I'm sick of Windows 10 and wanna install Linux.
What are the drawbacks to this?
>>53041348
Or perhaps I should simply ask, what are the best alternatives to Windows?
Linux
>>53041391
What sort of program limitations am i going to face using mint? Office productivity, browsing, torrents, games...
>>53041348
The only drawback is not being used to the system, and compatibility with applications you usually use.
Most games won't work, some will.
Most mainstream applications are Windows or OSX only, so you'll have to find alternatives.
I swapped about 8 months ago, and I never went back. I mostly only play Blizzard games, which all work just fine with wine. Progressed and killed Mythic Archimonde just fine.
>>53041433
>Office
No Microsoft Office. LibreOffice is fine for light productivity.
>Browsing, torrents
No change there. Use Chrome or Firefox or whatever you used on Windows, and you won't really notice a difference. Same goes for torrents.
>Games
Depends on what you play.
>>53041446
>I swapped about 8 months ago, and I never went back.
What prompted you to make the switch?
>>53041462
I wanted to learn more about it for work, and general interest in it, really.
I enjoyed it, and I've gotten it to work for me pretty well so far, so I've stuck with it.
Now every computer I have is on Linux, with my main desktop having dual boot into Win8.1, but I haven't used it for long.
During my switch I went to Mint Cinnamon, which I'm still using. I'm about to switch to Arch soon though, but I would recommend Mint Cinnamon for your first time.
Go ahead, install Linux. For example Linux mint is easy to install and use and usually works right out of the box without doing much more work.
You can dual boot with Windows because many games are not native to Linux. Linux have tons of games on steam (like bioshock infinite, arma 3, saints row 4 and lots of others), but not as much as Windows so if you game a lot you might want windows at least available. If you dual boot then you can start windows and run it from there. If you are a engineer then you might also need Windows for engineering tools like ArcGIS, AutoCAD, Solidworks and so on... There ARE free linux GIS like qGIS and shit CAD software, but most are not good. You can still get Matlab on Linux though.
Also if you write word files and spreadsheets professionally then you might want microsoft word and excel. For schoolwork and simple office documents then Libreoffice is more than enough. Libreoffice is very good, but not perfect and don't have lots of the features.
But you can do a lot of things on Linux that you can't on Windows... Have a text file and want to run it as a executable? Perfectly possible with almost no hassle. Also if you after a while get to use the command line then you will have a much more comfortable experience. It might not look comfortable to use the terminal. I mean, writing commands to do stuff on the computer? But you will do stuff much faster, it is super powerful. Being forced to use just mouse on everything is much more cumbersome.
I tried switching to mint a few days ago, after years of putting off switching to a linux system.
what a fucking disaster, instantly after the first reboot i was spammed with errors from almost every program about it not having en_ZN support, finally fixing that i moved onto the issue of massive screen tearing on the screen connected to my motherboard (gpu is full), i tried the first solution that was presented to me, it broke xorg or something, because on startup i would get a text error say no displays found, then it would restart, so i had to reinstall.
2nd try i decided to tolerate the screen tearing and shit fps until i could figure out how to recover if i fuck something up again, so i just go about installing browser plugins and removing programs i won't use.
Next thing i did was make sure i could get the programs i need to work with wine, that struggle is a 4 page essay in and of itself.
eventually i restarted and it just decided that it wanted my tv to be my primary monitor, and if i tried to change it, it would lock up the whole system until i hit the power button.
at that point i had spent about 4 hours fucking around with it and was fed up, booted back into windows and reformatted that drive.
I'd just like to interject for a moment. What you’re referring to as Linux, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I’ve recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Linux. Linux is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX.
Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU system every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNU which is widely used today is often called “Linux”, and many of its users are not aware that it is basically the GNU system, developed by the GNU Project. There really is a Linux, and these people are using it, but it is just a part of the system they use.
Linux is the kernel: the program in the system that allocates the machine’s resources to the other programs that you run. The kernel is an essential part of an operating system, but useless by itself; it can only function in the context of a complete operating system. Linux is normally used in combination with the GNU operating system: the whole system is basically GNU with Linux added, or GNU/Linux. All the so-called “Linux” distributions are really distributions of GNU/Linux.
>>53041358
Older windows
Custom Windows
W10 with a little bit of work is great BUT privacy is fuckt
>>53041543
>was spammed with errors from almost every program about it not having en_ZN support,
That is because you live in another dimension where 'Zealand New' exist... just use en_NZ instead. It's the same thing in our dimension.
And if you have some weird obscure hardware (like it sounds you have) then you need to find some workaround by googling.
I need to write long paragraphs just to prove a simple point, even though most sensible people already agree with my thesis. Being the insecure pseudointellectual that I am, writing long paragraphs ensures that people will agree with me because they are too lazy (read: they have better things to do) than read the entire things. Hopefully if they're on Clover or Dashchan, my post will take up the entire screen and they'll give up on the spot. I'm not going to make a tl;dr because that would make it too easy for someone to find a fault in my claim and call me out on my shit. Please just agree with me. This works on reddit so I have no doubt that it'll work on 4chan too (it probably will). No I'm going to go on to describe various daily activities that has something (nothing) to do with the topic I am discussing. Maybe this will make you realize that I am an extroverted alpha or an elderly man, making you more likely to follow in my footsteps and agree with me. To finish it off I'll ask a couple of rhetorical questions. Should I kill myself? What is the meaning of life? Alright there, now that I have typed enough my point will finally be so dull that you'l have no choice but to not respond anyway. This gives me a sense of superiority and intellectual ability despite my apparent lack of restricted social behavior. Now I will state an opinion like it is fact. All right, done! Hopefully my dim point has been succesfully made.
