Linux - so simple a caveman could do it

[Cutter]

I have long flirted with the idea of moving from Windows to Linux, but my past attempts all met with failure for two main reasons: 1. The installations not only didn't complete properly, leaving me with missing drivers and non-working components, and 2. I had no idea how anything in the Linux OS worked even if it did install properly. Happy to say, I've found a simple solution.

To backpedal a bit, all my computers except my little PI 400 that came with some form of Linux installed (and works much like a Windows machine) are 10 to 20 years old, as is most of the software I run on them. The secret of my success is simple: NEVER allow updates. I've been working with and programming computers since 1976, so I know what I want them to do and (usually) how to make them do it. I have a list of programs that I normally use and am familiar with, and I don't want that to change. As long as the hardware and software work together, why would I want to update anything? Oh yeah, "security". Of my 8 computers, ONLY ONE ever goes online, and its firewall is configured so that NOTHING that I don't approve ever gets through. The other machines have no clue it's not 1990 anymore.

The online machine, a Toshiba Satellite that harkens back about 15 years, is running Windows 7 as are my other machines, and therein lies my problem. I do my banking and buy stuff online, and particularly the banks insist that you use the latest greatest browser for "security" reasons (which between you and I is complete BS; the real reason is so your browser lets them use the newest spying and tracking techniques), and if you don't they won't allow you to access your account. I'm finally at the point where I have a single obscure browser that my banks will allow, and when that one is rejected I will have no choice but to abandon Windows 7, since none of the approved browsers will run under it. Yeah, I could do a creative work-around and trick the OS into thinking it's a newer one, but it's just not worth the effort.

My initial plan was to upgrade the OS on the online machine, so I looked into Windows 8.1 (which is GHASTLY!) and Windows 10. W10 looked like I could beat it into submission the way I've done with Windows 7, but comes with two huge problems: first, it requires a LOT more resources than the old machine is used to having to provide, so it'll run sluggish, and second, there are no drivers available to allow the old hardware to be recognized by the new(er) OS. I like my touch screen, thank you, and don't want to have to add a mouse to my laptop just to be able to use it.

Anyway, to the crux of my ramble, I've discovered a solution that's as near perfect as you're gonna find to make the jump from Windows to Linux, and the best part is you can test it to see if you like it without screwing up your current setup. My computers are very tightly regulated, with disk space carefully split into individual partitions for operating systems (MSDOS 7.1, Windows XP, Windows 7-32 bit, and Windows 7-64 bit), flexible data storage (for stuff I create, download, or upload), and fixed storage for software, archived data, media, and so forth, as well as specific areas for specific projects like my web sites, 3D printing, and so forth. Because of that, I had to do some shuffling around to make room for the Linux install; it says it needs 40GB so I gave it 50. If you're like most computer users, you probably have no idea what a disk partition is, and only about 10% of your drive actually contains data, so assuming that you have a reasonably modern machine, the Linux install should have no problem creating the environment it needs. But as I said, you can try it to your heart's content before deciding to install it!

I found two versions of Linux that are both wonderfully similar to Windows in the way they are set up, and installed even on my old and archaic laptop without any need to go online to search for drivers; both in the testing phase and installed, ALL MY DEVICES WORKED PERFECTLY. Oh, and the best reason of all to upgrade your system to INCLUDE Linux (you can install it so that your existing Windows system(s) is/are still usable) or replace your current system with Linux is that both the OS (the Linux operating system) and literally HUNDREDS of useful programs are all FREE, and all those programs can be installed from right within Linux!

The versions I discovered are Linux Lite 8.7 and Linux Mint 22.3 XFCE, both available as free downloads online. Here's the tricky part (come on, you knew there'd be a catch, didn't you?): You need to burn the downloaded file to a bootable device, either a DVD or a USB drive. Being old school, I cling to my dual layer DVD burners and so have little use for or experience with creating bootable USB drives, but the instructions and programs required are all free and available online. If your system has a DVD burner (the .iso files that are the images that are burned to DVD are about 3GB so they won't fit on a CD), all you need to do is download the .iso file and use your DVD burning software to create a bootable disk.

In either case, to test the software you need to boot your computer with the DVD or USB drive in place. Depending on how your system is configured, you may need to change the BIOS settings or call up the boot sequence during boot to get it to boot from the device. Usually this entails pressing F2, DEL, or ESC during boot (to access BIOS) or F12 in my case to bring up the list of bootable devices and select the Linux drive. It takes about five minutes for my old laptop to boot from the Linux DVD, but once it's done you have complete access to all its functions and features until you shut down. Note that any changes you make to the Linux test environment are discarded on shutdown.

If you decide to keep it, just click the install link and Linux will install itself, either alongside your current OS or by erasing your hard drive and performing a new Linux install. Note that going that route will ERASE EVERYTHING on your hard drive, so I don't recommend that! Instead, do the parallel install, and once you're comfortable with your new Linux AND HAVE BACKED UP ALL YOUR DATA AND SETTINGS to a different location, then you can re-run the install disk and do a clean install.

I chose the Linux Mint install, which seems more basic than the Linux Lite version, which is what I prefer; I want an OS that sits there and minds its own business, not one that wants to "help". But the bottom line is they are both quite similar and fairly simple to use if you're used to using Windows, and they don't have most of the ridiculous junk that Windows prides itself with. Each install comes with preinstalled Firefox browser, Thunderbird email client, and Libre Office components that are 100% compatible with Micro$oft Office. Give 'em a try and let me know what you think!