I have Finally Quit Windows For Linux.

After using Windows for over ten years I have finally left Windows for Linux. Linux Mint to be exact. Microsoft stopped support for Windows 7 in 2019 but I carried on using it because I did not want to give it up and upgrade to Windows 10. I also used Windows 8 even though support for that stopped before 2019 as Microsoft was only supporting Windows 8.1. Which I could not upgrade to because you could only do it from the Microsoft Store. But because I was running 8 on a netbook I could not get any of the Metro Apps to work and the Microsoft Store is a Metro App. So there was no way I could upgrade.

So I stayed on Windows 8 even though I could not get updates, then in 2022 I found out that both Firefox and Google Chrome was no longer going to support Windows 7 or 8 only Windows 10. So that meant that if I stayed on 8, I would be using an out of date web browser ,as well as other software. Which was no longer supported because software makers were no longer updating ,or making new versions for Windows 8. The same thing happened with Windows XP and Windows Vista ,so there was no choice but to either install Windows 10, or find another operating system.

So I decided to install Linux Mint 20.3 Xfce which was the current version at the time in June 2022 and I have never regretted it. I have since got rid of all my old Netbooks and my Windows DVD,s.  Because my Netbooks were very old, well they came with Windows 7 Starter when I bought them in 2010 and would only run 32 bit. Linux now only supports 64 bit or at least most Linux distros do. Except for Debian as far as I know but then if you choose to run 32 bit Linux you are restricted to what software you can use as most software is now is only being made for 64 bit. So I bought a couple of new laptops that came with Windows 11 which was horrible.

I could not even log in without a Microsoft account and even then I found it was in S Mode which I could not get out of. So I was glad to uninstall it to get it off my computer and installed Linux Mint. I first booted into the live CD and everything was working so I went ahead and installed Linux Mint. I remember with Windows when I had to install it the drivers did not work and I had to install them all from the back up CD but with Linux all of my drivers were working. So I did not have to do anything.

I now run Linux on my computer full time and I have never looked back. I did try Linux a log time ago in 2010 and it was Linux Mint I tried then. But in those days Linux was not as user friendly as what it is now and with Windows 10 being what it is and Windows 11 is even worse. I think more people are looking for alternatives. Linux is working well for me as a lot of the desktops do have the Windows style taskbar and start menu that you don't get in Windows 8, 10 or 11.

I used to like Windows when we had Windows 7 but that changed when they made Windows 8 which had no start menu and the Metro Theme which I hated. Another reason I decided to change to Linux was because my browsers and everything was constantly crashing on Windows 8 and things took a long time to open. So in the end I decided I had had enough and thought I would try Linux. Since everything in Linux is kept up to date and support for Windows 8 had ended anyway. Also you cannot get on the web or do anything in an outdated web browser, which is what I would have been using if I had stayed on 8.

I am finding Linux Mint very stable and it is very user friendly. Updates are installed in minutes not hours as they were on Windows. All of the software I am using is in Linux and everything is working so well. There is nothing about Windows that I miss and I am glad I made the switch to Linux. Linux is not so difficult to learn in fact it is easy to get used to than it was on Windows. No waiting hours for updates to install. No more freezing or crashing of my computer and it is also safer. There are many Linux distros but I am sticking with Linux Mint and more recently I started using Debian which is what both Ubuntu and Linux Mint are based on. I have made some videos about this as I think it would help others who are maybe looking for an alternative to Windows 11.

Very happy on my computer with my Linux Desktop. This is Linux Mint with Kubuntu Desktop Environment. 

Updating is easy with the Mint Update Manager.