Windows User Migrating to Linux?

[ffutures]

I'm mainly a Windows user though I've also got a Macbook and dabbled in Linux from time to time, not recently, but with Microsoft dropping support for Windows 7, the only alternative on offer Windows 10 at £100+ for an upgrade now, and Microsoft recommending you buy a new PC instead, I'm looking more seriously at switching to Linux. I own a 3 GHZ PC with 8GB RAM and 2 TB hard drive, with only 500gb or so used, so why in hell should I buy another PC to run Windows 10???

Since I own some fairly expensive Windows software (Office, OCR software, Adobe Acrobat, etc. etc.) I'm hoping to find some way to use most of it, and some web searches have pointed me at Robolinux, which I've never heard of before. It's a version aimed at Windows users which includes a virtual windows environment (Stealth VM) which claims to operate Windows software in a sandbox at something like full speed and with a lot of extra security.

https://www.robolinux.org/
https://www.robolinux.org/stealth-vm-info/

WINE, in my experience, is not a wonderful alternative, so I'd really love to know if this is any good.

Anyone know it? Any thoughts on alternatives gratefully received.

[phkb]

the only alternative on offer Windows 10 at £100+ for an upgrade now

According to this page https://www.zdnet.com/article/heres-how-you-can-still-get-a-free-windows-10-upgrade/ you can still do a Win7 to Win10 upgrade for free. It was last updated on 1 June, so it should still be current.

But Linux is good too. Although I can't help you get there. Sorry!

[ffutures]

To be honest, I REALLY don't want to risk getting stuck part-way through an "upgrade" if something goes wrong, and though I know it's possible to configure Windows 10 to behave like 7, I gather that it isn't easy. I think a completely separate OS install is less likely to be problematic, and that's always been relatively easy with Linux. The last time I wanted to switch the stumbling block was that the printer I used then wasn't supported by any version of Linux - I've now got another printer which is supported (and I've just discovered that it isn't fully supported by Windows 10!) so swapping over might be easier.

[Nite Owl]

Getting Windows 10 to behave like Windows 7 is easy if you use OPEN SHELL. It is a fairly self explanatory piece of software with easy to navigate options and possibilities. It is based on an older piece of software known as Classic Shell. The original developer of Classic Shell has moved on from the project but others have taken it up on GitHub with a name change.

As for the upgrade of Windows 7 to Windows 10 that is an entirely other issue which is best dealt with on an individual basis.

[Cody]

As for the upgrade of Windows 7 to Windows 10 that is an entirely other issue which is best dealt with on an individual basis.

<hugs Win7 - flips finger at WX>

[spud42]

for now seeing as you have a lot of HDD space i would try a dual boot solution. that way you can still use all the MS/windows software you have, when you need it. Linux will be the primary OS and do all your internet/online stuff in linux . its the Win 7 security updates that will stop . but win 7 will still work as long as the hardware runs.
for a start try some of the live builds. ie you can install to a USB and run from the USb before changing your system. try before you buy.. lol
try Linux Mint with the MATE desktop env. its quite windows ish and you wont have a hard time with it..

[ffutures]

I'll probably try Mint Linux again, it was the one I liked best when I was playing with Linux on a netbook a few years ago, ran well on very limited hardware. But not right now, I've had the week from hell and I'm minus a LOT of sleep, really don't want to mess up!

[Commander_X]

If not for the games, I'd have "defected" a very long time ago.
Nowadays the perspective for the gamers on Linux seems to get wider (besides the native games), with Valve's Proton, Lutris (both Wine based initiatives), and GPU pass-through solution (QEMU VM based).
In my case the first two would be quite a burden (Slackware here), due to the need of the multibyte libraries (both x86 and x64), which are not an "official" solution. I've tried the third, but I guess it will be quite a struggle to get to it, as, although I have a dual GPU setup, both are NVidia (different chipsets), which complicates things a bit more than what's documented around.
Oh well, that's one of the nice things about Linux, once I get over this, it will still be there, at the same price

[ffutures]

I found out I could get Windows 10 Pro for £19.99 from Softwaregeeks.co.uk so I bit the bullet and installed it tonight, with Open Shell to make it behave like Windows 7. I'll probably try Linux again too, but not until I've made sure everything is OK on Windows.

[spud42]

get spybot antibeacon for that win 10 pro , its free and blocks most of the telemetry being sent to microsoft...