I've used different Linux Distros in the past when I was able to dual boot with W7. But I always had a problem getting my printer to work. My newer laptop came with W10 and it's like a faster version of W7. I can keep W10, as support is supposed to run into late 2025. I have to look into dual booting it with Linux, as I think it involves different steps. If I can do it, and have my printer work, I will do it.
I'm on Windows 10 and have been looking into Linux since Windows I think is going to be like Adobe where you have to pay an annual fee to use it eventually. Got an old HP I can play with so are there any recommendations how to change over to Linux and which one? I've watched some YouTube videos but they use a lot of words I'm not familiar with and are too technical for me.
I had an old laptop that had Vista on it. Eventually I put Linux Peppermint on it. It ran pretty fast and is very customizable.
Mint or ubuntu or kubuntu are probably the most beginner-friendly versions of Linux and you can run them off of flash drive to see if you like them and not lose any of your system data. You can then choose to install it to your hard drive if you want to or you could continue to run it off the flash drive and keep your hard drive untouched. Now don't quote me on this part but the newer install systems should automatically recognize your Windows data and preserve it if you choose to install Linux to your hard drive. But I have never actually done it this way. So I would certainly recommend backing up any files you care to save just to be sure if you decide to install to hard drive. I would definitely recommend downloading different ones and running them (booting) off of flash drive to see which one you like the best and note that you can install a number of different desktops with all the different linuxes and all are highly customizable.
I've tried different Linux distributions before (maybe 4 different versions including Ubuntu and mint), and every time I've been stymied by incomprehensively difficult issues I couldn't resolve, like making it work with an external hard drive, making it work with my internet, or making it work with a printer. Every time I've tried Linux I gave up, frustrated. Non-technical people like me are stuck with windows I think. :-( - Bax
One way to look at different distros is do a lot of searching on youtube. Lots of information available there. Besides what @richgem mentioned, if you want a windows-like experience, look at Zorin and Lubuntu. Zorin imitates it very well and Lubuntu runs good on older PCs.
I like KDE distros, guess I'm an eye candy sort of guy. I used to use Ultimate Editions on a dual core Toshiba with W7 and KDE distros ran pretty good. Now that I have an HP with Ryzen 5 (6 cores) and dedicated graphics, KDE distros should run really good. And I'll keep it dual boot.
Good info, guys! How big of a flash drive would I need to install Linux and I guess change my computer bios to search the flash drive before hard disk?
One way of using Linux distros without changing your windows, is to download Virtualbox and install Linux there. Its a good way of trying out different distros.
I updated a PC from Windows 10 to 11, and I am pleased with the upgrade. Windows 11 is a visual refresh with improvements in many areas. I like it. Tinkering with Linux is fun. I have experimented with various distributions and I used Ubuntu on work machines every day for several years. But for a home machine that I want to just work without thinking about it, I prefer Windows.
I have to have a Windows computer for work and I updated it to Win 11 pretty early. It wasn't great at first. The machine crashed pretty much every day. Now after some bug fixes and updates it's much better. Haven't had a crash in a while. When I'm not working I use Linux. Mostly Fedora the past couple years. That's what I'm using right now and it's very stable but still very up-to-date.
I switched to S.U.S.E Linux in 1998 with Windows dual boot - before that I used NetBSD with TWM on my Amiga 1200. LOL. In 2001 I switched over to Debian GNU/Linux ("woody" if I remember correctly - still waiting for Hurd though, I heard it will be ready next year), got rid of Windows and never looked back - I tried nearly all Linux Distros (except from Scratch) out there, but always come back to Debian. Been a KDE fanboi since 1.0. Sometimes I have to use Windows for work though, but only use it within VMWare/VirtualBox.
Debian netinstall = 379MB. But you need a working internet connection. Preferably via ethernet cable but wifi should work as well if the adapter is supported. Also available for Ubuntu.
Ubuntu is based on Debian. They use different repositories, but technically it's all the same - most things written in Ubuntu's wiki/forums also apply to Debian. It's maybe harder to use the netinstall though since it's a ncurse based/non-graphical installer (like msdos back in the days).
