‘End of 10’ Campaign - what are the benefits of Linux Transition?

[thedighubs]

dear community, dear friends,

the ‘End of 10’ Campaign is discussing the options: - what are the benefits of Linux Transition

see the campaign page: https://endof10.org/

the statemtents:
Support for Windows 10 ends on October 14, 2025.
Microsoft wants you to buy a new computer.
But what if you could make your current one fast and secure again?


well - with Windows 10's end near, Endof10.org is talking bout the benefits for a Linux adoption;
this may help lots of users keep their devices functional and secure.

what do you think about the 5 reasons:


5 Reasons
to upgrade your old computer to Linux

It's waaaaay cheaper
A new laptop costs a lot of money. Repair cafes will often help you for free. Software updates are also free, forever. You can of course show your support for both with donations!

No ads, no spying
Windows comes with lots of ads and spyware nowadays, slowing down your computer and increasing your energy bill.

Good for the planet
Production of a computer accounts for 75+% of carbon emissions over its lifecycle. Keeping a functioning device longer is a hugely effective way to
reduce emissions.

Community support
If you have any issues with your computer, the local repair cafe and independent computer shop are there for you. You can find community support in online forums, too.

User control
You are in control of the software, not companies. Use your computer how you want, for as long as you want.

look forward to hear from you

regards

 

[pcgeek11]

I did it years ago.... Well worth the effort!

 

[thedighubs]

Thanks for the reply. Great to hear from you and thank you sharing your thoughts and experiences with us.
🙏 That will encourage many of us here.

 

[Ken g6]

I almost entirely left Windows back in 2009 when Vista came out.

The only reason I have a copy of Windows now, that I plan to migrate to 11, is for tax reasons. Specifically, I can't find US federal tax software for Linux.

 

[pcgeek11]

I almost entirely left Windows back in 2009 when Vista came out.

The only reason I have a copy of Windows now, that I plan to migrate to 11, is for tax reasons. Specifically, I can't find US federal tax software for Linux.

I have been doing my taxes online with Linux and Turbotax for years with no issues...

TurboTax® Official Site: File Taxes Online, Tax Filing Made Easy

Prepare and file your taxes with confidence through TurboTax. Have an expert do your taxes or do them yourself. 100% accurate, however you choose to file taxes, guaranteed.

turbotax.intuit.com

 

[C1]

For most, it should be less expensive to farm one's taxes out than to have to not only buy the computer, but also to buy the tax software to run in it. (All quite a hassle too even assuming the new computer includes the required OS.)

However, I dont like other people handling my personal information (such as financial account info, SS #s, residence info, etc.).

In any case though, there is a real concern now about AI getting hold of peoples personal data. Once that happens, the sky (or black hole) is the limit.

Breakthroughs from Google and Microsoft Drive Cybercrime Fears


BTW, those ads for ID theft protection seem dumb. Mainly, the promise is that if their protection fails, they will give you your money back.

Nice. So if you lose $100K due to ID theft, you get your $100 subscriber fee back.

What a deal ! (sic)

 

[lxskllr]

I almost entirely left Windows back in 2009 when Vista came out.

The only reason I have a copy of Windows now, that I plan to migrate to 11, is for tax reasons. Specifically, I can't find US federal tax software for Linux.

Rudimentary, but it works...

OpenTaxSolver 2024 Download Page

Free Open Source Tax Preparation Package

opentaxsolver.sourceforge.net

 

[mikeymikec]

I migrated in 2018 (now on Linux Mint 21.x), when I felt I saw the writing on the wall with Microsoft:

1 - in-OS advertising
2 - constant harassment into doing things the way they want (e.g. Microsoft account, everything in OneDrive, subscriptions)
3 - reduced customisability

Two unexpected benefits from the transition:

1 - Windows software design has a really annoying element which is how a window that wants the focus will pop up in front of the window I'm working in, the biggest sin being I'm typing say an e-mail and some other software stops my workflow. On Linux Mint (Cinnamon) this basically never happens (at least in my experience), or so rarely that I'm happy to say "never". I would lump in a general feeling that Linux isn't going to try and pull a fast one on me and try to sucker me into something I don't want. Since changing to Mint, no regrets.

