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JPG wrote:LINUX is starting to look better every week. On my brief use of it, I really really noticed the speedy response. I have it on a usb dongle and it also boots up faster.

I have installed Ubuntu Linux on a dozen or so older laptops that were running XP or Vista. They were all virused up or otherwise under-powered and had their owners completely frustrated. They upgraded to new computers so these castoffs made great toys, great learning tools and after installing Ubuntu they made great laptops once again. If I could find memory, I would also upgrade ram, but mostly I did not. The light and nimble Linux installation erased all traces of the former windows problems. The only problem during install was about half the time Ubuntu could not identify the wifi radio on the laptop. Then a search for drivers would begin, which was usually successful. Just like the old plug and pray days of Windows 3.1! But even if I could not use wifi I could still access the internet via the ethernet port. Never pass up a free laptop. Linux will make it shine once again.

I don't use Ubuntu, but I have Linux Mint on all of my computers here. Mint is a spinoff of Ubuntu, but with a nicer desktop than Ubuntu provides. It is like comparing Windows 8 to Windows 7. Win 7 has the nicer and more usable desktop.
I run Mint on all my desktop workstations, laptops, and even my servers. I couldn't force myself to go back to the pain of Windows. Using a computer should be a pleasant experience, but if Microsoft is involved, it becomes miserable.

Or just buy a Mac and solve the problem. I gave up on Windows years ago when OS 10 came out. Never going back! Essentially it's Linux anyway so easier to understand.

I tried Macs too, but they try to control you even more than Windows does. I have a friend who is an IT guy. He says, "Buy a Mac. Pay more. Get less." That sums it up best.

garys wrote:I don't use Ubuntu, but I have Linux Mint on all of my computers here. Mint is a spinoff of Ubuntu, but with a nicer desktop than Ubuntu provides. It is like comparing Windows 8 to Windows 7. Win 7 has the nicer and more usable desktop.
I run Mint on all my desktop workstations, laptops, and even my servers. I couldn't force myself to go back to the pain of Windows. Using a computer should be a pleasant experience, but if Microsoft is involved, it becomes miserable.

THANK YOU!

I had a controller card that was driving my SSD in a Raid 0 that worked just fine in beta testing for a year until the final release of Windows 10 which had changed the drivers in some way.

It didn't kill my SSD, but it appeared to have. I had to buy a new controller and reformat the drives, but they work fine now.

I can't speak to the Mint usage, but hope to play with that some in coming months.

Everett

Gonna look at the 'Mate' edition.

And looking at this thread title, I thought JPG had a 10 window van, and was going to drive to SD, and there was a recall on 10 window vans!!!!!

JPG wrote:Gonna look at the 'Mate' edition.

Mate is a bit rough compared to the Cinnamon desktop. I use Mint Cinnamon on all my computers here. Download the Cinnamon live DVD version and try it live. It will run from the DVD and leave your hard drive untouched. You can try it before you install it. From the DVD, it runs slow because DVDs are very slow, but it gives you an idea how it works before you commit to it.
Or, if you can get the image installed on a thumb drive, it will run almost as fast as if it were installed on the hard drive. I don't know how to do that with Windows, but if you have an existing Mint Cinnamon computer running, simply right click on the downloaded image and tell it to create a bootable thumb drive, and it makes it in a few seconds.

I'll have to check out Mint. I've heard of it but never used it. I'm pleased with everything Ubuntu does for me but maybe I just don't know what I'm missing.

I still rely on Windows. I need to run Excel, Photoshop and Turbotax, which are not available on Linux. Although, I have found Libre Calc to be an excellent open source spreadsheet, and I'm sure there are great photo editors on Linux. I only use Linux to create a chromebook-like browser based appliance with obsolete laptops.