

Post by ArtGirl »

With higher hardware specs and further Wine development, you could maybe run programs via Wine as if natively over the next couple of years. Until then, a dual-boot or VBox could well work, but higher spec hardware could make life a bit easier regarding VBox. There have been a number of VBox updates since I tried it in May, and you may find the instructions you need to run programs perfectly well through that.

The Wine devs do frequent updates, dx9 games run very well, and they're working on dx11 compatability. I am surprised what I can run via Playonlinux/wine game-wise, but attempts to run some softwares doesn't always go so well, but that could have been an issue with the software program itself or an unknown extra that needed installing or, plain and simple, unable to find full instructions. WineHQ lists programs and rates them platinum/gold etc, to give an idea of how well things can run.

Be aware that there are a number of threads reporting VBox issues ... the meltdown/spectre patches are affecting various things.
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Re: I want to so bad switch to Linux but I feel like I can't right now. I hope I'm wrong.

Post by Hoser Rob »

xenopeek wrote:
jc0481 wrote:I hope one day I can just start up Wine and it can run all of my programs without any issues and it will run at native speeds.
This statement summarizes why you should probably just stay on Windows. ....
Nailed it there. I don't have any WIndows anymore but I don't need it Others do, and they should use WIndows.

BTW WIne is a stupid hack that usually fails completely and when apps do work they often don't work very well. ANd since Wine is a stupid hack at the conceptual level ... who in the frak ever thought just trying to translate Windows system calls to Linux ones was going to be reliable? ,,, I suspect it'll always be so.
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Re: I want to so bad switch to Linux but I feel like I can't right now. I hope I'm wrong.

Post by shawnhcorey »

jc0481 wrote:When I attended an online university a couple of years ago. The whole curriculum was on Windows. Professor wanted us to do different things in Windows. Task manager, processes, control panel, etc. Also Microsoft Office was required. I asked the school about Linux support. They said no sorry. just Microsoft Windows.
What a horrible university. Best avoid it in the future.

There are many open-source applications that can read and write Microsoft documents but they may not be compatible with the newest generation. Microsoft changes the format of its documents to force people to buy new versions. A better way to exchange docs is to use Rich Text Format (RTF). Since Microsoft create RTF, all of its applications can read and write it.

I recommend downloading the open-source apps for Windows and get use to using them. As for switching to Linux: yes, it's a big step but not one that's irreversible. But you can take baby steps by using open-source apps in Windows.
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Re: I want to so bad switch to Linux but I feel like I can't right now. I hope I'm wrong.

Post by ArtGirl »

Hoser Rob wrote:
Nailed it there. I don't have any WIndows anymore but I don't need it Others do, and they should use WIndows.

BTW WIne is a stupid hack that usually fails completely and when apps do work they often don't work very well. ANd since Wine is a stupid hack at the conceptual level ... who in the frak ever thought just trying to translate Windows system calls to Linux ones was going to be reliable? ,,, I suspect it'll always be so.
Countless gamers disagree, plus many here recommend running programs through Wine, and report success. The gentleman's concerned about other things, not opinions on Wine. And people can use whatever they wish.
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Re: I want to so bad switch to Linux but I feel like I can't right now. I hope I'm wrong.

Post by xenopeek »

OP hasn't been back here in 2 months (since making the topic). Just a heads up.
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Re: I want to so bad switch to Linux but I feel like I can't right now. I hope I'm wrong.

Post by ArtGirl »

xenopeek wrote:OP hasn't been back here in 2 months (since making the topic). Just a heads up.
Good point. :lol: Maybe someone posted/deleted recently, to bring it up in to the front page? Will notice dates better!
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