2 - The document scanner app (I think the package name is simple-scan) is hands-down better than any scanning software I've used on Windows. It's simple, intuitive and doesn't obstruct my workflow, especially for multi-page scans.

I still dual-boot with Win11 (almost exclusively for gaming), and I have a Windows VM set up in VirtualBox (actually I have four Windows VMs: Win2k, XP, Win7, Win10, but I strictly speaking only need one). I also have my old calendar app running through Wine on Linux.

 

[JackMDS]

Question?

I have 3 work related sophisticated applications that only work with Windows???

 

[lxskllr]

Maybe wine, maybe not. Virtual machines can get a lot of work done also, but sometimes you need windows. Rather, sometimes some people need windows. I'm not one of those people. I'd rather do without than run windows as my primary os.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I recently put Windows 10 on my gaming machine as 7 was starting to be too out of date, stuff like graphic drivers etc were no longer being updated for 7.

I will just keep using 10 on that machine until the same happens. I don't have that machine exposed to the internet or even surf the internet much on it anyway. It's also on a separate vlan that's isolated from rest of my network anyway because I don't trust windows, it might start scanning my network or doing other sketchy stuff.

Lot of games can be made to work In Linux now but honestly when it comes to games I just want to be able to actually play instead of making it turn into a whole project just to try to get it to work.

By the time I start running into issues where 10 is in need of upgrading I might decide it's time to upgrade that machine's hardware too, then I'll make sure to get something that has TPM.

 

[lxskllr]

I *hear* games are mostly plug & play these days, at least when running Steam. Since you have two machines, you can have a relaxing attempt at running them in linux. If it's a hassle, just bail on it.

 

[Zepp]

I switched February this year. It was less motivated by the end of 10 approaching and more that my good old GCN1.0 GPU's legacy windows driver was starting to give me annoying issues. I realized that most of what I do on my PC could be handled by linux and the driver support for old Radeon is much better.

Using a snappy light OS with nearly 1/3 the memory footprint has been such a breath of fresh air.
I have win10 on a VM for a quick access to a few apps that dont easily run on linux(or beyond my skill) and bought a 2nd m.2 for a full windows install if I must boot over for something.

My advice to someone looking to switch
#1. research what apps that you need will work on linux, which have solid alternatives, or which could easily be used in a windows VM. Some can even be installed through WINE.

#2. Research the different desktop environments. these will be the bread and butter of usability experience. You can try them out on distrosea.com or make a live ISO of one of the ubuntu flavors to test.

#3. Similarly with apps, research whether your favorite games will run. Protobdb is a good start. note that many popular competitive games with aggressive anti-cheat will no run at all (League, Valorant, Siege, COD, Apex, Tarkov)
Nvidia GPUs require extra steps to get the latest drivers, AMD/Intel GPUs have drivers built into the kernel.

#4. Decide if a stable release or rolling release is more preferable. Stable has longer update cycles and less chance for something to break on update, but the package versions are usually much older than rolling release. For my uses I preferred a stable release but could not easily get a new enough version of my favorite desktop for my needs so I went with the rolling release. Fedora Budgie spin to be exact.


Debian/ubuntu based distros or Fedora based are good starts for beginners since the community is very large and it is easier to find solutions to problems than smaller independent distros. Arch also has a large community but it is generally not considered beginner friendly. Check out distrowatch.com for a good list

 

[Indus]

I recently put Windows 10 on my gaming machine as 7 was starting to be too out of date, stuff like graphic drivers etc were no longer being updated for 7.

