LiveCD/DVD is the only way to see as many distros as possible to figure
out which one may be best for you. Even though there are limits on what
you can do with a LiveCD, it was the only way I knew of, back then, to
really decide which version of Linux, and desktop environment I wanted
to use.
As for Banking and other things on Windows, there are "secure" browsing
apps that will not leave any traces. There are even ones that will hide
who you are from the web sites through a portal service where you can
browse in safety knowing the web sites will get no info from your
system, since they only see what the service lets them see - false
stuff. I do not remember where you can get these services anymore, but
in the mid 2000's I saw a few of them when I was looking for free
services to help with Windows security problems.
Back to Windows to Linux. . . .
Well, I remember the days when I had to try different version of Linux
via a Windows VM system. Back then Mandrake, Red Hat, and others tried
in that classroom environment. That is when I decided that Linux might
be something to try out on a "spare" computer. All I had in those days
were P4 based systems running 333MHz to 500MHz for CPUs.
Now it is much easier to see a lot of different distros, as long as you
have the bandwidth to download .iso files of their LiveCDs or Live
DVDs. I think I still have about 5 or 10 different distro and desktop
environment combinations on Live "media" in my software drawer. That
drawer had mostly Windows software and the media I got with my
computers, printers, and other hardware, but I keep Linux related CDs
and DVDs there as well. It is a 36" by 18" by 8" and it is stuffed.
But, for now, if you are a Windows user, I really believe that you take
it slow and keep both your Windows system and a Linux system going at
the same time. If you have the hard drive space, a dual boot option
seems a good one when you do not have a spare system. I use a Dell
Laptop with Vista as my dual booting system. I installed Ubuntu 10.04
on it, then upgraded it to 12.04 a few months ago, but decided I did not
like the Unity/tablet style of desktop and added MATE desktop
environment to it. If you like using Ubuntu 10.04's GNOME 2.x desktop,
this works better than any GNOME option that 12.04 comes with. MATE
works as a 12.04 replacement for the type of desktop I got use to with
my desktop, which I still run 10.04 on.
The big issue for most people who go from Windows to Linux, is the lack
of drivers for some older hardware [dedicated drivers for very specific
hardware] that use USB or are specialty cards. Then their may be
problems with drivers for the most up-to-date printers and their extra
non-printing functions. Epson printer/scanners have problems with the
scanner part for some distro versions. HP seems to work the best for
Printer and Scanner options for Linux systems, or at least in my case.
So the big issue with some people will be finding a distro that works
with all their hardware. Live media version of a Linux version does
help there. If your hardware works then and there, you are set. My HP
laptop had problems finding a distro that would work with its sound
system. That was in the days of Ubuntu 9.04, and that was the only
LiveCD version that worked with that laptop's audio system. HP Pavilion
zv6123 AMD64 Athlon powered laptop. I no longer need it to be my Linux
system, so it is back to XP/pro and it is used as my primary laptop I
take to users who need help with their Windows systems. I have a faster
laptop, Dell, but I rather not take it if I can.
On 07/24/2012 09:26 AM, Tom Davies wrote:
Hi :)
That sounds the perfect way to try it.
Tim (Webmaster at Kracked Press) made a good point about trying LiveCds to just
test-drive various distros. Trying a few is really ideal.
Ubuntu might be a good one to start with but it is designed to be comparable with
the latest Windows so it is often more heavy and bloated than other distros.
Fedora is quite good because it also tries to be quite plug&play but it's often
the experimental cutting-edge and used as the test-bed for trying apps ahead of
other distros (well, ahead of Redhat at least). Anyway the best thing is to try a
few distros to see what works best for you on your machine and then install it.
All distros cover the middle-ground and a wide-spread of different machines but
each distro seems slightly better at certain wacky combinations of real-world
machines. Does anyone really have a 'typical' machine in a 'normal' set-up??
I really wish Windows had an equivalent of the LiveCd session that almost every
distro seems to have these days. I think if i did internet banking i would
want to always do it from a LiveCd and thus leave no trace of it on which-ever
machine.
Regards from
Tom :)
--- On Tue, 24/7/12, Chaim Seymour <[email protected]> wrote:
From: Chaim Seymour <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [libreoffice-users] Migrating from Windows; take it slow
To: [email protected]
Date: Tuesday, 24 July, 2012, 14:02
Hi
I can offer another option, which I find very satisfactory. My previous
laptop had windows vista and was unsatisfactory. When I bought a new
computer (with Windows 7), I formatted the disk on the old computer and
installed Linux. I tried 2 or 3 different linux packages and since my
computer was weak, I settled for Fedora which seems to use less resources
than Ubuntu.
The computer used to get very hot with Vista, but behaves much better with
Linux.
I use both laptops in parallel, but tend to use the Linux more.
Chaim
On 24 July 2012 12:36, Keith Bainbridge <[email protected]> wrote:
On Sun, 22 Jul 2012 13:41:59 -0400 webmaster-Kracked_P_P
<[email protected]> wrote:
Anyone who really wants to learn how to use Linux as a replacement
for Windows, try dual booting a system if you do not have a spare one
to try Linux with as its only OS.
G'day.
The other option for the odd trip back to windows is virtualisation.
Mostly, you can tell the system to let windows use a device as if you
had booted into windows
Regards
Keith Bainbridge
PO Box 324
BELMONT Vic 3216 Australia
+61 (0)408 522 706
[email protected]
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