>>53041628
>>53041628
This
>>53041647
Retards and their anime.
>>53041433
>muh games
you're gonna install linux mint and hate libreoffice and how most the games you have on steam dont work or work only with wine and then you'll come back and shitpost about linux.
lets just save each other some time, stay with windows
>>53041348
Lack of games, some good proprietary stuff won't work (eg photoshop)
>>53041727
I use ms office on wine tbfh...
Libre office sucks balls, and im no idealist
Anything you want to do with linux can be done in a VM on windows at near native performance, the inverse is not true.
>>53041358
OS X is pretty good, as long as you don't mind paying extra for apples hardware
>>53041348
playing video games is a pain in the ass
most software is built for windows, linux is usually a "second hand citizen"
that said, there are almost always linux alternatives for whatever task you want to accomplish
these are mostly "meta" issues, as in not issues with the OS itself but issues with popularity but that still doesn't make them non issues
>>53041348
The problem with Linux Mint is that it's literally three layers of bullshit.
Mint is Ubuntu, with extra shit on top.
Ubuntu is Debian, with extra shit on top.
Debian is any other Linux, with stupid freedom bullshit on top.
It's basically made for retards who choose old software over spending 5 minutes learning how to install a decent distro. You're better off on Windows.
>>53041966
>tfw just use debian with mate
>>53041966
Linux Mint is great, it was one of the first distros I ever used and worked perfectly. It is comfortable you autistic fuck. There is no need to figure out how to do it the most difficult way possible when you want something that works.
>>53041994
Debian is cool honestly, it's just a personal hatred of their ideas. For example:
- not including wireless firmware in their install disks.
- how convoluted, and retarded their package management is.
Any Linux will do as long as you follow the "New To Linux" guide.
>>53042005
yeah man!!! why should i learn? what the fuck do you mean i need to pass basic science before i can take physics? hahaha, fags, i am comfortable with my fifth grade education, you need to let me into physics now!
>>53041446
>No Microsoft Office
I haven't tried, but with PlayOnLinux MS Office appears as "approved", so you should be able to install it and use it with no major problems. I forgot which version though.
>>53041348
The only programs you might miss are the office suite. Not because there are no alternatives, but because the alternatives aren't very compatible with windows edited files. I run windows 7 in a VM which I did up only to read my colleagues' word and PPT files.
If interoperability of office documents doesn't concern you, then there are no drawbacks whatsoever. Do it, it's very satisfying.
>>53041500
Yeah arch is a good one to start tinkering about with. Not very stable imho though. After you've learnt the ropes best to switch to something stable like Debian.
>>53041966
>layer
Fuck off. You shouldn't be using Linux at all
>>53042020
>Autism.
>>53041348
Learn from me:
>no drivers
>no software
basically a nice OS if you use text editors and don't care about hardware support, and you like to post lincuck memes on /g/
>>53041358
How is there any alternative other than linux? Osx isn't going to install on your current hardware.
Your only question is "which distro guys?"
>>53041348
Not being able to do anything productive.
>>53044461
> /v/
>>53044461
>Using memeshop makes you productive
Mint is good, but I prefer Ubuntu. I used Arch for a bit too, but then I went back to Ubuntu.
>>53041348
Do it, I've just switched to Mint and I like it a lot. Keep Windows in dual boot so you can still be productive if Linux fucks up something (it will)
>>53041503
>>53041503
>can't on Windows
>Have a text file and want to run it as a executable? Perfectly possible with almost no hassle.
This is trivial in Windows. See webm.
Also, Windows has a functional command line, as well as the insanely powerful PowerShell.
Not shilling, it's just that you seem inexperienced with Windows.
>>53041628
/thread
and upvoted+subscribed
>>53042018
underrated post
>>53042044
I have tried it several times over the years.
2007 and 2010 works fine.
The newer ones are a browser application right?
>>53046099
>The newer ones are a browser application right?
Office 2016 is the same as 2013, 2010, etc. It's a suite of software programs that run on the machine.
Office 365 gives you some web application support, if I recall correctly, but it's not the main product line.
everything. go back to 8.1 anon
>>53044461
Go back to /v/ with your fisher price distro, pajeet.
>>53045663
> Also, Windows has a functional command line, as well as the insanely powerful PowerShell.
It's barely functional and powershell is not powerful at all. The only one with any real control over your computer is microsoft, you can only make superficial changes.
>>53047719
>barely functional and powershell is not powerful at all
Care to provide a few examples of things you can't do with them?
>>53041348
>What are the drawbacks to this?
limited games
>>53047997
>Care to provide a few examples of things you can't do with them?
Change permissions permanently on the "Program files" folder for example. You can barely do anything with Powershell... Powershell is a halfassed attempt to get some of the functionality that Linux has.
>>53048145
disable UAC and takeown recursively
>You can barely do anything with Powershell
You can do anything with PowerShell; you can actually copy/paste C# straight into PS scripts, and PS can basically access every nook and cranny of the OS.
>>53041348
babby duck syndrome is one of the drawbacks