I will just keep using 10 on that machine until the same happens. I don't have that machine exposed to the internet or even surf the internet much on it anyway. It's also on a separate vlan that's isolated from rest of my network anyway because I don't trust windows, it might start scanning my network or doing other sketchy stuff.

Lot of games can be made to work In Linux now but honestly when it comes to games I just want to be able to actually play instead of making it turn into a whole project just to try to get it to work.

By the time I start running into issues where 10 is in need of upgrading I might decide it's time to upgrade that machine's hardware too, then I'll make sure to get something that has TPM.

I know I've said many times I love LMDE and I do.. but for gaming I've started experimenting with Fedora.

For some reason Fedora cinnamon has been giving me problems with updates so I decided to try Fedora KDE.

So much smoother and more polished which surprises me and it's more up to date on drivers/ patches which is a must for gaming.

Still won't give up LMDE though.. it's stable.. and I've had 6 solid years experience with LMDE!

 

[mv2devnull]

I know I've said many times I love LMDE and I do.. but for gaming I've started experimenting with Fedora.

For some reason Fedora cinnamon has been giving me problems with updates so I decided to try Fedora KDE.

"*DE"
My first question was: Which Desktop Environment the LMDE is? (Like KDE used to mean K Desktop Environment.)
Turns out the "DE" in it is "Debian Edition" -- and I have no idea which DE one can install on Debian/Mint.

I have a plan to test what I can install on AlmaLinux 10, once it gets released.

 

[Indus]

"*DE"
My first question was: Which Desktop Environment the LMDE is? (Like KDE used to mean K Desktop Environment.)
Turns out the "DE" in it is "Debian Edition" -- and I have no idea which DE one can install on Debian/Mint.

I have a plan to test what I can install on AlmaLinux 10, once it gets released.

LMDE is Cinnamon! I love Cinnamon GUI.

That's why I tested Fedora in Cinnamon first but ran into problems.. but Fedora's KDE is more polished.

Not a knock on cinnamon but clearly Fedora prioritize KDE more.

 

[pcgeek11]

LMDE is Cinnamon! I love Cinnamon GUI.

That's why I tested Fedora in Cinnamon first but ran into problems.. but Fedora's KDE is more polished.

Not a knock on cinnamon but clearly Fedora prioritize KDE more.

I too love Cinnamon Desktop... on Linux Mint.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Cinnamon is what I use too on my daily. I find it's the closest thing to "classic Windows" which IMO is peak UX. Like Windows 9x/2000 era. I got used to Windows 7 and even 10 at work but when I'm looking for something my mind is still thinking in 9x mode, everything just seemed like it made more sense then as to where things were and how things worked.

I know nothing about UI/UX coding but I always thought it would be fun to make a distro that mimics Windows 98 or maybe 2000 in terms of look and feel. Probably get sued by MS for that though lol.

 

[lxskllr]

I use xfce and plasma. I like both, but I'm more inclined to switch to plasma than the other way around. I kind of got the shits of gtk and gnome as projects. Our goals and desires are too different, so it's just about time to part ways. Xfce's glacial development is a big help. I'll see what everything looks like when debian updates this year.

Whatever desktop I use, I set it up just like gnome2. My first try with gnu/linux was ubuntu 5.10, and I thought the default gnome2 setup was amazing. I still do. Panel up top with informational stuff, a few quick launch icons, and access to programs/file system. Panel on the bottom for switching tasks.

 

[mv2devnull]

RHEL has Gnome in the box. Therefore, CentOS had and AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux, etc have it too. EPEL builds other DE for them.
Since Gnome is in the box, I do use it; I don't care.

However, some legacy technical reasons do not run on Gnome (3-), so for those workstations MATE (fork of Gnome 2, from EPEL) has to do.
(Those legacies are on their way out: require X11, require older than Blackwell NVidia and discontinued hardware.)

Why "Enterprise Linux"? A major version of it can run a decade.
Majority of "production applications" are not built for any distro, so the less there is reinstall of them, the better.